The
Assyrians, like the Spartans of ancient Greece, were a warrior society. Every male member of
that society was expected to fight as and when required. And as the Assyrians eventually came to
defend a rapidly expanding empire, this became ever more imperative.
It is
therefore not surprising that, over the course of centuries, the Assyrian Empire achieved a
formidable reputation as a military power, building in the process the largest empire in the
ancient world until the time of Alexander the Great. The chief basis of their extraordinary
might came from having an exceptionally strong, well-trained, disciplined standing
army.
Initially, the Assyrians, like other armed forces in the ancient
world, relied on conscripts to fight their battles. This was to enable crops to be harvested as
the vast...
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