antisocialmunky 06:00 01-28-2008
Considering how big of a share of the world economy the Chinese used to have, they still haven't got rolling yet.
CirdanDharix 16:50 01-28-2008
The prisoners of war being ransomed in the classical wage for 2 mnai of silver were nobles. The general rule of thumb is that during the late classical period and the beginning of the Hellenistic age, in Athens the 'minimum wage'--that is the minimum revenue a citizens was expected to be able to survive upon--was three oboloi per day. That makes about 15 drachmai per month, or 1.8Mnai per year for the 'minimum wage'. Also, the price for renting a slave (in Athens also) was 1 obol per day--the slave's food was presumably the user's responsibility. One mina of silver would be quite alot of money, by the common man's standards.
However, it was not that much for an aristocrat: a skilled hetaira might be worth 30 mnai--about seventeen years of income for a pauper--and renting the services of one these courtesans could rapidly become incredibly expensive, with rates that could reach 3 mnai per day. The lessons of a famous sophist might cost 100 mnai.
When it comes to soldiers, their pay varied widely with time and place throughout the Hellenistic era. During the Classical age the wage for a mercenary was approximately 1 drachma of silver a day--to take two examples from primary sources, Thucydides states that at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, Athens paid each hoplite in the field one drachma of silver per day and alloted the same wage for a servant per soldier, while the wages Xenophon gives for the Ten Thousand are in gold per month, but ammount generally to slightly less than one drachma of silver a day, with double pay for officers. By the Hellenistic age, it seems the pay for a heavy infantryman was generally 1 to 2 drachmai a day, but sometimes more. Cavalrymen drew rather considerably higher pay, often 3 drachmai a day or more. Additionally the mercenary was fed by his employer, and if he wasn't provided with an acceptable ammount of grain (one medimnos per man per month is the rule of thumb) he had to be given extra money to purchase food--generally 2-3 oboloi a day, which gives you an indication of the value of food (although remember that the prices would be above normal around an army on the march). However, as previously stated, the pay for soldiers did vary widely.
Note:
1 drachma = 6 oboloi
1 stater = 2 drachmai
1 mina = 100 drachmai
1 talent = 60 mnai
Silver is the most common metal for money. Gold is used more rarely; the weight of gold is usually measured in staters, while the weight of silver is given in oboloi, drachmai, etc.
Originally Posted by CirdanDharix:
When it comes to soldiers, their pay varied widely with time and place throughout the Hellenistic era. During the Classical age the wage for a mercenary was approximately 1 drachma of silver a day--to take two examples from primary sources, Thucydides states that at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, Athens paid each hoplite in the field one drachma of silver per day and alloted the same wage for a servant per soldier
That's interessting
A EB Hoplite unit:
160 men (+ 160 servants)
= 320 drachmai wages per day
= 9,600 per month
= 28,800 per season
=> 288 mne
+ food, say 2.5 oboloi per day
= 400 oboloi per day * 2 for the servants
= 800 oboloi per day
= 24,000 per month
= 72,000 oboloi per season
=> 12,000 drachmai => 120 mne
Makes total upkeep 408 mne per turn. Pretty close to the 344 in EB, what can even be exact the same when you assume lower costs for food.
CirdanDharix 14:10 01-29-2008
Regarding the cost of food, pillaging was free and practised whenever possible, so that would make food cheaper on average than the allowance the mercenaries would receive when they pruchased it from a market.
Yes. That would make upkeep in fact lower on enemy territory.
CirdanDharix 14:28 01-29-2008
That's rather an easy generalisation. Firstly, the Hellenistic world didn't have those convenient province boundaries you have in R:TW--you might be in 'enemy territory' but still have an agreement with the locals. Secondly, mercenaries might ask for more pay when they were actively campaigning against the enemy, and expect a bonus for participating in large battles. And then, you can't always feed a large army by pillage, and if you have to have grain transported over any significant distance, the merchants are sure to milk a captive market.
Oh yes, that is much of a generalization. You can't neither be certain that the army doesn't loot on friendly territory; when discipline is low or provisions are short for example.
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