This revolutionary idea of Western citizenshipreplete with ever more rights and responsibilitieswould provide superb manpower for growing legions and a legal framework that would guarantee that the men who fought felt that they themselves in a formal and contractual sense had ratified the conditions of their own battle service. The ancient Western world would soon come to define itself by culture rather than by race, skin color, or language. That idea alone would eventually bring enormous advantages to its armies on the battlefield. (p. 122)

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Themes

  • Politics — Governance, civic duty, and the structures of power
  • War — Reflections on conflict, peace, and the human cost of war

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