fines, and various indirect taxes): but those needed for war had to be met by a
direct tax upon property, levied _ad hoc_ whenever the necessity arose, and not
collected without delays and difficulties. And although the equipment of ships
for service was systematically managed under the trierarchic laws,[7] it was
still subject to delays no less serious. There was no regular system of
contribution to State funds, and no systematic accumulation of a reserve to meet
military needs. The raising of money by means of loans at interest to the State
was only adopted in Greece in a few isolated instances:[8] and the practice of
annually distributing surplus funds to the people,[9] however necessary or
excusable under the circumstances, was wholly contrary to sound finance.

An even greater evil was the dependence of the city upon mercenary forces and
generals, whose allegiance was often at the call of the highest bidder, and in
consequence was seldom reliable. There is no demand which Demosthenes makes with
greater insistence, than the demand that the citizens themselves shall serve
with the army. At a moment of supreme danger, they might do so. But in fact
Athens had become more and more an industrial state, and men were not willing to
leave their business to take care of itself for considerable periods, in order
to go out and fight, unless the danger was very urgent, or the interests at
stake of vital importance; particularly now that the length of campaigns had
become greater and the seasons exempted from military operations shorter. In
many minds the spread of culture, and of the ideal of self-culture, had produced
a type of individualism indifferent to public concerns, and contemptuous of
political and military ambitions. Moreover, the methods of warfare had undergone
great improvement; in most branches of the army the trained skill of the
professional soldier was really necessary; and it was not possible to leave the
olive-yard or the counting-house and become an efficient fighter without more
ado. But the expensiveness of the mercenary forces; the violent methods by which
they obtained supplies from friends and neutrals, as well as foes, if, as often
happened, their pay was in arrear; and the dependence of the city upon the