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The definition of ancient Greek mercenaries cannot be simply confused with modern mercenaries. Mercenaries are soldiers with professional qualities, and eventually replaced citizen soldiers in the course of war; professional soldiers in the ancient world could also participate in the battles of their home states as citizens; they could be employed by tyrants, kings, city-states or even individuals, and they were no longer mercenaries after the military activities ended, just like the Greek mercenary army of Cyrus the Younger in Xenophon's writings. After the death of their employers, they were more like wanderers or plunderers than mercenaries; and we can see that many mercenaries in the ancient Greek world were paid for plundering, and they were not simply robbers, because the spoils they plundered had to be distributed by their employers or generals according to their military ranks.

Therefore, mercenaries in ancient Greece refer to a group of soldiers employed by certain city-states, monarchs or individuals. They can receive different forms of wages such as money, food and land by performing military service, or they can also get paid by means of plunder. The development of mercenaries in ancient Greece can be roughly divided into the following stages:

1. The emergence and development of Greek mercenaries (8th to 6th century BC)

Greek mercenaries initially served under certain rulers in the East. For example, the earliest Greek mercenaries recorded in literature were Ionians who served the Egyptian pharaoh around 664 BC.

Around the late 8th century BC, when the ancient Greek city-states were facing the decline of royal power and the aristocracy was in power, the tyranny system came into being. Tyrants were the first Greek employers of mercenaries, who used mercenaries as guards or personal guards to consolidate and maintain their rule. In Diodorus's records, early tyrants in Sicily, such as the Geron family of Syracuse, had records of hiring foreigners. These people were usually wandering around Sicily in search of a place to live, and the Sicilian tyrants would give them land and citizenship in the city-state as compensation.

2. The short period of Greek mercenaries (6th century BC to mid-5th century BC)

By 460 BC, most tyrannies in the Greek world had disappeared, resulting in a brief period of silence for mercenaries. From the late sixth century BC to the mid-fifth century BC, there are almost no records of mercenaries in the Aegean.

But this does not mean that mercenaries disappeared from mainland Greece. During the rise of the Athenian Empire from 478 BC to 404 BC, there were a large number of hired sailors in the fleets of the city-states along the Aegean Sea. Citizens of the city-state or its allies, as well as foreigners, could receive regular cash payments.

In 432 BC, when Corinth threatened to attract Athens' foreign hired sailors with high salaries, Pericles thought that "this was a very serious matter" on the one hand, but on the other hand he pointed out that the number of sailors and helmsmen in Athens' fleet at that time "was more than all the helmsmen and sailors in all other regions of Greece combined."

In summary, the Greek mainland was generally stable during this period, so the demand for mercenaries was limited and their development was in a low state.

3. The period of rapid growth of Greek mercenaries (431 BC to 401 BC)

The outbreak of the Peloponnesian War brought about the second development period of mercenaries, whose important feature was the increasingly important role of mercenary infantry in war. In fact, in the Greco-Persian War, mercenary infantry did not play a big role. During the Peloponnesian War, the armies of the two major military groups had mercenaries as auxiliary forces of the army, and they participated in the war frequently.

The services of mercenaries during this period were not limited to mainland Greece. The Persians did not initially employ Greeks or other ethnic groups as soldiers in their armies, but by the end of the 5th century BC, there is considerable indirect evidence that Greeks, especially Peloponnesians, were increasingly serving the Persian governors in the western regions of the Persian Empire, where they were mainly employed by the Persians as garrisons or guards.

Despite the lack of direct evidence, the number of Greek mercenaries serving overseas in the 5th century BC should not be underestimated.

4. The heyday of Greek mercenaries (401 BC to 322 BC)

By the 4th century BC, more diverse professional arms began to appear in wars. In addition to the heavy infantry that dominated the war, there were other types of soldiers, such as archers, slingers, and light infantry represented by light shield soldiers. Years of war and the demand for new arms opened up new employment channels for mercenaries. Therefore, this period is also known as the explosive growth period of Greek mercenaries.

During this period, mercenaries evolved from auxiliary soldiers to the main force of the army. In some city-states, most or all mercenaries even replaced citizen soldiers. Greece generally became a supplier and absorber of mercenaries.

The Peloponnesian War caused the power of the Aegean to be divided again, and mercenaries also gained more employment opportunities. Cyrus the Younger and his 10,000 Greek mercenaries were the best example. Similarly, in Sicily, the restored tyranny also needed the support of mercenaries. The tyrant Dionysius I of Syracuse used a large number of mercenaries in his battles with the Carthaginians, and the Carthaginians did the same.

During this period, states such as Sparta and Athens also began to deploy mercenaries on a large scale into battles, and with the rise of Macedonia, mercenaries gained an opportunity for re-employment.

Philip II had sufficient resources to pay the salaries of Macedonian soldiers and hire soldiers from other parts of mainland Greece. His army was the tool used by his son Alexander to conquer Persia. They conquered the Persian Empire in less than ten years, hiring a large number of Greek mercenaries in the process. His rival, the Persian Empire, also hired more than 50,000 Greeks to oppose him.

The Lamian War, which took place after Alexander's death, was a war in which Athens and its allies resisted Macedonian rule. This was an important turning point in Greek history, especially in Athenian history. After the Lamian War, Athens lost its independent power, and international relations on the Greek peninsula also changed. The Macedonians became the leaders of that era. At the same time, by the end of this war, the boundaries between mercenaries and citizen soldiers had blurred, and professional soldiers became more common. Parker believes that this undoubtedly increases the difficulty of studying mercenaries, because "once soldiers become professional, rulers themselves tend to slack off in distinguishing mercenaries from other soldiers.