The Greeks and the Carians were the two biggest groups of mercenaries in the Archaic period. We have information about the latter from the lyric poet Archilochus, who had been, himself, mercenary for a certain period in the region of Northern Aegean. He reports that the Carians were the most famous mercenaries of the 7th century BC (Archilochus, no 14 & 24 in Loeb II, Elegy and Iambus).


Egypt offered permanent occupation in this field and the Egyptian authorities allowed their mercenaries to settle in the country and cultivate their own land. Herodotus describes the conditions under which the first Greek hoplites ended up and settled in Egypt. Although his version differs from that of Diodorus Siculus, in relation to whether they ended up in Egypt by chance or the Pharao Psammetichus asked them to come, the important thing is that these hoplites were the first Greek colonists in Egypt. Herodotus adds that the Egyptians characterized the Greek soldiers "chalkeoi andres" (brazen men), obviously due to the impression that they made, when they appeared in the hoplite armour (Herodotus, Historia 2.152). The most known mercenary camp was situated in Daphne near the Nile. Apart from the marked presence of the Greeks in the Egyptian armies, there are also accounts concerning the participation of mercenaries from Asia Minor in the armies of the East (Meiggs & Lewis, 1988:12-13, no 7).


With the emergence of tyrannies in the Greek mainland, Greek mercenaries found a new occupation field in the courts of various tyrants. In general, certain tyrants of the 7th and 6th century BC hired soldiers, mainly as bodyguards. Initially, they preferred to employ citizens in their personal guard, as did Pisistratus during his first attempt to dominate Athens. It was very likely that Theagenes, tyrant of Megara, as well as Dionysius of Syracuse included mercenaries in their bodyguards. But it is certain that by the second half of the 6th century BC, the norm was that the tyrants' personal guards consisted of mercenaries. When Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, got hold of the island, he borrowed soldiers from Lygdamis of Naxos (Pseudo-Aristotle, Oeconomica 1346b10) for protection.

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