ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the significant place of economic redistribution as an important aspect of the state. It utilizes terms like nationalism and national identity in an Athenian context, then these could not transcend the economic needs of the citizens of any Greek polis. Thus, mercenary service, brigandage and piracy offered enviable opportunities for enrichment overseas. The story of Macartatus presents both a good illustration of the relative potential freedom of citizens to act independently of their states, while highlighting at the same time the responsibilities that states had for the actions of their citizens. The importance of money to everything from state management, to trade and especially to warfare was a significant legacy of the fifth century to the fourth. The Macartatus incident and Eretrian prohibition fit neatly into the broader international context of what might be termed in modern parlance mercenary activity.
