Talk:Strategos

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Definition

"Unlike lower ranks, the strategoi did not always actively serve in the military, and it was not uncommon for politicians to take on the rank."

I'm concerned that this statement is a bit inaccurate and may stem from a misunderstanding of why politicians such as Alkibiades and Perikles were strategoi. The way it is written implies that there is a distinction between politicians and military leaders in the poleis, such that the strategoi was unique in that it was "uncommon" for politicians to take on the rank.

But the reality is that it wasn't just uncommon; strategoi were always politicians. Strategoi in ancient Athens were specifically elected positions; it was a political office and a military rank at the same time and the closest equivalent to the modern-day Ministers of War except that they did not distinguish between it being a military and civilian position. Numbering ten, they were the commanders-in-chief of the Athenian armies. Of course, the statement gets even more complicated when you take into account the fact that all Athenian citizens were expected to be politicians because such was the nature of their democracy that every citizen were supposed to participate in the government.

Anyway, I would have went ahead and rewritten the sentence, but I am not far enough into the game to know if the game portrays strategoi a bit differently. Moreover, while strategoi of Athens were as I described, this was not necessarily the case for strategoi of other poleis. In other words, I think the statement should be reworded, but I don't know how best to do so. Sol Pacificus^(Cyfiero) 19:28, April 16, 2019 (UTC)