As long as there has been warfare, there have been warriors willing to offer their services to the highest bidder. In this issue, we look at ancient mercenaries across the Mediterranean.

Theme: Ancient mercenaries for hire

• Murray Dahm, 'Mercenaries in the ancient world - Soldiers for hire'.
• Sean Manning, 'The Amathus Bowl, ca. 700 BC - World of mercenaries'.
• Marc DeSantis, 'The 250 BC Siege of Lilybaeum - Defying Rome'.
• Sean Manning, 'The Achaemenid Empire's Jewish soldiers - Serving the Great King'.
• Nicholas D. Cross, 'Sparta's mercenaries in the 4th century BC - Hiring the legend'.
• Nicholas L. Wright, 'Mercenary pay and the risk of forgery - Provincial profiteering'.

Features:

• Murray Dahm, 'Roman military fibulae and what they can tell us - The meanest of things'.
• Ross Cowan, 'Dreams and visions in the Roman military - Views of the supernatural'.
• Viktor Konczi, 'Psyops techniques in Republican Rome - Manipulating the mind'.
• Duncan B. Campbell, 'How were hungry soldiers fed - The Roman army's diet'.
• Tacticus, 'Technè taktikè part XIII - Alexander's biggest tactical challenge'.