[Illustration:  319.jpg A PHOENICIAN SOLDIER]

     Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the bronze original in the
     Louvre.

The army consisted of a nucleus of Benjamites, recruited from the king’s clan, with the addition of any adventurers, whether Israelites or strangers, who were attracted to enlist under a popular military chief.* It comprised archers, slingers, and bands of heavily armed infantry, after the fashion of the Phoenician, bearing pikes.  We can gam some idea of their appearance and equipment from the bronze statuettes of an almost contemporary period, which show us the Phoenician foot-soldiers or the barbarian mercenaries in the pay of the Phoenician cities:  they wear the horizontally striped loin-cloth of the Syrians, leaving the arms and legs entirely bare, and the head is protected by a pointed or conical helmet.

* Ahijah (1 Sam. xiv. 3), son of Ahitub, great-grandson of Eli, appears to be the same as Ahimelech, son of Ahitub, who subsequently helped David (1 Sam. xxi. 1-10), and was massacred by order of Saul (1 Sam. xxii. 9-19).  The scribe must have been shocked by the name Melech—­that of the god Milik [Moloch]—­and must have substituted Jah or Jahveh.

Saul possessed none of the iron-bound chariots which always accompanied the Qanaanite infantry; these heavy vehicles would have been entirely out of place in the mountain districts, which were the usual field of operations for the Israelite force.* We are unable to ascertain whether the king’s soldiers received any regular pay, but we know that the spoil was divided between the prince and his men, each according to his rank and in proportion to the valour he had displayed.** In cases of necessity, the whole of the tribes were assembled, and a selection was made of all those capable of bearing arms.  This militia, composed mainly of a pastoral peasantry in the prime of life, capable of heroic efforts, was nevertheless ill-disciplined, liable to sudden panics, and prone to become disbanded on the slightest reverse.***

* With regard to the use of the bow among Saul’s soldiers, cf. 1 Sam. xx. 18-42, where we find the curious scene of the meeting of David and Jonathan, when the latter came out of Gibeah on the pretext of practising with bow and arrows.  The accoutrement of the Hebrews is given in the passage where Saul lends his armour to David before meeting with Goliath (1 Sam. xvii. 38, 39).

** Cf. the quarrel which took place between the soldiers of David about the spoil taken from the Amalekites, and the manner in which the strife was decided by David (1 Sam. xxx. 21-25)

*** Saul, for instance, assembles the people and makes a selection to attack the Philistines (1 Sam. xiii. 2, 4, 7) against the Ammonites (1 Sam. xi. 7, 8) and against the Amalekites (1 Sam. xv. 4).

Saul had the supreme command of the whole; the members of his own family served as lieutenants under him,