> Most cities, kings, and republics did not have enough revenue to train and equip all their soldiers or enough honest bureaucrats to keep the money from being stolen. Until after 1918, the vast majority of ‘national’ laws on arms were concerned with what weapons people had to buy at their own expense, not with what weapons they _could not_ keep or carry. When cities or kings did need a lot of equipment at once, the usual solution was to give a list of needs to a merchant and let him gather as much as he could from the used arms market and contracts with shops in different cities. In the same way, when an ancient Greek army needed to travel more than a few days from home, its commander told merchants where it was going and let them worry about how to get those things to the army. In his _Cyropaedia_, Xenophon has the Persian king Cyrus offer bonuses or loans to merchants who agree to accompany the army and bring useful things. A Neo-Assyrian letter suggests that an army should camp in one place, where merchants can come to them, and not in another where the soldiers will get hungry and start stealing things. If you have read _Armed Force in the Teispid-Achaemenid Empire_ ([bibliographical details](https://www.bookandsword.com/my-articles/#past_approaches_future_prospects)) or [my post on loin-girdling](https://www.bookandsword.com/2019/07/06/provisions-loin-girdling-and-battle-gear-in-the-long-sixth-century/), you will remember how Babylonian temples bought or produced arms and distributed them to their dependents when they were conscripted. So something like the ancient Inca army with its royal storehouses full of spears and shields, or the 21st century US army with its orders for thousands of identical trucks, is really unusual. Most cities and kings did not or could not do any such thing, and just tried to make sure that their troops had equipment with common functions not common appearance. > > Armies today talk about logistics, but it was often merchants who really focused on that. As [van Creveld explained](https://www.bookandsword.com/2021/07/03/some-thoughts-on-van-crevelds-supplying-war/), until the 20th century an army which ran out of supplies could usually just march off in a new direction and steal what it needed, but a merchant who failed to keep the dance of materials and money going could go bankrupt. Until the 20th century, armies mostly consumed food and water and fuel which any rural community produced: just like a simple drone, GoPro camera, or Baofeng walky-talky comes from the civilian economy but will serve as military kit in an emergency. I am told that the US government pushed the adoption of shipping containers when they were supplying the war in Vietnam.