Abstract:

In the Ancient Age, many states established in Anatolian geography shaped its history. The primary political purpose of states that established in Anatolia is to consolidate their sovereignty in the Anatolia where they were established and then aim to capture economic and commercial centers of the period. To achieve this goal, war becomes necessary, and war requires human power, in other words, military recruitment. However, due to the low population potential of the region, there are some chronic problems recruiting soldiers in Anatolia. However, Anatolian states tried to overcome this problem by using their limited manpower as efficiently as possible. The first place where Anatolian states provide the recruitment sources their own people. As the states’ borders expand, it receives assistance from allies, and then the manpower of the affiliated states, namely vassals, is used. The method applied by the Anatolian states when they were at their strongest period and the most complex one was the expulsion of the people of the defeated states from their lands, and transfer them to a suitable place in the own country and resettlement. Anatolian states tried to systematize the supply of soldiers and pursued a long-term policy for this. This study tried to the answer the question of the methods that Anatolian states succeeded in generating strong armies from their limited manpower with the general outline.

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