Syrian Bowmen

The Hittite army also depended on the warriors of the conquered regions. The state followed a policy of mass resettling the adults from the fringe conquered areas to the home provinces around the fortress of Hattusa the capital of the empire. Some of these subjects were taken as slaves and distributed among the royal family and the landowning aristocracy, some were forced into labor or temple duties, while the remaining hardy ones were pressed into the army. Sometime prisoners-of-war were also formed into battle-worthy units that were commanded by their own leaders. Furthermore, the Hittites also made use of able-bodied conquered subjects who were not actually forced into service but rather employed as foreign merecnary contingents.