In the Athens of the time of \b \cf2 \ATXht16 Pericles\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 (fifth century BC
) the length of military service was forty-two years. Young Athenians were recruited into the army at the age of eighteen. From the age of thirty to fifty they were on active service and could be despatched on military campaigns outside Attica. During th
e final ten years they served, along with the epheboi (young military cadets) and metoikoi (foreigners permanently resident in the \b \cf1 \ATXht16 polis\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 ), as guards on the country's borders.