The author's treatment of the subject of war is longer than that of any other topic except religion, and that is surprising because war was not a subject on which More was especially knowledgeable and probably was one in which he had no great interest. He represents the Utopians as despising war, and the impression he produces is that he, along with them, considers it to be vicious and stupid. The Utopians recognize it as a dirty business, and they therefore feel justified in resorting to whatever actions they find to be most effective — deceit, bribery, and incitement to murder. Their determination is to win by whatever means, but they strive to accomplish that aim with as little slaughtering as possible, especially of their own people.
The practice of employing mercenary troops to fight your battles had been common for several centuries, especially on the Continent. Whole armies were for hire under the command of a condottiere. A drawback to the system was that hired troops could be bribed to change sides. Further, if one troop of mercenaries faced another mercenary outfit, the combat often lacked ferocity and the casualties were kept to a minimum, since neither army was fighting for a cause that meant much to them. In More's time, it was becoming recognized that a troop of amateurs, farmers, and shopkeepers might perform better in the field than the foreign professionals. It should be noted that the discussion of mercenaries is more applicable to Continental nations than to England.
The attitude of the Utopians toward the loss of life among their hired Zapoletes seems to us rather callous.
