During the Renaissance most soldiers in Italy were mercenaries. The use of citizens at large scale for soldiers dates to the French Revolution. Macchiavelli inc

During the Renaissance most soldiers in Italy were mercenaries. The use of citizens at large scale for soldiers dates to the French Revolution. Macchiavelli incidentally was a proponent of this idea but it did not go very far in his day, which was the early 1500s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev%C3%A9e_en_masse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev%C3%A9e_en_masse