Other dangers in the Ancient's time

[Enkidoh]

There was also a very interesting point Erichthonios made in the cutscene after you defeat him in Pandaemonium, in that he firstly mentions how Themis and the WoL "do not look like mercenaries", and then adds "you do not look like prize fighters either" (paraphrased) - both career paths you would not think a supposedly 'perfect' society that Ancient Etheirys would have.

So, the question has to be asked, why would the Ancients have need of soldiers-for-hire, and for that matter, why would a society that prized cerebal pursuits like philosophical debate and rhetoric over fiticuffs, have fighting contests? Does that mean that they still had wars and had actual soldiers doing the fighting, as opposed to say, specialized aetheric constructs (as in, familiars?).

If that is true, and this does tarnish the image of the Ancient world as 'perfect' a lot, then the idea of Venat's "traveller's ward" spell starts to make better sense (and once again makes Emet look like a liar, or at the very least wanting to sweep the more nasty aspects of his supposed "perfect society" under the rug simply to take the moral high ground). And thus things like war, battle and combat would also go hand in glove with that.