For many, acquaintance with the work of Richard Wagner began (and probably ended) "Flight of the Valkyries" in the movie "Apocalypse Now" about the Vietnam War. However, recently Wagner's surname has become associated with military operations not at all because of the Francis Coppola film.The Wagner PMC is actively involved in the fighting in Ukraine and recruits prisoners into its ranks, and before that, according to numerous media reports, it participated in other conflicts, for example, in Syria. Another conflict is also obvious — the legal one: the existence of a private military company in Russia and a criminal article on mercenary activity. At the same time, mercenary warriors as a phenomenon appeared in the world a very long time ago — and especially did not go anywhere.In the new edition of "Editorial. Context" we have studied the history of private armies and fighters for hire