did you as a PC 20 years or so ago, run around with small armies at your heels?
No, but one of my PC's and his friends owned a castle and had hundreds of troops and servants working for him. It never became directly involved in adventuring though -- it was the home we were defending.
That was not unusual in Gygax's campaign, from what I understand. Mordenkainen had troops in the low thousands, I believe, at his hidden fortress in the Yatils.