Frontinus: STRATEGEMATA

Multa lectione conquisitis strategematibus et non exiguo scrupulo digestis, ut promissum trium librorum implerem, si modo implevi, hoc exhibebo ea, quae parum apte discriptioni priorum ad speciem alligata<e> subici videbantur et erant exempla potius strategicon quam strategemata: quae idcirco separavi, quia quamvis clara diversae tamen erant substantiae, ne, si qui forte in aliqua ex his incidissent, similitudine inducti praetermissa opinarentur.

With stratagems gathered by much reading and arranged with no small scruple, in order that I might fulfill the promise of three books—if indeed I have fulfilled it—here I will present those things which seemed somewhat inapt to be subjected to the classification of the former as tied to a species, and were examples rather of the strategicon than of stratagems: which for that reason I have separated, because although clear they were nevertheless of a different substance, lest, if anyone should by chance come upon any of these, led by similarity, they would suppose omissions had been made.

Et sane velut <res> residua expedienda fuit: in qua et ipsa ordinem per species servare conabor:

And indeed, as it were, the remaining <matter> had to be set in order: in which too I will endeavor to keep an order by categories:

I. De disciplina.
II. De effectu disciplinae.
III.

1. On discipline.
2. On the effect of discipline.
3.

De continentia.
IV. De iustitia.
V. De constantia.

On continence.
4. On justice.
5. On constancy.

VI. De affectu et moderatione.
VII. De variis consiliis.

6. On affect and moderation.
7. On various counsels.

DE DISCIPLINA

ON DISCIPLINE

P. Scipio ad Numantiam corruptum superiorum ducum socordia exercitum correxit dimisso ingenti lixarum numero, redactis ad munus cotidiana exercitatione militibus. Quibus cum frequens iniungeret iter, portare complurium dierum cibaria imperabat, ita ut frigora et imbres pati, vada fluminum pedibus traicere assuesceret miles, exprobrante subinde imperatore timiditatem et ignaviam, frangente delicatioris usus ac parum necessaria expeditioni vasa. Quod maxime notabiliter accidit C. Memmio tribuno, cui dixisse traditur Scipio: "Mihi paulisper, tibi et rei publicae semper nequam eris."

P. Scipio at Numantia corrected the army, corrupted by the sloth of previous commanders, by dismissing a huge number of camp-followers and by reducing the soldiers to their duty through daily exercise. And as he frequently imposed marches upon them, he ordered them to carry provisions for several days, so that the soldier might become accustomed to endure cold and rains, to cross the fords of rivers on foot, the commander repeatedly upbraiding their timidity and sloth, and breaking vessels of more delicate use and scarcely necessary for the expedition. This most notably befell the tribune Gaius Memmius, to whom Scipio is said to have said: "For me for a little while, for you and for the republic forever you will be worthless."

Q. Metellus bello Iugurthino similiter lapsam militum disciplinam pari severitate restituit, cum insuper prohibuisset alia carne quam assa elixave milites uti.

Q. Metellus in the Jugurthine war likewise restored the lapsed discipline of the soldiers with equal severity, since moreover he had prohibited the soldiers from using any meat other than roasted or boiled.

Pyrrhus dilectatori suo fertur dixisse: "tu grandes elige, ego, eos fortes reddam."

Pyrrhus is said to have said to his recruiter: "you choose the tall ones, I will make them brave."

L. Paulo et C. Varrone consulibus milites primo iure iurando adacti sunt: antea enim sacramento tantummodo a tribunis rogabantur, ceterum ipsi inter se coniurabant se fugae atque formidinis causa non abituros neque ex ordine recessuros nisi teli petendi feriendive hostis aut civis servandi causa.

With L. Paulus and C. Varro as consuls, the soldiers were for the first time compelled by a sworn oath: for previously they were only asked by the tribunes to take the sacrament; otherwise they swore among themselves that they would not depart for the sake of flight or fear, nor leave their rank, unless for the purpose of fetching a weapon or of striking the enemy, or of saving a citizen.

Scipio Africanus, cum ornatum scutum elegantius cuiusdam vidisset, dixit non mirari se, quod tanta cura ornasset, in quo plus praesidii quam in gladio haberet.

Scipio Africanus, when he had seen a certain man’s shield more elegantly adorned, said that he did not marvel that he had adorned with such care that in which he had more defense than in the sword.

Philippus, cum primum exercitum constitueret, vehiculorum usum omnibus interdixit, equitibus non amplius quam singulos calones habere permisit, peditibus autem denis singulos, qui molas et funes ferrent: in aestiva exeuntibus triginta dierum farinam collo portari imperavit.

Philip, when he first constituted the army, interdicted the use of vehicles to all, permitted the cavalrymen to have not more than a single calo each, but to the foot-soldiers one apiece to each ten, who should carry millstones and ropes: for those going out into summer-quarters he ordered flour for thirty days to be carried on the neck.

C. Marius recidendorum impedimentorum gratia, quibus maxime exercitus agmen oneratur, vasa et cibaria militis in fasciculos aptata furcis imposuit, sub quibus et habile onus et facilis requies esset: unde et proverbiumtractum est "muli Mariani".

Gaius Marius, for the sake of cutting back the impediments by which the army’s marching column is most burdened, placed the soldier’s vessels and provisions, fitted into small bundles, upon forks, under which there might be both a handy load and an easy rest: whence also the proverb "Marian mules" was drawn.

Theagenes Atheniensis, cum exercitum Megaram duceret, petentibus ordines respondit ibi se daturum. Deinde clam equites praemisit eosque hostium specie impetum in suos retorquere iussit. Quo facto cum <quos secum> habebat tamquam ad hostium occursum praepararentur, permisit ita ordinari aciem, ut quo quis voluisset loco consisteret: cum inertissimusquisque retro se dedisset, strenui autem in fronte<m> prosiluissent, ut quemque invenerat stantem, ita ad ordines militiae provexit.

Theagenes the Athenian, when he was leading the army to Megara, replied to those requesting ranks that he would give them there. Then he secretly sent forward the cavalry and ordered them, under the semblance of enemies, to redirect an attack against his own men. This done, when those <whom with him> he had were being prepared as if for a meeting with the enemy, he allowed the battle-line to be ordered in such a way that each might take his stand in whatever place he wished: since each of the most inert had given way backward, but the strenuous had leapt forward into the front<m>, just as he had found each man standing, so he advanced him to the military ranks.

Lysander Lacedaemonius egressum via quendam castigabat. Cui dicenti ad nullius rei rapinam se ab agmine recessisse respondit: "ne speciem quidem rapturi praebeas volo."

Lysander the Lacedaemonian was chastising a certain man who had gone out of the way. To him, saying that he had not withdrawn from the column for the rapine of anything, he replied: "I want you to present not even the appearance of one about to seize."

Antigonus, cum filium suum audisset devertisse in eius domum, cui tres filiae insignes specie essent, "audio", inquit, "fili, anguste habitare te pluribus dominis domum possidentibus: hospitium laxius accipe"; iussoquecommigrare edixit, ne quis minor quinquaginta annos natus hospitio matris familias uteretur.

Antigonus, when he heard that his son had turned aside into the house of a man whose three daughters were distinguished in appearance, said, "I hear, my son, that you are living narrowly, the house being possessed by several masters: accept a more spacious hospitality"; and, having ordered him to move, he proclaimed that no one less than 50 years old should make use of the hospitality of a materfamilias.

Q. Metellus consul, quamvis nulla lege impediretur, quin filium contubernalemperpetuum haberet, maluit tamen eum in ordine merere.

Quintus Metellus, consul, although he was impeded by no law from having his son as a perpetual contubernalis (tent‑companion), nevertheless preferred that he serve in the ranks.

P. Rutilius consul, cum secundum leges in contubernio suo habere posset filium, in legione militem fecit.

P. Rutilius, consul, although according to the laws he could have his son in his contubernium, made him a soldier in the legion.

M. Scaurus filium, quod in saltu Tridentino loco hostibus cesserat, in conspectum suum venire vetuit: adulescens verecundia ignominiae pressus mortem sibi conscivit.

M. Scaurus, because his son had yielded his position to the enemy in the Tridentine Pass, forbade him to come into his sight: the young man, pressed by shame at the ignominy, took his own life.

Castra antiquitus Romani ceteraeque gentes passim per corpora cohortiumvelut mapalia constituere soliti erant, cum solos urbium muros nosset antiquitas. Pyrrhus Epirotarum rex primus totum exercitum sub eodem vallo continere instituit. Romani deinde, victo eo in campis Arusinis circa urbem Malventum, castris eius potiti et ordinatione notata paulatim ad hanc usque metationem, quae nunc effecta est, pervenerunt.

In ancient times the Romans and the other nations were accustomed to establish their camps here and there through the bodies of the cohorts, like mapalia, since antiquity knew only the walls of cities. Pyrrhus, king of the Epirotes, was the first to institute keeping the whole army under the same rampart. The Romans then, when he was defeated in the Arusine fields around the city of Malventum, having gained possession of his camp and noted its ordination, gradually came to this metation which has now been brought into effect.

P. Nasica in hibernis, quamvis classis usus non esset necessarius, ne tamen desidia miles corrumperetur aut per otii licentiam sociis iniuriam inferret, navis aedificare instituit.

P. Nasica in winter-quarters, although the use of a fleet was not necessary, nevertheless, lest the soldier be corrupted by idleness or, through the license of leisure, inflict injury upon the allies, instituted the building of ships.

M. Cato memoriae tradidit in furto comprehensis inter commilitones dextras esse praecisas aut, si lenius animadvertere voluissent, in principiis sanguinem missum.

M. Cato handed down to memory that, for those caught in theft among their fellow-soldiers, the right hands were cut off, or, if they wished to punish more mildly, blood was let in the headquarters.

Clearchus, dux Lacedaemoniorum, exercitui dicebat imperatorem potius quam hostem metui debere, significans eos, qui in proelio dubiam mortem timuissent, certum, si deseruissent, manere supplicium.

Clearchus, leader of the Lacedaemonians, was saying to the army that the commander ought to be feared rather than the enemy, indicating that those who in battle had feared a doubtful death would have a certain punishment awaiting them, if they deserted.

Appii Claudii sententia senatus eos, qui a Pyrrho, rege Epirotarum, capti et postea remissi erant, equites ad pedites redegit, pedites ad levem armaturam, omnibus extra vallum iussis tendere, donec bina hostium spolia singuli referrent.

By the motion of Appius Claudius, the senate reduced those who had been captured by Pyrrhus, king of the Epirotes, and afterwards sent back: the horsemen to foot-soldiers, the foot-soldiers to light-armed troops, with all ordered to camp outside the rampart until each should bring back two enemy spoils apiece.

Otacilius Crassus consul eos, qui ab Hannibale sub iugum missi redierant, tendere extra vallum iussit, ut immuniti assuescerent periculis et adversus hostem audentiores fierent.

Consul Otacilius Crassus ordered those who had returned after being sent under the yoke by Hannibal to encamp outside the rampart, so that, unfortified, they might grow accustomed to dangers and become more audacious against the enemy.

P. Cornelio Nasica Decimo Iunio consulibus, qui exercitum deseruerant, damnati virgis caesi publice venierunt.

In the consulship of P. Cornelius Nasica and Decimus Junius, those who had deserted the army, having been condemned, were beaten with rods and were publicly sold.

Domitius Corbulo in Armenia duas alas et tres cohortes, quae ad castellum Initia hostibus cesserant, extra vallum iussit tendere, donec assiduo labore et prosperis excursionibus redimerent ignominiam.

Domitius Corbulo in Armenia ordered two alae and three cohorts, which had yielded to the enemy at the fort called Initia, to pitch camp outside the rampart, until by assiduous labor and successful excursions they might redeem their ignominy.

Aurelius Cotta consul, cum ad opus equites necessitate cogente iussissetaccedere eorumque pars detractasset imperium, questus apud censores effecit, ut notarentur; a patribus deinde obtinuit, ne eis praeterita aera procederent; tribuni quoque plebis de eadem re ad populum pertulerunt omniumque consensu stabilita disciplina est.

Aurelius Cotta, consul, when, necessity compelling, he had ordered the equites to come up to the work and a part of them had shirked the command, after complaining before the censors he brought it about that they be marked; then he obtained from the Fathers that the past pay should not be credited to them; the tribunes of the plebs also carried the same matter to the people, and by the consensus of all, discipline was established.

Q. Metellus Macedonicus in Hispania quinque cohortes, quae hostibuscesserant, testamentum facere iussas ad locum reciperandum remisit, minatus non nisi post victoriam receptum iri.

Q. Metellus Macedonicus in Spain sent back five cohorts, which had yielded to the enemy, having ordered them to make a testament, to recapture the position, threatening that they would not be received back except after victory.

P. Valerio consuli senatus praecepit, exercitum ad Sirim victum ducere Saepinum ibique castra munire et hiemem sub tentoriis exigere. Senatus, cum turpiter fugati eius milites essent, decrevit, ne auxilia eis summitterentur, nisi captis eius . . .

The senate enjoined the consul P. Valerius to lead the army to the Siris, to convey provisions to Saepinum, and there to fortify a camp and to spend the winter under tents. The senate, since his soldiers had been shamefully put to flight, decreed that auxiliaries should not be sent up to them, unless his . . .

Legionibus, quae Punico bello militiam detractaverant, in Siciliam velut relegatis per septem annos hordeum ex senatus consulto datum est.

To the legions which had shirked military service in the Punic War, as if relegated to Sicily, barley was given for seven years by decree of the senate.

L. Piso C. Titium praefectum cohortis, quod loco fugitivis cesserat, cinctu togae praeciso, soluta tunica, nudis pedibus in principiis cotidie stare, dum vigiles venirent, iussit, conviviis et balneo abstinere. Sulla cohortem et centuriones, quorum stationem hostis perruperat, galeatos et discinctos perstare in principiis iussit.

L. Piso ordered Gaius Titius, prefect of a cohort, because he had yielded his position like fugitives, with the girding of his toga cut off, his tunic loosened, and barefoot, to stand at the headquarters daily until the sentries came, and to abstain from banquets and the bath. Sulla ordered the cohort and the centurions, whose station the enemy had broken through, to stand their ground at the headquarters helmeted and ungirded.

Domitius Corbulo in Armenia Aemilio Rufo praefecto equitum, quia hostibus cesserat et parum instructam armis alam habebat, vestimenta per lictorem scidit eidemque ut erat foedato habitu perstare in principiis, donec mitterentur, imperavit.

Domitius Corbulo, in Armenia, tore the garments of Aemilius Rufus, prefect of cavalry, because he had yielded to the enemies and had a wing too little equipped with arms, and he ordered that same man, as he was, with defiled appearance, to stand fast in the headquarters until orders were sent.

Atilius Regulus, cum ex Samnio in Luceriam transgrederetur exercitusqueeius obviis hostibus aversus esset, opposita cohorte iussit fugientespro desertoribus caedi.

Atilius Regulus, when he was crossing from Samnium into Luceria and his army, with enemies encountered in the way, had been turned back, with a cohort set in opposition he ordered the fleeing to be cut down as deserters.

Cotta consul in Sicilia in Valerium, nobilem tribunum militum ex gente Valeria, virgis animadvertit.

Cotta the consul in Sicily punished with rods Valerius, a noble military tribune from the Valerian gens.

Idem P. Aurelium sanguine sibi iunctum, quem obsidioni Lipararum, ipse ad auspicia repetenda Messanam transiturus, praefecerat, cum agger incensus et capta castra essent, virgis caesum in numerum gregalium peditumreferri et muneribus fungi iussit.

The same man ordered P. Aurelius, joined to him by blood, whom he had put in command of the siege of the Liparaeans, he himself being about to cross over to Messana to renew the auspices, when the rampart had been set ablaze and the camp captured, to be beaten with rods, to be enrolled into the number of the common infantry, and to discharge the duties.

Fulvius Flaccus censor Fulvium fratrem suum, quia legionem, in qua tribunus militum erat, iniussu consulis dimiserat, senatu movit.

Fulvius Flaccus, censor, removed his brother Fulvius from the Senate, because he had dismissed the legion in which he was a military tribune without the consul’s order.

M. Cato ab hostili litore, in quo per aliquot dies manserat, cum ter dato profectionis signo classem solvisset et relictus e militibus quidam a terra voce et gestu expostularet, uti tolleretur, circumacta ad litus universa classe, comprehensum supplicio affici iussit et, quem occisuri per ignominiamhostes fuerant, exemplo potius impendit.

M. Cato, from the hostile shore on which he had remained for several days, when, the signal for departure having been given three times, he had loosed the fleet, and a certain man left behind from among the soldiers from the land by voice and gesture demanded that he be taken aboard, with the whole fleet turned back to the shore, ordered him, once seized, to be subjected to punishment; and the one whom the enemies were going to kill in ignominy he expended rather as an example.

Appius Claudius ex his, qui loco cesserant, decimum quemque militem sorte ductum fusti percussit.

Appius Claudius, from among those who had given ground, struck with a cudgel every tenth soldier drawn by lot.

Fabius Rullus consul ex duabus legionibus, quae loco cesserant, sorte ductos in conspectu militum securi percussit.

Fabius Rullus, consul, from the two legions that had yielded their position, those drawn by lot he struck with the axe in the sight of the soldiers.

Aquilius ternos ex centuriis, quarum statio ab hoste perrupta erat, securi percussit.

Aquilius struck with the axe three each from the centuries whose station had been broken through by the enemy.

M. Antonius, cum agger ab hostibus incensus esset, ex his, qui in opere fuerant, duarum cohortium militem decimavit et in singulos ex his centuriones animadvertit, legatum cum ignominia dimisit, reliquis ex legione hordeum dari iussit.

M. Antonius, when the rampart had been set on fire by the enemy, from those who had been on the work, decimated the soldiers of two cohorts and punished each of the centurions from among these; he dismissed the legate with ignominy, he ordered barley to be given to the rest from the legion.

In legionem, quae Regium oppidum iniussu ducis dir<ip>uerat, animadversumest ita, ut quattuor milia tradita custodiae necarentur: praeterea senatus consulto cautum est, ne quem ex eis sepelire vel lugere fas esset.

Against the legion which, without the order of its commander, had sacked the town of Rhegium, punishment was inflicted in such a way that 4,000, after being handed over to custody, were put to death; moreover, by a decree of the senate it was provided that it should be lawful for no one to bury or to mourn any of them.

L. Papirius Cursor dictator Fabium Rutilium magistrum equitum, quod adversum edictum eius quamvis prospere pugnaverat, <ad> virgas poposcit, caesum securi percussurus: nec contentioni aut precibus militum concessit animadversionem eumque profugientem Romam persecutus est, ne ibi quidem remisso prius supplicii metu, quam ad genua eius et Fabius cum patre provolveretur et pariter senatus ac populus rogarent.

L. Papirius Cursor, dictator, demanded Fabius Rutilius, the master of the horse, for the rods, because he had fought, although prosperously, contrary to his edict, intending to strike him with the axe: nor did he yield the punishment to the contention or the prayers of the soldiers, and he pursued him as he fled to Rome, not even there relaxing the fear of punishment before both Fabius with his father would roll themselves at his knees and the senate and the people alike would entreat.

Manlius, cui Imperioso postea cognomen fuit, filium, quod is contra edictum patris cum hoste pugnaverat, quamvis victorem in conspectu exercitus virgis caesum securi percussit.

Manlius, who afterwards bore the cognomen Imperiosus, struck his son with the axe, although victorious, after he had been beaten with rods, because he had fought with the enemy contrary to his father’s edict, in the sight of the army.

Manlius filius, exercitu pro se adversus patrem seditionem parante, negavit tanti esse quemquam, ut propter illum disciplina corrumperetur, et obtinuit, ut ipsum puniri paterentur.

Manlius the son, the army preparing a sedition on his behalf against his father, declared that no one was of such value that, on account of him, discipline should be corrupted, and he prevailed, that they should allow him to be punished.

Q. Fabius Maximus transfugarum dextras praecidit.

Q. Fabius Maximus cut off the right hands of the deserters.

C. Curio consul bello Dardanico circa Dyrrachium, cum ex quinque legionibus una seditione facta militiam detractasset securturamque se temeritatem ducis in expeditionem asperam et insidiosam negasset, quattuor legiones eduxit armatas et consistere ordinibus detectis armis velut in acie iussit. Post hoc seditiosam legionem inermem procedere discinctamque in conspectu armati exercitus stramenta coegit secare, postero autem die similiterfossam discinctos milites facere, nullisque precibus legionis impetrari ab eo potuit, ne signa eius summitteret nomenque aboleret, milites autem in supplementum ceterarum legionum distribueret.

Gaius Curio, consul, in the Dardanian war around Dyrrachium, when out of five legions one, a sedition having arisen, had refused military service and had denied that it would follow the leader’s temerity into an expedition rough and insidious, led out four legions armed and ordered them to stand in ranks with weapons uncovered, as if in battle-line. After this he compelled the seditious legion, unarmed and ungirded, to come forward and cut straw in the sight of the armed army, and on the following day similarly to make a trench, the soldiers ungirded; and by no entreaties of the legion could it be obtained from him that he should not lower its standards and obliterate its name, but rather that he should distribute the soldiers as a supplement to the other legions.

Q. Fulvio Appio Claudio consulibus milites ex pugna Cannensi in Siciliam a senatu relegati postulaverunt a consule M. Marcello, ut in proeliumducerentur. Ille senatum consuluit: senatus negavit sibi placere committihis rempublicam, qui eam deseruissent: Marcello tamen permisit facere, quod videretur, dum ne quis eorum munere vacaret neve donaretur neve quod praemium ferret aut in Italiam reportaretur, dum Poeni in ea fuissent.

Under the consuls Q. Fulvius and Appius Claudius, the soldiers relegated by the senate to Sicily from the battle of Cannae requested from the consul M. Marcellus that they be led into battle. He consulted the senate: the senate said it was not pleasing to it that the republic be committed to those who had deserted it; nevertheless it permitted Marcellus to do what seemed good, provided that none of them be exempt from duty, nor be presented with a donative, nor bear any reward, nor be brought back into Italy, so long as the Carthaginians were in it.

M. Salinator consularis damnatus est a populo, quod praedam non aequaliter diviserat militibus.

M. Salinator, of consular rank, was condemned by the people, because he had not divided the plunder equally among the soldiers.

Cum ab Liguribus in proelio Q. Petilius consul interfectus esset, decrevitsenatus, uti ea legio, in cuius acie consul erat occisus, tota infrequens referretur, stipendium ei annuum non daretur, aera reciderentur.

When by the Ligurians in battle the consul Quintus Petilius had been slain, the senate decreed that the legion in whose battle line the consul had been killed be reported throughout as under-strength, that its annual stipend not be given, and that their pay be cut.

DE EFFECTU DISCIPLINAE

ON THE EFFECT OF DISCIPLINE

Bruti et Cassi exercitus, memoriae proditum est, bello civili cum una per Macedoniam iter facerent priorque Brutus ad fluvium, in quo pontem iungi oportebat, pervenisset, Cassi tamen exercitum et in efficiendo ponte et in maturando transitu praecessisse: qui vigor disciplinae effecit, ne solum in operibus, verum et in summa belli praestarent Cassiani Brutianos.

It has been handed down to memory that, in the civil war, when the armies of Brutus and Cassius were making a journey together through Macedonia and Brutus had arrived first at a river at which it was necessary that a bridge be joined, nevertheless Cassius’s army outstripped them both in constructing the bridge and in hastening the crossing: such vigor of discipline brought it about that the Cassians excelled the Brutians not only in works, but also in the outcome of the war.

C. Marius, cum facultatem eligendi exercitus haberet ex duobus, qui sub Rutilio et qui sub Metello ac postea sub se ipso meruerant, Rutilianum quamquam minorem, quia certioris disciplinae arbitrabatur, praeoptavit. Domitius Corbulo duabus legionibus et paucissimis auxiliis disciplina correcta Parthos sustinuit.

C. Marius, when he had the faculty of choosing an army from two—the one who had served under Rutilius and the one under Metellus and afterwards under himself—preferred the Rutilian, although smaller, because he judged it to be of more certain discipline. Domitius Corbulo, with two legions and very few auxiliaries, discipline corrected, withstood the Parthians.

Alexander Macedo XL milibus hominum iam inde a Philippo patre disciplinae assuefactis orbem terrarum aggressus innumerabiles hostium copias vicit.

Alexander the Macedonian, with 40 thousand men habituated to discipline already from Philip his father, having set upon the world, conquered innumerable forces of the enemy.

Cyrus bello adversus Persas quattuordecim milibus armatorum immensas difficultates superavit.

Cyrus, in war against the Persians, overcame immense difficulties with fourteen thousand armed men.

Epaminondas, dux Thebanorum, quattuor milibus hominum, ex quibusCCCC tantum equites erant, Lacedaemoniorum exercitum viginti quattuor milium peditum, equitum mille sescentorum vicit.

Epaminondas, leader of the Thebans, with 4,000 men, of whom only 400 were horsemen, defeated the army of the Lacedaemonians of 24,000 infantry and 1,600 cavalry.

A quattuordecim milibus Graecorum, qui numerus in auxiliis Cyri adversus Artaxerxen fuit, centum milia barbarorum proelio superata sunt.

By fourteen thousand Greeks, which number was in the auxiliaries of Cyrus against Artaxerxes, a hundred thousand barbarians were overcome in battle.

Eadem Graecorum [proelio] quattuordecim milia amissis ducibus, reditus sui cura uni ex corpore suo Xenophonti Atheniensi demandata, per iniqua et ignota loca incolumia reversa sunt.

The same fourteen thousand of the Greeks, their leaders lost in [battle], the care of their return having been entrusted to one from their own body, Xenophon the Athenian, returned unscathed through difficult and unknown places.

Xerxes a trecentis Lacedaemoniorum ad Thermopylas vexatus, cum vix eos confecisset, hoc se deceptum aiebat, quod multos quidem homines haberet, viros autem disciplinae tenaces nullos.

Xerxes, harried by three hundred Lacedaemonians at Thermopylae, when he had scarcely subdued them, said that he had been deceived in this respect: that he had many men indeed, but no men tenacious of discipline.

DE CONTINENTIA

ON CONTINENCE

M. Catonem vino eodem quo remiges contentum fuisse traditur.

It is handed down that M. Cato was content with the same wine as the rowers.

Fabricius, cum Cineas legatus Epirotarum grande pondus auri dono ei daret, non accepto eo dixit malle se habentibus id imperare quam habere.

Fabricius, when Cineas, legate of the Epirotes, was giving him as a gift a great weight of gold, not accepting it, said that he preferred to command those who had it rather than to have it.

Atilius Regulus, cum summis rebus praefuisset, adeo pauper fuit, ut se coniugem liberosque tolararet agello, qui colebatur per unum vilicum: cuius audita morte scripsit senatui de successore, destitutis rebus obitu servi necessariam esse praesentiam suam.

Atilius Regulus, though he had presided over the highest affairs, was so poor that he supported himself, his wife, and his children by a little field, which was cultivated by a single bailiff: on hearing of whose death he wrote to the senate about a successor, since, his affairs left destitute by the slave’s decease, his own presence was necessary.

Cn. Scipio post res prospere in Hispania gestas in summa paupertate decessit, ne ea quidem relicta pecunia, quae sufficeret in dotem filiarum, quas ob inopiam publice dotavit senatus.

Cn. Scipio, after conducting affairs prosperously in Hispania, died in extreme poverty, not even leaving that money which would suffice for the dowries of his daughters, whom, on account of his indigence, the senate endowed with dowries at public expense.

Idem praestiterunt Athenienses filiis Aristidis post amplissimarum rerum administrationem in maxima paupertate defuncti.

The Athenians rendered the same to the sons of Aristides, he, after the administration of most ample affairs, having died in very great poverty.

Epaminondas, dux Thebanorum, tantae abstinentiae fuit, ut in suppellectilieius praeter stoream et unicum veru nihil inveniretur.

Epaminondas, leader of the Thebans, was of such abstinence that in his furnishings nothing was found except a straw mat and a single spit.

Hannibal surgere de nocte solitus ante noctem non requiescebat: crepusculodemum ad cenam vocabat neque amplius quam duobus lectis discumbebaturapud eum.

Hannibal, accustomed to rise at night, did not rest before night: only at twilight he would call for dinner, and no more than two couches were reclined upon in his presence.

Idem, cum sub Hasdrubale imperatore militaret, plerumque super nudam humum sagulo tectus somnos capiebat.

The same man, when he was soldiering under Hasdrubal the general, for the most part would take sleep upon the bare ground, covered with a little cloak (sagulum).

Aemilianum Scipionem traditur in itinere cum amicis ambulantem accepto pane vesci solitum.

It is handed down that Scipio Aemilianus, walking with friends on a journey, was accustomed to feed on bread once it had been received.

Idem et de Alexandro Macedone dicitur.

The same is said also of Alexander the Macedonian.

Masinissam, nonagensimum aetatis annum agentem, meridie ante tabernaculum stantem vel ambulantem capere solitum cibos legimus.

We read that Masinissa, spending the ninetieth year of his age, at midday before his tent, standing or walking, was accustomed to take his food.

M'. Curius, cum victis ab eo Sabinis ex senatus consulto ampliaretur ei modus agri, quem consummati milites accipiebant, gregalium portione contentus fuit, malum civem dicens, cui non esset idem quod ceteris satis.

M'. Curius, when, the Sabines having been conquered by him, by decree of the senate the extent of land which soldiers who had completed their service were receiving was to be enlarged for him, was content with the portion of the rank-and-file, saying that a bad citizen is he for whom that which is enough for the others is not enough.

Universi quoque exercitus notabilis saepe fuit continentia, sicut eius qui sub M. Scauro meruit. Namque memoriae tradidit Scaurus pomiferam arborem, quam in pede castrorum fuerat complexa metatio, postero die abeunte exercitu intactis fructibus relictam.

The entire army, too, was often notable for continence, as that which served under M. Scaurus. For Scaurus has handed down to memory a fruit-bearing tree, which the laying-out at the foot of the camp had encompassed, left on the following day, as the army departed, with its fruits untouched.

Auspiciis Imperatoris Caesaris Domitiani Augusti Germanici eo bello, quod Iulius Civilis in Gallia moverat, Lingonum opulentissima civitas, quae ad Civilem desciverat, cum adveniente exercitu Caesaris populationem timeret, quod contra exspectationem inviolata nihil ex rebus suis amiserat, ad obsequium redacta septuaginta milia armatorum tradidit mihi.

Under the auspices of the Emperor Caesar Domitian Augustus Germanicus, in that war which Julius Civilis had stirred up in Gaul, the most opulent city of the Lingones, which had defected to Civilis, when, with the army of Caesar arriving, it feared a devastation, because, contrary to expectation, being inviolata it had lost nothing of its goods, reduced to obedience handed over to me seventy thousand men under arms.

L. Mummius, qui Corintho capta non Italiam solum sed etiam provinciastabulis statuisque exornavit, adeo nihil ex tantis manubiis in suum convertit, ut filiam eius inopem senatus ex publico dotaverit.

L. Mummius, who, with Corinth captured, adorned not Italy only but also the provinces with panels and statues, to such a degree converted nothing of so great spoils to his own use, that the senate endowed his impoverished daughter from the public funds.

DE IUSTITIA

ON JUSTICE

Camillo Faliscos obsidenti ludi magister liberos Faliscorum tamquam ambulandi causa extra murum eductos tradidit, dicens retentis eis obsidibus necessario civitatem imperata facturam. Camillus non solum sprevit perfidiam,sed et restrictis post terga manibus magistrum virgis agendum ad parentes tradidit pueris, adeptus beneficio victoriam, quam fraude non concupierat: nam Falisci ob hanc iustitiam sponte ei se dediderunt.

While Camillus was besieging the Faliscans, the schoolmaster led the children of the Faliscans outside the wall on the pretext of taking a walk and handed them over, saying that, with them held as hostages, the state would of necessity do what was commanded. Camillus not only spurned the perfidy,but also, the man’s hands bound behind his back, handed the master over to the parents to be driven with rods by the boys, having obtained by beneficence a victory which he had not coveted by fraud: for the Faliscans, on account of this justice, of their own accord surrendered themselves to him.

Ad Fabricium, ducem Romanorum, medicus Pyrrhi, Epirotarum regis, pervenit pollicitusque est daturum se Pyrrho venenum, si merces sibi, in qua operae pretium foret, constitueretur. Quo facinore Fabricius egere victoriam suam non arbitratus regi medicum detexit atque ea fide meruit, ut ad petendam amicitiam Romanorum compelleret Pyrrhum.

To Fabricius, leader of the Romans, there came the physician of Pyrrhus, king of the Epirotes, and he promised that he would give poison to Pyrrhus, if a reward for himself, in which there would be a price for the effort, were fixed. Not thinking to obtain his victory by such a crime, Fabricius revealed the physician to the king and by that fidelity earned this, that he compelled Pyrrhus to seek the friendship of the Romans.

DE CONSTANTIA

ON CONSTANCY

Cn. Pompeius minantibus direpturos pecuniam militibus, quae in triumpho ferretur, Servilio et Glaucia cohortantibus, ut divideret eam, ne seditio fieret, affirmavit non triumphaturum se potius sed moriturum, quam licentiae militum succumberet, castigatisque oratione gravi laureatos fasces obiecit, ut ab illorum inciperent direptione: eaque invidia redegit eos ad modestiam.

Gnaeus Pompeius, with the soldiers threatening that they would despoil the money which was being borne in the triumph, and with Servilius and Glaucia exhorting him to divide it, lest a sedition arise, declared that he would not triumph, but would rather die, than succumb to the license of the soldiers; and, after chastising them with a grave oration, he set forth the laurel-wreathed fasces, that they might begin with the plundering of those: and by that odium he reduced them to moderation.

C. Caesar, seditione in tumultu civilium armorum facta, maxime animis tumentibus, legionem totam exauctoravit, ducibus seditionis securi percussis:mox eosdem, quos exauctoraverat, ignominiam deprecantis restituit et optimos milites habuit.

C. Caesar, when a sedition had arisen amid the tumult of civil arms, with spirits especially swollen, discharged the whole legion, the leaders of the sedition having been beheaded by the axe:soon the same men whom he had discharged, pleading to avert disgrace, he reinstated and he had them as the best of soldiers.

Postumius consularis cohortatus suos, cum interrogatus esset a militibus,quid imperaret, dixit, ut se imitarentur, et arrepto signo hostis primus invasit: quem secuti victoriam adepti sunt.

Postumius, of consular rank, having encouraged his men, when he was asked by the soldiers what he commanded, said that they should imitate him, and, the enemy’s standard having been snatched, he was the first to charge; following him they gained victory.

Claudius Marcellus, cum in manus Gallorum imprudens incidisset, circumspiciendae regionis qua evaderet causa equum in orbem flexit, deinde cum omnia esse infesta vidisset, precatus deos in medios hostis irrupit: quibus inopinata audacia perculsis ducem quoque eorum trucidavit atque, ubi spes salutis vix superfuerat, inde opima rettulit spolia.

Claudius Marcellus, when he had unwittingly fallen into the hands of the Gauls, turned his horse in a circle for the sake of surveying the region by which he might escape; then, when he had seen that everything was hostile, having prayed to the gods he burst into the midst of the enemy: with them struck by the unexpected audacity, he even cut down their leader, and, when scarcely a hope of safety remained, from there he carried back the opima spoils.

L. Paulus, amisso ad Cannas exercitu, offerente equom Lentulo, quo fugeret, superesse cladi quamquam non per ipsum contractae noluit, sed in eo saxo, cui se vulneratus acclinaverat, persedit, donec ab hostibus oppressus confoderetur.

L. Paulus, with his army lost at Cannae, as Lentulus was offering a horse by which he might flee, did not wish to survive the calamity, although not incurred by himself, but on that rock, to which, wounded, he had leaned, he remained seated until, overwhelmed by the enemies, he was run through.

Varro, collega eius, vel maiore constantia post eandem cladem vixit gratiaeque ei a senatu et populo actae sunt, quod non desperasset rem publicam. Non autem vitae cupiditate, sed rei publicae amore se superfuisse reliquo aetatis suae tempore approbavit: et barbam capillumque summisit et postea numquam recubans cibum cepit; honoribus quoque, cum ei deferrentur a populo, renuntiavit, dicens felicioribus magistratibus rei publicae opus esse.

Varro, his colleague, lived with even greater constancy after the same disaster, and thanks were given to him by the senate and the people, because he had not despaired of the Republic. Not, however, from a desire for life, but from love of the Republic, he proved that he had survived for the remainder of his lifetime: and he let his beard and hair grow long and thereafter, never reclining, he took food; and he also renounced the honors, when they were being conferred upon him by the people, saying that the Republic had need of more fortunate magistrates.

Sempronius Tuditanus et Cn. Octavius tribuni militum omnibus fusis ad Cannas, cum in minoribus castris circumsederentur, suaserunt commilitonibus, stringerent gladios et per hostium praesidia erumperent secum, id sibi animi esse, etiamsi nemini ad erumpendum audacia fuisset, affirmantes: de cunctantibus XII omnino equitibus, L. Peditibus, qui comitari sustinerent, repertis incolumes Canusium pervenerunt.

Sempronius Tuditanus and Cn. Octavius, military tribunes, when all had been routed at Cannae, as they were being besieged in the smaller camps, advised their comrades-in-arms to draw their swords and to break out through the enemy posts with them, affirming that such was their animus, even if no one had the audacity for breaking out: from among the hesitant, with 12 horsemen in all and 50 foot soldiers found who could accompany, they reached Canusium unharmed.

C. Fonteius Crassus in Hispania cum tribus milibus hominum praedatumprofectus locoque iniquo circumventus ab Hasdrubale, ad primos tantum ordines relato consilio, incipiente nocte, quo tempore minime exspectabatur, per stationes hostium erupit.

C. Fonteius Crassus in Spain, having set out to plunder with three thousand men and, in a disadvantageous position, surrounded by Hasdrubal, with the plan communicated only to the front ranks, when night was beginning—at the time when it was least expected—broke out through the enemy pickets.

P. Decius tribunus militum bello Samnitico Cornelio consuli iniquis locis deprehenso ab hostibus suasit, ut ad occupandum collem, qui in propinquo erat, modicam manum mitteret, seque ducem his qui mittebantur obtulit: avocatus in diversum hostis emisit consulem, Decium autem cinxit obseditque. Illas quoque angustias nocte eruptione facta cum eluctatus esset Decius, incolumis cum militibus consuli accessit.

P. Decius, a tribune of the soldiers, in the Samnite War, when Cornelius the consul had been caught by the enemies in disadvantageous places, advised that, to seize a hill which was close at hand, he should send a modest band, and he offered himself as leader to those who were being sent: the enemy, drawn off in a different direction, let the consul go, but surrounded and besieged Decius. Even from those straits, when a sortie had been made at night and Decius had struggled out, he, unharmed with his soldiers, came to the consul.

Idem fecit sub Atilio Calatino consule, cuius varie traduntur nomina: alii Laberium, nonnulli Q. Caedicium, plurimi Calpurnium Flammam vocitatum scripserunt. Hic cum demissum in eam vallem videret exercitum, cuius latera omniaque superiora hostis insederat, depoposcit et accepit a consule trecentos milites, quos hortatus, ut virtute sua exercitum servarent,in mediam vallem decucurrit: ad opprimendos eos undique descendit hostis longoque et aspero proelio retentus occasionem consuli ad extrahendumexercitum dedit.

He did the same under the consul Atilius Calatinus, whose names are variously handed down: some wrote that he was called Laberius, some Q. Caedicius, very many Calpurnius Flamma. This man, when he saw the army let down into that valley, whose sides and all the higher ground the enemy had occupied, demanded and received from the consul three hundred soldiers; having exhorted them, that by their manliness they might save the army,in the middle of the valley he ran down: to crush them the enemy descended from all sides, and, held by a long and rough battle, he gave the consul an opportunity to draw out thearmy.

C. Caesar adversus Germanos et regem Ariovistum pugnaturus, confusis suorum animis pro contione dixit nullius se eo die opera nisi decimae legionis usurum: quo assecutus est, ut et decimani tamquam praecipuae fortitudinis testimonio concitarentur et ceteri pudore, ne penes alios gloria virtutis esset. Lacedaemonius quidam nobilis, Philippo denuntiante multis se prohibiturum,nisi civitas sibi traderetur, "num", inquit, "et pro patria mori nos prohibebit?"

C. Caesar, about to fight against the Germans and King Ariovistus, when the spirits of his men were confounded, said before the assembly that he would use on that day the service of no one except the Tenth Legion: by this he achieved that both the men of the Tenth were stirred, as by a testimony of preeminent fortitude, and the rest by shame, lest the glory of valor be in the possession of others. A certain noble Lacedaemonian, when Philip gave notice that he would forbid many things unless the city were handed over to him, said, "Will he even forbid us to die for our fatherland?"

Leonidas Lacedaemonius, cum dicerentur Persae sagittarum multitudine nubes esse facturi, fertur dixisse: "melius in umbra pugnabimus."

Leonidas the Lacedaemonian, when it was being said that the Persians by a multitude of arrows would make clouds, is reported to have said: "we will fight better in the shade."

C. Aelius praetor urbanus, cum ei ius dicenti picus in capite insedisset et haruspices respondissent dimissa ave hostium victoriam fore, necata populum Romanum superiorem, at C. Aelium cum familia periturum, non dubitavit necare picum: atque nostro exercitu vincente ipse cum quattuordecimAeliis ex eadem familia in proelio est occisus. [Hunc quidam non C. Caelium, sed Laelium fuisse et Laelios, non Caelios perisse credunt.]

C. Aelius, the urban praetor, when, as he was pronouncing judgment, a woodpecker had perched upon his head and the haruspices replied that, with the bird released, there would be victory of the enemies, but, if it were killed, the Roman People would be superior, yet C. Aelius with his household would perish, did not hesitate to kill the woodpecker; and with our army winning, he himself, with fourteenAelii from the same family, was slain in battle. [Some believe that this man was not C. Caelius, but Laelius, and that the Laelii, not the Caelii, perished.]

P. Decius, primo pater, postea filius, in magistratu se pro re publica devoverunt admissisque in hostem equis adepti victoriam patriae contulerunt.

P. Decius, first the father, afterwards the son, while in magistracy devoted themselves for the republic; and, the horses urged against the enemy, having attained victory, they conferred it upon the fatherland.

P. Crassus, cum bellum adversus Aristonicum in Asia gerens inter Elaeam et Myrinam in hostium copias incidisset vivosque abduceretur, exsecratus in consule Romano captivitatem virga, qua ad equum erat usus, oculum Thracis, a quo tenebatur, eruit atque ab eo per dolorem concitato transverberatus dedecus servitutis, ut voluerat, effugit.

P. Crassus, while waging war against Aristonicus in Asia, when he had fallen among the enemy’s forces between Elaea and Myrina and was being led away alive, having execrated captivity as a Roman consul, with the rod which he had used for his horse gouged out the eye of the Thracian by whom he was held; and, when that man, stirred by pain, ran him through, he escaped the disgrace of servitude, as he had wished.

M. Cato, Censorii filius, in acie decidente equo prolapsus, cum se recollegissetanimadvertissetque gladium excidisse vaginae, veritus ignominiam redit in hostem exceptisque aliquot vulneribus, reciperato demum gladio, reversus est ad suos.

Marcus Cato, son of the Censor, when, in the battle-line as it was giving way, he had been thrown from his horse, after he had gathered himself and had observed that his sword had fallen from its sheath, fearing ignominy he returned into the enemy, and, having received several wounds, with his sword at last recovered, he returned to his own.

Petilini a Poenis obsessi parentes et liberos propter inopiam eiecerunt, ipsi coriis madefactis et igne siccatis foliisque arborum et omni genere animalium vitam trahentes undecim menses obsidionem toleraverunt.

The Petelinians, besieged by the Carthaginians, cast out their parents and children on account of inopia; they themselves, protracting life on hides soaked and dried by fire, on the leaves of trees, and on every kind of animal, endured the siege for eleven months.

Hispani Consabrae obsessi eadem omnia passi sunt nec oppidum Hirtuleiotradiderunt.

The Spaniards of Consabra, besieged, suffered all the same things, nor did they hand over the town to Hirtuleius.

Casilini obsidente Hannibale tantam inopiam perpessi sunt, ut CC denariis murem venisse proditum memoriae sit eiusque venditorem fame perisse, emptorem autem vixisse: fidem tamen servare Romanis perseveraverunt.

At Casilinum, with Hannibal besieging, they endured such indigence that it has been handed down to memory that a mouse was sold for 200 denarii, and its seller perished from hunger, but the buyer lived; nevertheless they persevered in keeping faith with the Romans.

Cyzicum cum oppugnaret Mithridates, captivos eius urbis produxit ostenditque obsessis, arbitratus futurum, ut miseratione suorum compelleret ad deditionem oppidanos: at illi cohortati ad patiendam fortiter mortem captivos servare Romanis fidem perseveraverunt.

When Mithridates was besieging Cyzicus, he brought forth the captives of that city and showed them to the besieged, thinking it would come to pass that by commiseration for their own people he would compel the townsmen to surrender: but they, having exhorted the captives to endure death bravely, persevered in keeping faith with the Romans.

Segovienses, cum a Viriatho his liberi et coniuges redderentur, praeoptaveruntspectare supplicia pignorum suorum quam a Romanis deficere.

The Segovians, when by Viriathus their children and spouses were being returned to them, preferred to behold the punishments of their own hostages rather than to defect from the Romans.

Numantini, ne se dederent, fame mori praefixis foribus domuum suarum maluerunt.

The Numantines, so that they might not surrender, preferred to die of hunger, with the doors of their houses nailed fast.

DE AFFECTU ET MODERATIONE

ON AFFECT AND MODERATION

Q. Fabius hortante filio, ut locum idoneum paucorum iactura caperet, "visne", inquit, "tu ex illis paucis esse?"

Q. Fabius, with his son exhorting him to seize a suitable place at the loss of a few, "Do you wish," he said, "to be among those few?"

Xenophon, cum equo veheretur et pedites iugum quoddam occupare iussisset, unum ex eis obmurmurantem <audiens> [quod diceret] facile tam laboriosa sedentem imperare, desiluit et gregalem equo imposuit, cursu ipse ad destinatum iugum contendens. Cuius facti ruborem cum perpeti miles non posset, irridentibus commilitonibus sponte descendit: Xenophontemvix universi perpulerunt, ut conscenderet equum et laborem suum in necessaria duci munera reservaret.

Xenophon, while he was riding on a horse and had ordered the infantry to occupy a certain ridge, hearing one of them muttering <hearing> [that he was saying] that it is easy, while sitting, to command things so laborious, he leapt down and set the comrade upon the horse, he himself at a run striving toward the destined ridge. Since the soldier could not endure the shame of this deed, with his fellow-soldiers laughing, he of his own accord dismounted: Xenophon they all scarcely compelled to mount the horse and to reserve his labor for the duties necessary to the leader.

Alexander, cum hieme duceret exercitum, residens ad ignem recognoscerepraetereuntis copias coepit; cumque conspexisset quendam prope exanimatum frigore, considere loco suo iussit dixitque ei: "Si in Persis natus esses, in regia sella resedisse tibi capital foret, in Macedonia nato conceditur."

Alexander, when he was leading the army in winter, sitting by the fire began to review the passing forces; and when he had caught sight of a certain man nearly exanimate from the cold, he ordered him to sit in his own place and said to him: "If you had been born in Persia, to have re-seated yourself in the royal chair would be capital for you; born in Macedonia, it is permitted."

Divus Augustus Vespasianus, cum quendam adulescentem honeste natum, militiae inhabilem, angustiarum rei familiaris causa deductum ad longiorem ordinem rescisset, censu constituto honesta missione exauctoravit.

the deified Augustus Vespasian, when he had learned that a certain adolescent, of honorable birth, unfit for military service, had been led down into the rank-and-file by reason of the straits of his family estate, after fixing his census rating he discharged him with an honorable discharge.

DE VARIIS CONSILIIS

ON VARIOUS COUNSELS

C. Caesar dicebat idem sibi esse consilium adversus hostem, quod plerisque medicis contra vitia corporum, fame potius quam ferro superandi.

C. Caesar used to say that he had the same plan against the enemy as most physicians have against the vices of the body: that they should be overcome by hunger rather than by iron.

Domitius Corbulo dolabra [id est operibus] hostem vincendum esse dicebat.

Domitius Corbulo used to say that the enemy must be conquered by the mattock [that is, by works].

L. Paulus imperatorem senem moribus dicebat esse oportere, significans moderatiora sequenda consilia.

L. Paulus used to say that an emperor ought to be old in morals, indicating that more moderate counsels are to be followed.

Scipio Africanus fertur dixisse, cum eum parum quidam pugnacem dicerent: "imperatorem me mater, non bellatorem peperit."

Scipio Africanus is said to have said, when certain men called him not sufficiently pugnacious: "My mother bore me a commander, not a warrior."

C. Marius Teutono provocanti eum et postulanti, ut prodiret, respondit, si cupidus mortis esset, laqueo posse eum vitam finire: cum deinde instaret, gladiatorem contemptae staturae et prope exactae aetatis obiecit ei dixitque, si eum superasset, cum victore congressurum.

Gaius Marius, to a Teuton who was challenging him and demanding that he come forth, responded that, if he were desirous of death, he could finish his life by a halter; when thereafter he pressed him hard, he threw at him a gladiator of despised stature and of almost spent age, and said that, if he overcame him, he would engage with the victor.

Q. Sertorius, quod experimento didicerat imparem se universo Romanorumexercitui, ut barbaros quoque inconsulte pugnam deposcentis doceret,adductis in conspectum duobus equis, eorum praevalido alteri, alteri admodum exili duos admovit iuvenes similiter electos, robustum et gracilem.Ac robustiori imperavit equi exilis universam caudam abrumpere, gracili autem valentioris per singulos pilos vellere; cumque gracili successisset quod imperatum erat, validissimus cum infirmis equi cauda sine effectu luctaretur, "naturam", inquit Sertorius, "Romanarum virium per hoc vobis exemplum ostendi, milites: insuperabiles sunt universas aggredienti;easdem lacerabit et carpet, qui per partes attemptaverit."

Q. Sertorius, because by experiment he had learned himself unequal to the entire army of the Romans, in order also to teach the barbarians, who were indiscreetly demanding battle, he had two horses led into view; to one of them very powerful, to the other exceedingly slight, he brought near two youths similarly selected, a robust and a gracile one. And he ordered the more robust to break off the whole tail of the slight horse, but the gracile to pluck, hair by single hairs, that of the stronger; and when it had succeeded for the gracile in what had been ordered, the very strong, along with the weak, wrestled with the horse’s tail without effect, “the nature,” said Sertorius, “of Roman forces I have shown to you by this example, soldiers: they are insuperable to one who attacks them as a whole; the same he will lacerate and pluck, who shall attempt them by parts.”

Valerius Laevinus consul, cum intra castra sua exploratorem hostium deprehendisset magnamque copiarum suarum fiduciam haberet, circumduci eum iussit terrendique hostis causa exercitus suos visendos speculatoribus eorum, quotiens voluissent, patere.

Valerius Laevinus, the consul, when he had apprehended an enemy scout within his own camp and had great confidence in his own forces, ordered him to be led around, and, for the purpose of terrifying the enemy, that his armies be open to their scouts for viewing whenever they wished.

Caedi<ci>us primipilaris, qui in Germania post Varianam cladem obsessisnostris pro duce fuit, veritus, ne barbari ligna, quae congesta erant, vallo admoverent et castra eius incenderent, simulata lignorum inopia, missis undique, qui ea furarentur, effecit, ut Germani universos truncos amolirentur.

Caedi<ci>us, a primipilaris (chief centurion), who in Germany after the Varian disaster, when our men were besieged, served as their leader, fearing lest the barbarians should move the wood that had been heaped up to the rampart and burn his camp, by a simulated shortage of wood—sending out men on all sides to pilfer it—brought it about that the Germans removed all the logs.

Cn. Scipio bello navali amphoras pice et taeda plenas in hostium classem iaculatus, quarum iactus et pondere foret noxius et diffundendo, quae continuerant, alimentum praestaret incendio.

Gnaeus Scipio, in a naval war, hurled amphoras filled with pitch and torch-wood into the enemy fleet, the cast of which would be harmful both by their weight and, by diffusing what they had contained, would furnish fuel for the conflagration.

Hannibal regi Antiocho monstravit, ut in hostium classem vascula iacularetur viperis plena, quarum metu perterriti milites a dimicatione et nauticis ministeriis impedirentur.

Hannibal showed King Antiochus how he should hurl little vessels, full of vipers, into the enemy fleet, by the fear of which the soldiers, thoroughly terrified, would be impeded from combat and from nautical services.

Idem fecit iam cedente classe sua Prusias.

Prusias did the same, with his own fleet now in retreat.

M. Porcius Cato, in classem hostium cum transiluisset, deturbatis ex ea Poenis eorumque armis et insignibus inter suos distributis multas naves hostium, quos sociali habitu fefellerat, mersit.

Marcus Porcius Cato, when he had leapt across into the enemy fleet, with the Punics driven off from it and their arms and insignia distributed among his own men, sank many ships of the enemy, whom he had deceived in the guise of allies.

Athenienses, cum subinde a Lacedaemoniis infestarentur, diebus festis, quos sacros Minervae extra urbem celebrabant, omnium quidem colentium imitationem expresserunt, armis tamen [et] veste celatis: peracto ritu suo non statim Athenas reversi, sed protinus inde raptim acto Lacedaemonem versus agmine eo tempore, quo minime timebantur, agrum hostium, quibus subinde praedae fuerant, ultro depopulati sunt.

The Athenians, since they were repeatedly harried by the Lacedaemonians, on the feast days which they celebrated outside the city as sacred to Minerva, indeed expressed an imitation of all the worshipers, yet with arms and clothing concealed: when their rite had been completed, they did not at once return to Athens, but straightway from there, with the column driven hastily toward Lacedaemon, at the time when they were least feared, they in turn ravaged the enemy’s territory—those who had repeatedly preyed upon them.

Cassius onerarias naves, non magni ad alia usus, accensas opportuno vento in classem hostium misit et incendio eam consumpsit.

Cassius, cargo ships set ablaze—of no great use for other purposes—sent with a favorable wind into the enemy fleet, and consumed it by fire.

M. Livius, fuso Hasdrubale hortantibus eum quibusdam, ut hostem ad internicionem persequeretur, respondit: "aliqui et supersint, qui de victoria nostra hostibus nuntient."

Marcus Livius, Hasdrubal having been routed, while certain men were exhorting him to pursue the enemy to extermination, replied: "Let some even remain, to announce to the enemy our victory."

Scipio Africanus dicere solitus est hosti non solum dandam esse viam ad fugiendum, sed etiam muniendam.

Scipio Africanus was accustomed to say that to the enemy a way for flight ought not only to be given, but even to be fortified.

Paches Atheniensis affirmavit incolumes futuros hostes, si deponerent ferrum: eisque obsecutis condicionibus universos, qui in sagulis ferreas fibulas habuissent, interfici iussit.

Paches the Athenian affirmed that the enemies would be unharmed, if they should lay down their iron; and when they had complied with these conditions, he ordered all who had iron fibulae on their cloaks to be killed.

Hasdrubal subigendorum Numidarum causa ingressus fines eorum resistere parantibus affirmavit ad capiendos se venisse elephantos, quibus ferax est Numidia: ut hoc permitterent, poscentibus <pretium cum> promisisset, ea persuasione avocatos adortus sub leges redegit.

Hasdrubal, for the purpose of subduing the Numidians, having entered their borders, as they were preparing to resist, affirmed that he had come to capture elephants, with which Numidia is fertile: that they might permit this, when they were demanding <pretium cum>, he promised it; and by that persuasion, having drawn them off, he attacked them and reduced them under laws.

Alcetas Lacedaemonius, ut Thebanorum commeatum facilius ex inopinatoaggrederetur, in occulto paratis navibus, tamquam unam omnino haberet triremem, vicibus in ea remigem exercebat: quodam deinde tempore omnis naves in Thebanos transnavigantis immisit et commeatibus eorum potitus est.

Alcetas the Lacedaemonian, in order that he might more easily assail the Thebans’ convoy by surprise, with ships prepared in concealment, as though he had only one trireme altogether, in turns was exercising the oar-crew in it: then at a certain time he launched all the ships to cross over against the Thebans and took possession of their supplies.

Ptolomaeus adversus Perdiccam exercitu praevalentem, ipse invalidus, omne pecudum genus, religatis ad tergum, quae traherent, sarmentis, agendum per paucos curavit equites: ipse praegressus cum copiis, quas habebat, effecit, ut pulvis, quem pecora excitaverant, speciem magni sequentisexercitus moveret, cuius exspectatione territum vicit hostem.

Ptolemy, against Perdiccas, whose army was prevalent, while he himself was weak, saw to it that every kind of cattle, with brushwood bound to their backs to drag, should be driven by a few horsemen; he himself, having gone on ahead with the forces he had, brought it about that the dust which the herds had stirred up would create the appearance of a great army following, and by the expectation of it he conquered the enemy, terrified.

Myronides Atheniensis adversus Thebanos equitatu praevalentes pugnaturusin campis suos edocuit manentibus esse spem aliquam salutis, cedentibusautem perniciem certissimam: qua ratione confirmatis militibus victoriamconsecutus est.

Myronides the Athenian, about to fight on the plains against the Thebans, prevalent in cavalry, instructed his men that for those remaining there was some hope of safety, but for those yielding the most certain perdition: by this reasoning, with the soldiers confirmed, he achieved victory.

C. Pinarius in Sicilia praesidio Hennae praepositus, claves portarum, quas penes se habebat, reposcentibus magistratibus Hennensium, quod suspectos eos, tamquam transitionem ad Poenum pararent, habebat, petit unius noctis ad deliberationem spatium indicataque militibus fraude Graecorum,cum praecepisset, ut parati postera die signum exspectarent, prima luce assistentibus militibus redditurum se claves dixit, si idem omnes Hennenses censuissent: ob eam causam universa multitudine convocata in theatrum et idem flagitante, manifesta deficiendi voluntate, signo militibus dato universos Hennenses cecidit.

C. Pinarius, placed over the garrison of Enna in Sicily, when the magistrates of the Hennenses were demanding back the keys of the gates which he had in his keeping—because he held them suspect, as though they were preparing a transition to the Punic side—asked a space of one night for deliberation; and, the fraud of the Greeks having been indicated to the soldiers, after he had instructed them to be ready to await the signal on the following day, at first light, with the soldiers standing by, he said that he would return the keys, if all the Hennenses had decided the same: for that cause, with the whole multitude convoked into the theater and demanding the same, with a manifest will of defection, the signal having been given to the soldiers, he cut down all the Hennenses.

Iphicrates, dux Atheniensium, classem suam hostili habitu instruxit et ad eos quos suspectos habebat invectus, cum effuso studio exciperetur, deprehensa eorum perfidia oppidum diripuit.

Iphicrates, general of the Athenians, equipped his fleet in hostile guise and, having sailed in against those whom he held suspect, when he was welcomed with outpoured zeal, their perfidy having been detected, he sacked the town.

Ti. Gracchus, cum edixisset futurum, ut ex volonum numero fortibus libertatem daret, ignavos crucibus affigeret, et quattuor milia ex his, quia segnius pugnaverant, metu poenae in quendam munitum collem coissent, misit qui eis dicerent totum sibi exercitum volonum vicisse videri, quod hostes fudissent; et sic eos et sua fide et ipsorum metu exsolutos recepit.

Tiberius Gracchus, when he had proclaimed that it would be thus: that from the number of the volunteers he would grant liberty to the brave, but would affix the cowardly to crosses, and four thousand of these, because they had fought more sluggishly, had gathered for fear of punishment onto a certain fortified hill, sent men to tell them that it seemed to him that the whole army of volunteers had won, because they had put the enemies to rout; and so he received them back, released both by his own good faith and by their own fear.

Hannibal post proelium, quo ingentem cladem ad Trasumennum Romani acceperunt, cum sex milia hostium interposita pactione in potestatemsuam redegisset, socios Latini nominis benigne in civitates suas dimisit, dictitans se Italiae liberandae causa bellum gerere: eorumque opera aliquot populos in deditionem accepit.

Hannibal, after the battle in which the Romans received a huge calamity at Trasimene, when he had, by an interposed pact, reduced six thousand of the enemy into his power, kindly dismissed the allies of the Latin name to their own cities, repeatedly saying that he was waging war for the sake of liberating Italy; and by their agency he received several peoples into surrender.

Mago, cum Locri obsiderentur a Crispino classis nostrae praefecto, diffudit ad Romana castra rumorem Hannibalem caeso Marcello ad liberandosobsidione Locros venire; clam deinde equites emissos iussit a montibus, qui in conspectu erant, se ostendere: quo facto effecit, ut Crispinus Hannibalemadesse ratus conscenderet naves ac fugeret.

Mago, when Locri was being besieged by Crispinus, prefect of our fleet, spread to the Roman camp the rumor that Hannibal, with Marcellus slain, was coming to liberate the Locrians from the siege; then secretly he ordered the cavalry he had sent out to show themselves from the mountains which were in sight: this done, he effected that Crispinus, supposing Hannibal to be present, went on board the ships and fled.

Scipio Aemilianus ad Numantiam omnibus non cohortibus tantum, sed centuriis sagittarios et funditores interposuit.

At Numantia, Scipio Aemilianus interposed archers and slingers not only among the cohorts, but among the centuries as well.

Pelopidas Thebanus, cum a Thessalis in fugam versus flumen, in quo tumultuarium fecerat pontem, liberasset, ne sequentibus hostibus idem transitus maneret, novissimo agmini praecepit, incenderent pontem.

Pelopidas the Theban, when, turned to flight by the Thessalians, he had made for a river, on which he had fashioned a tumultuary (improvised) bridge, and had thus freed himself, ordered the rearmost column to set the bridge ablaze, lest the same transit should remain for the pursuing enemies.

Romani, cum Campanis equitibus nullo modo pares essent, Q. Naevius centurio in exercitu Fulvi Flacci proconsulis excogitavit, ut delectos ex toto exercitu, qui velocissimi videbantur et mediocris erant staturae, parmulis non amplis et galeiculis gladiisque ac septenis singulos hastis quaternorum circiter pedum armare<t> eosque adiunctos equitibus iuberet usque ad moenia provehi, deinde ibi positos, nostris equitibus recipientibus, inter hostium equitatum proeliari: quo facto vehementer et ipsi Campani afflicti sunt et maxime equi eorum, quibus turbatis prona nostris victoria fuit.

The Romans, since they were in no way equal to the Campanian cavalry, Quintus Naevius, a centurion in the army of the proconsul Fulvius Flaccus, devised this: that he should arm chosen men from the whole army, who seemed the swiftest and were of medium stature, with small shields not large, with little helmets, with swords, and with seven spears apiece, each about four feet long; and that, joined to the horse, he should order them to be carried forward up to the walls; then, once posted there, with our horsemen withdrawing, to fight amid the enemy’s cavalry. This done, both the Campanians themselves were sorely afflicted, and especially their horses; and with these thrown into confusion, victory was downhill for our men.

P. Scipio in Lydia, cum die ac nocte imbre continuo vexatum exercitum Antiochi videret nec homines tantum aut equos deficere, verum arcus quoque madentibus nervis inhabiles factos, exhortatus est fratrem, ut postero quamvis religioso die committeret proelium: quam sententiam secuta victoriaest.

P. Scipio in Lydia, when he saw Antiochus’s army harassed day and night by continuous rain, and not only men and horses failing, but even bows rendered unserviceable with their strings soaked, exhorted his brother to commit battle on the following, however religious, day: and victory followed that counsel.

Catonem vastantem Hispaniam legati Ilergetum, qui sociorum populus erat, adierunt oraveruntque auxilia. Ille, ne aut negato adiutorio socios alienaret aut diducto exercitu vires minueret, tertiam partem militum cibaria parare et naves ascendere iussit, dato praecepto, ut cau<sa>ti ventos retro redirent: praecedens interim adventantis auxilii rumor ut Ilergetum excitavit animos, ita hostium consilia discussit.

The envoys of the Ilergetes, a people of the allies, approached Cato as he was laying waste Spain and begged for aid. He, lest either by denying assistance he alienate his allies or by drawing off the army he diminish his forces, ordered a third part of the soldiers to prepare rations and to board the ships, giving the instruction that, on the pretext of the winds, they should return back: meanwhile the rumor of the approaching aid, as it roused the spirits of the Ilergetes, so it broke up the counsels of the enemy.

C. Caesar, cum in partibus Pompeianis magna equitum Romanorum esset manus eaque armorum scientia milites conficeret, ora oculosque eorum gladiis peti iussit et sic aversa[m] facie[m] cedere coegit.

Gaius Caesar, when in the Pompeian party there was a great band of Roman horsemen and this, by the science of arms, was wearing out the soldiers, ordered that their mouths and eyes be aimed at with swords, and thus forced them, with face averted, to yield.

Voccaei, cum a Sempronio Graccho collatis signis urgerentur, universascopias cinxere plaustris, quae impleverant fortissimis viris muliebri veste tectis: Sempronium, tamquam adversus feminas audentius ad obsidendoshostis consurgentem, hi qui in plaustris erant aggressi fugaverunt.

The Vaccaei, when they were being pressed by Sempronius Gracchus with standards joined, surrounded all their forces with wagons, which they had filled with the bravest men covered in women’s garb: Sempronius, as though against women, more boldly rising up to beset the enemy, was attacked by those who were in the wagons and routed.

Eumenes Cardianus, ex successoribus Alexandri, in castello quodam clausus, quoniam exercere equos non poterat, certis cotidie horis ita suspendebat, ut posterioribus pedibus innixi, prioribus allevatis, dum naturalemassistendi appetunt consuetudinem, ad sudorem usque crura iactarent.

Eumenes of Cardia, one of Alexander’s successors, shut in a certain castle, since he could not exercise the horses, at fixed hours each day used to suspend them in such a way that, resting on the hind feet, with the forefeet lifted, while they seek the natural consuetude of standing, they would toss their legs even to the point of sweat.

M. Cato pollicentibus barbaris duces itinerum et insuper praesidium, si magna summa eis promitteretur, non dubitavit polliceri, quia aut victoribus ex spoliis hostilibus poterat dare aut interfectis exsolvebatur promisso.

M. Cato, with the barbarians promising guides for the routes and, in addition, a guard, if a great sum were promised them, did not hesitate to promise; for either, if they were victors, he could give from the hostile spoils, or, if they were slain, he was discharged from the promise.

Q. Maximus transfugere ad hostes volentem Statilium, nobilem clarae operae equitem, vocari ad se iussit eique excusavit, quod invidia commilitonumvirtutes illius ad id tempus ignorasset: tum donato ei equo pecuniam insuper largitus obtinuit, ut, quem ex conscientia trepidum arcessierat, laetum dimitteret et ex dubio in reliquum non minus fidelem quam fortem haberet equitem.

Q. Maximus ordered that Statilius, a noble cavalryman of illustrious service, who was wanting to desert to the enemies, be called to him; and to him he made excuse that, through the envy of his fellow-soldiers, he had up to that time been ignorant of his virtues: then, a horse having been given to him and money in addition bestowed, he obtained this—that the man whom, uneasy in conscience, he had summoned, he dismissed joyful, and, from being in doubt, he would have for the future a horseman no less faithful than brave.

Philippus, cum audisset Pythian quendam bonum pugnatorem alienatumsibi, quod tres filias inops vix aleret nec a rege adiuvaretur, monentibus quibusdam, uti eum caveret, "quid? Si", inquit, "partem aegram corporis haberem, absciderem potius quam curarem?" Deinde familiariter secreto elicitum Pythian, accepta difficultate necessitatium domesticarum, pecunia instruxit ac meliorem fidelioremque habuit, quam habuerat, antequam offenderet.

Philip, when he had heard that a certain Pythian, a good combatant, was alienated from him, because, being indigent, he scarcely supported three daughters and was not aided by the king, with certain persons admonishing him to beware of the man, said, “What? If I had a sick part of my body, would I cut it off rather than cure it?” Then, having drawn the Pythian aside in friendly secrecy, and having taken in the difficulty of his domestic necessities, he equipped him with money and had him better and more faithful than he had had him before he took offense.

T. Quintius Crispinus post infaustam adversus Poenos dimicationem, qua collegam Marcellum amiserat, cum comperisset potitum anulo interfectiHannibalem, litteras circa municipia totius Italiae dimisit, ne crederent epistulis, si quae Marcelli anulo signatae perferrentur: <ea> monitione consecutus est, ut Salapia et aliae urbes frustra Hannibalis dolis temptarentur.

T. Quintius Crispinus, after the ill-omened combat against the Punics, in which he had lost his colleague Marcellus, when he learned that Hannibal had gotten possession of the ring of the slain man, sent letters throughout the municipia of all Italy, that they should not trust letters, if any should be conveyed sealed with Marcellus’s ring: by <that> warning he achieved that Salapia and other cities were attempted in vain by Hannibal’s wiles.

Post Cannensem cladem perculsis ita Romanorum animis, ut pars magna reliquiarum nobilissimis auctoribus deserendae Italiae iniret consilium, P. Scipio adulescens admodum impetu facto in eo ipso, in quo talia agitabantur, coetu pronuntiavit manu se sua interfecturum, nisi qui iurasset non esse sibi mentem destituendae rei publicae: cumque ipse se primus religione tali obligasset, stricto gladio mortem uni ex proximis minatus, nisi acciperet sacramentum, illum metu, ceteros etiam exemplo coegit ad iurandum.

After the Cannae disaster, with the minds of the Romans so stricken that a great part of the remnant, under the most noble authorities, entered upon a plan of deserting Italy, P. Scipio, a very young man, by making an onset into that very assembly in which such things were being agitated, declared that he would kill with his own hand anyone who had not sworn that it was not his intention to abandon the republic; and when he himself had first bound himself by such a religious obligation, with sword drawn he threatened death to one of those nearest unless he would take the sacrament (oath), him he compelled by fear, and the rest also by example, to swear.

Volscorum castra cum prope a virgultis silvaque posita essent, Camillus ea omnia, quae conceptum ignem usque in vallum perferre poterant, incenditet sic adversarios exuit castris.

As the camp of the Volsci had been placed near thickets and forest, Camillus ignited all the things which could convey a kindled fire all the way to the rampart, and thus stripped the adversaries of their camp.

P. Crassus bello sociali eodem modo prope cum copiis omnibus interceptusest.

P. Crassus, in the Social War, was intercepted almost in the same manner, along with all his forces.

Q. Metellus in Hispania castra moturus, cum in agmine milites con<ti>nerevelle[n]t, pronuntiavit comperisse se insidias ab hostibus dispositas; idcirco ne discederent a signis neve agmen laxarent: quod cum [solveret] ex disciplina fecisset, exceptus forte veris insidiis, quia praedixerat, interritos.

Q. Metellus in Spain, about to move the camp, when he wished to keep the soldiers in the marching column, announced that he had learned that ambushes had been set by the enemies; therefore they were not to depart from the standards nor to loosen the column: which, when he had done in accordance with discipline, he was by chance caught by real ambushes; because he had predicted it, they were unafraid.