Liber III, Pars III — Quod non sufficit ad incedendum serio et gradatim, et ad cursum et saltum exercitare bellantes, sed sunt plura alia ad quae exercitandi sunt homines bellicosi. Cap. VII.

Liber III, Pars III — Quod non sufficit ad incedendum serio et gradatim, et ad cursum et saltum exercitare bellantes, sed sunt plura alia ad quae exercitandi sunt homines bellicosi. Cap. VII.

We can also list eight other things that soldiers should be trained for, in addition to the three we mentioned. First, they should be trained to carry weights. Second, they should be trained to attack and strike with a club. Third, they should be trained to throw darts or javelins, and to strike with a spear. Fourth, they should be trained to shoot arrows. Fifth, they should be trained to throw stones with slings. Sixth, they should be trained to strike with lead weights. Seventh, they should be trained to mount horses. Eighth, it's necessary to know the art of swimming. Furthermore, we should discuss how warriors should be trained to strike with swords and blades. But we will address this special chapter. First, warriors should be trained to carry weights, so they can get used to carrying more weight than the burden of their arms. For habit is almost a second nature. Therefore, when someone is accustomed to carrying a heavier load, it seems to them that they walk lightly if they are burdened with a lesser weight. Moreover, not only arms but also many other things must be borne in battle; therefore, it is not useless for warriors to become accustomed to carrying greater weights. Second, warriors should be trained to attack and strike with clubs. Vegetius recounts that in ancient times, among the Romans, many poles were set up in a certain field, and the young men who wanted to become excellent warriors trained with those poles in such a way that each one had a shield weighing twice as much as the shield carried in battle, and a wooden club also weighing twice as much. Each of those young men, thus burdened, would advance against one of those poles as if it were an enemy, striking the pole at its top, then at its bottom, and then in the middle, and would engage with the pole so fiercely as if he were striking an actual opponent. He would also do other things required for battle, as if he were fighting against an enemy. And when, for a long time, morning and evening, those young men were trained in this way, when they later came to battle, they were not burdened when striking with the club or enduring any of the burdens of war. Third, warriors should be trained to throw weapons and javelins, and to strike with a spear; this also applies to a fixed pole. In ancient times, it was customary for young men to be trained to strike fixed poles with a club, and they were also trained to strike with a weapon or a javelin, or with a spear. They would stand at a distance and train their arms so that they could strike the pole, or at least throw near it. Moreover, it should be noted that when throwing a weapon or a spear, the weapon itself must first be swung, and then thrust forcefully: for when the weapon is swung, due to the greater motion it creates in the air, it travels farther and inflicts a greater wound. Fourth, warriors should be trained to shoot arrows, either with bows or with crossbows. For it often happens that since we cannot immediately reach the enemy, it is useful to attack them with arrows; indeed, given that those fighting can join with the enemy, before they join, it is advantageous to terrify them with bows and crossbows. It is read that Scipio Africanus, when he had to contend for the Roman people, believed he could not hold off the enemy in any other way than by mixing selected archers in all the ranks. Fifth, warriors should be trained to throw stones with slings. This method of fighting was found in certain maritime islands, where boys (as Vegetius recounts) were so industrious that their mothers would not give them any food unless they first struck it with a sling. This exercise is useful because carrying a sling is no labor at all. Sometimes, however, it happens that there is a conflict in rocky places, and that a mountain must be defended if someone is to do so. In the assault of camps and cities, it is not useless to throw stones with slings. Sixth, warriors should be trained to strike with lead slings. For a lead or iron ball connected by a chain to a wooden handle delivers a powerful blow. For due to the greater force of the air, a ball strikes harder when thrown with a chain attached to a spear than if it were connected to the spear itself or to a wooden handle. For every kind of combat, warriors need to be trained to fight against others and enemies, using different methods of striking. Seventh, warriors should be trained for mounting horses. As Vegetius recounts, in ancient times wooden horses were made for young warriors to practice mounting, training indoors during winter and outside in summer; first, they would mount unarmed horses, and then armed. Moreover, they would mount those horses with drawn swords. So thoroughly were they trained in peace that they could mount their horses without delay in the chaos of battle. Eighth, warriors should be trained to know how to swim as well. For bridges are not always ready, and often the depth of the water is unknown. Because of ignorance of swimming, many find themselves in danger. This is why, among the Romans, it was an ancient custom that young men destined to be warriors, after they had trained for a large part of the day, would be taken to the river if the weather was suitable for swimming, so they could learn the art of swimming. Moreover, not only foot soldiers, but also cavalrymen, and even the horses themselves were trained to swim. It should be noted that some of these exercises are more suited to cavalry, some to infantry, and some to both. How this is the case does not require much consideration, and a clever mind cannot overlook it. For mounting horses is proper to cavalry; throwing stones with a sling seems to be proper to infantry. However, there are some things that are applicable in some way to both.