De principis audacia et animositate

De principis audacia et animositate

What good is it to be bold if fortune favors you and helps you along? Is it more fitting for the bold and courageous to be great and fortunate? Just as it is characteristic of recklessness and not of virtue to act without careful consideration, so it is a mark of true strength to dare to act boldly and with prior reasoning. Let Julius be our example, who after a long time... He endured fierce battles, through which he brought all of Germany and Gaul, as well as the islands of Britain cut off by the ocean, under Roman rule, and he claimed honors that were due to him from such great victories, which were not granted to him because of the envy of his rivals, since "He who holds the arms gives all to him who does not deny what is just," and he dared to vindicate himself with arms and courage. . . . Then Caesar, having arranged the whole world under his command, returned to Rome and obtained the power and authority that the Greeks call monarchy, becoming the sole and first to hold it, and only then did he cause himself to be called emperor. Thus, he who could hold the consulship gained power and the world's monarchy through arms and boldness; indeed, a man who shone more than anyone else in wars, under whose leadership countless enemies—one hundred and two thousand—were slain. For as much as he shed in civil wars, he did not wish to record it, as has been said above about Providence. He fought bravely in battles, having faced the enemy five times, and he alone overcame Marcum Maicellum, who was thirty-nine. He had fought five times in the same way. No one has written more quickly about these things, and no one reads them more swiftly; even the most urgent letters have been dictated at the same time. Such was his goodness that he conquered those whom he had subdued by arms even more through his mercy. Regarding this, Suetonius says, "C..." He never told his soldiers, "Go," but "Come." "Thus the poet says, 'Iwiave, come,' Lucan says, 'You, Caesar, do not command to go.'" v. . First, he preferred to take the lead in distinguishing himself. It is also said of Hannibal that he was the first to enter battle and the last to return from the fight; as Livy notes, he was "the most daring." . "Courage to face dangers is most evident in the midst of peril." As it is evident in the account of Titus Livius that we previously placed in the sections on gentleness. Listen to Joseph, too, about King David: "This man was full of every virtue and strong, unlike any other." . . . . Chronicle, ed. Rottendorff, duction. "For he was hastening to dangers, inviting his own to fight; for he did not command like the Lord, but rather he himself was leading by example through action." Yet, concerning the prince, he was in conflict with the enemy. Elvidius writes to the senators: "Among the foremost virtues, it is not for the emperor to fight." For thus the enemy is drawn out, thus a sudden attack breaks through the opposing forces, and thus being cut off, the supply line is forced to surrender due to hunger. Strong soldiers go into battle. In those things, the power of the heart and the hand is seen alone. In his counsel and reasoning, what the good of the previous age signifies in terms of strength does not require his hand; for he must command and lead in totality. So what is it, then? If you’ve conceived the outcome of battle, pay attention to how much damage it brings to the state, how many tears it causes, how much grief it brings with the loss of a leader, and how it affects the spirits of the soldiers when they are broken and inclined to despair. It is far more glorious and commendable for a leader to crush the enemy at the forefront of battle, but it is also much more dangerous; however, it is safer and more civil to defeat the enemy through military ranks, using the authority of his presence and wise counsel. Therefore, it should not be overlooked here that regarding the courage and strength of the Amazons, . . . Trogus Thecourage. . . Such was the bravery of the Parthians in battle from ancient times; they have indeed continued to show such strength even to this day. Just as in our times, there are those who are bold in Palestine. Neither an exact nor a consecutive xli. -, xlii. At least part of it is attributed to Hugo of Floriac. . In Palestine, where, by God's hidden judgment, but never unjustly, I give to the people of Christ under the public leadership of Saladin, the pain of war, they have gained victory in battle; and what was even greater, later, our leaders and all the faithful, almost in a way, with their strength and help, resisted so bravely, despite the envy and discord among our leaders, which was always evident.