De honore militihus exhihendo, et modestia indi
The Vanity of Military Ostentation
True military strength lies in discipline and character rather than in the prideful display of wealth and finery.
...and those who have passed down the art of warfare, along with some of their general principles. Why should I spend time praising a people who are, by their very nature, clearly praiseworthy? Blessed Eugenius said they could be applied to whatever one might wish and should be preferred to others, were it not for their fickleness. But just as Hannibal claimed that the Romans could only be defeated in their own homeland, this people is invincible while traveling abroad; they are more easily overcome on their own soil. The inhabitants of Britain and Italy perhaps share this trait with other nations. If, however, they are properly trained and have strengthened their doctrine through practice, let them walk in honor and be considered defenders of their country, shining with a style that is becoming to men; for a more effeminate style is not without vice or reproach, even in women. For it has often been discovered in the wars of the military that a wanton and splendid display does not so much bring victory to the citizens as it invites the enemy to plunder. Hannibal made a very witty quip while staying with King Antiochus as a refugee, when the king was showing off an army flourishing with gold and silver insignia, bringing in chariots with scythes, elephants with towers, and cavalry gleaming with bridles, saddles, necklaces, and trappings. When the king, therefore, looked upon Hannibal, feeling proud as he contemplated such a large and well-equipped army, he asked, "Do you think all this is enough for the Romans?" Then the Carthaginian, mocking the cowardice and lack of martial spirit in his soldiers who were so expensively armed, replied, "I certainly believe it is enough, even if the Romans are the greediest of men." That was a witty, brief, and sharp reply; for the king had asked about the size of the army and the comparison of forces, but it is clear that Hannibal answered regarding the spoils. Finally, if Ovid keeps young men away from the practice of his art and tells them to stay far away if they are as pampered as women, who would believe they are fit to be admitted to robust military service? Craftsmen of every trade adorn those things of theirs above all else by which they know they are honored above all else; from this it is clear that soldiers ought to be more distinguished by their weapons than by their clothes. We read that Aeneas moved his jewels from his fingers to his sword, and Virro moved his to his drinking cups. It's also well known that the Maccabees gilded their shields and that the strength of the nations was scattered by their brilliance; yet it's believable that they were content with common clothing. Nothing is less becoming to a soldier than soft living and exquisite delicacies of dress, unless perhaps he has, like Thraso, dedicated his military service to Venus to conquer the fortress of Thais, while holding Mars in contempt.
The Necessity of Training and Discipline
A soldier must be sustained by proper training, consistent pay, and the wisdom of strategic silence.
Sordid behavior must also be avoided, and one must constantly stick to the middle path, which walks the golden mean. However, I want to convince our people that if they are trained, they won't lack virtue—though it often fails if it isn't strengthened by discipline. The Lacedaemonians are said to have handed down the art of military affairs; that is why Hannibal, when he was about to head for Italy, sought a Lacedaemonian as a master of arms. Whoever desires peace should prepare for war; whoever wants victory should diligently train his soldiers; whoever hopes for successful outcomes should fight with skill, not by chance. No one dares to provoke or offend someone they know will be superior if it comes to a fight. Ancient annals tell us that the Athenians gave one command to their soldiers above all others: a soldier who hasn't yet finished his service must constantly accustom himself to exercise and labor. For these things are accustomed to provide health in the camp and victory in conflict. They passed down this same teaching because the strength of an army consists in its infantry, and anyone who doesn't know how to fight unless he is a horseman is poorly suited for military service. However, you can't effectively train or call to battle someone who isn't receiving their pay. If you cut off a soldier's supplies, they'll deny you their service or their loyalty. For hunger, as the saying goes, fights from within, and it alone conquers what seems most secure. A hungry crowd doesn't know how to fear; but if their needs are met, they'll be spurred to duty, sometimes by the fear of punishment, other times by the hope of rewards. Have drill instructors and masters of military exercise everywhere, and provide them with pay, and you'll soon see the people restored to the level of virtue that flourished when the greatest of commanders, Julius Caesar, showed the backs of the terrified Britons to his own men. But let mock military councils be held frequently, so that a soldier trained in these will know how to choose what is most expedient when the need arises. If the matter is serious, however, keep it from the soldiers, because the military rule is: discuss what ought to be done with many, but what you are actually going to do with only a very few and most faithful—or better yet, with yourself alone. For what reaches the notice of the crowd rarely remains hidden.
The Union of Art and Practice
Excellence in any vocation, especially the military, requires the harmonious marriage of theoretical knowledge and constant, practical application.
Military principles and the examples of strong leaders should also be frequently presented to the young, so that they may be instructed in knowledge by the former and be ignited and animated by the latter, as the Athenians were, and so on. This Athenian principle is to find virtue elsewhere. However, it isn't my intention to teach the art of warfare here, even though it's a great and necessary skill; without it, as Plutarch says, any leadership is essentially crippled. If anyone wants to learn this thoroughly, they should look to Cato the Censor and read the works of Cornelius Celsus, Julius Hyginus, and Vegetius Renatus—whose work I have included more extensively because he taught the art of war most elegantly and diligently, even though he only touched upon the examples. I say, let them read what these men thought should be passed on to posterity. This applies to the utility of all arts, ensuring that practice is never lacking for the principles. As Cicero says, it's very easy to provide principles for any subject, but it's incredibly difficult to carry them out effectively. What he asserted in the Rhetorica ad Herennium regarding the art of speaking—namely, that it is ineffective and useless without practice and the exercise of speaking—I believe should be applied to all arts insofar as they are not strengthened by use nor reinforced by exercise; indeed, to such an extent that if you separate art from use, practice without art is more useful than art that has no use. For David, using the sling and stone he had practiced with, struck down the Philistine and dared to attack with his staff a man who was a terror to all and a warrior from his youth. He rejected the royal armor and weapons he hadn't been trained in, believing that anything is a hindrance in battle if its use isn't reinforced by practice. Besides, just as art is sterile without practice, practice is imperfect when it doesn't spring from art. The beginning of all things comes from nature, and when nature resists—or, as they say, when Minerva is unwilling—we accomplish nothing correctly. Progress comes from practice, and perfection from art, provided it's solidified by constant exercise. This holds true for the liberal arts, for manly pursuits, for mechanical crafts, and for any others we haven't yet mentioned: art is fruitless without practice, and practice is reckless without art. Therefore, military service without art is sluggish, and without practice, it's ineffective. Consequently, anyone who wants to be a soldier should first learn the art and then strengthen it through use and exercise, so that when he's chosen and enlisted in the military oath, he may live usefully for the state and for himself, and not be, as Plutarch says, a crippled hand. For he used these very words in his 'Institution of Trajan' quite recently, when he transitioned from the hands to the feet. Let us follow him, then, and as he himself says, let us make sandals for our feet so that we do not stumble against a stone or any other obstacle that the many accidents of life put in our way.
Read the original Latin
cenda; et qui militiae artem tradiderint, et generalia quaedam praecepta eorum. Quid moror in commendatione gentis quam de natura constat esse laudabilem'? Beatus Eugenius eam, ad quaecumque uellet applicari, dixit esse idoneam et praeferendam aliis nisi leuitas impediret. Sed, sicut Hannibal negabat posse uinci Romanos nisi in patria sua, ita et haec, dum peregrinatur, inuincibilis est; nam in sedibus suis facilius expugnatur. Hoc autem forte commune habent cum ceteris gentibus incolae Britanniarum atque Italiae. Si uero recte fuerint instituti et doctrinam exercitatione firmauerint, honorati incedant, habeantur patriae defensores, niteant cultu qui tamen uiros deceat; nam cultus lasciuior nec in muliebri sexu uitio caret aut nota. Crebro namque compertum est in bellis militiae lasciuientem et splendidum apparatum non tam ciuibus conf erre uictoriam quam hostes inuitare ad praedam. Vnde et Hannibal, cum apud regem Antiochum moraretur causa profugii,facetissime cauillatus est,rege ostentante exercitum insignibus aureis et argenteis florentem, inducentem currus cum falcibus et cum turribus elephantos et omnem equitatum frenis epiphiis monilibus ac faleris praefulgentem.
Cum ergo rex contemplatione tanti ac tam ornati exercitus gloriabundus Hannibalem aspexisset: Putasne, inquit, satis a esse Romanis haec omnia? Tunc Penus illudens ignauiam imbelliamque militum eius pretiose armatorum: Plane, inquit, satis esse credo, etsi Romani auarissimi sint. Lepide quidem breuiter et aeerbe; nam rex de numero exercitus et de aestimanda aequiparatione quaesierat et illum liquet respondisse de praeda. Denique, si Naso a militia artis suae arcet et iubet esse procul iuuenes ut femina comptos, quis credat eos ad robustam militiam admittendos? Opifices artium singularum id rerum suarum prae ceteris omant a quibus se sciunt prae ceteris honorari; unde liquet milites oportere armis quam uestibus nitidiores esse. Eneas a digitis gemmas ad ensem, Virro ad pocula legitur transtulisse. Machabeos quoque constat clipeos inaurasse et ex fulgore eorum fortitudinem gentium dissipatam; eos tamen credibile est ueste communi fuisse contentos. Nichil est quod minus deceat militem quam cultus mollior, et deliciae uestium exquisitae, nisi forte cum Trasone ad munitionem Taidis expugnandam Veneri deuouerit militiam suam Marte contempto.
Sordes quoque uitandae sunt et mediocritati, quae aureo incedit tramite, iugiter insistendum. Hoc autem uolo ire persuasum nostratibus, si exerceantur, uirtutem non deesse, quae tamen frequenter intercidit, si non disciplina firmatur. Artem uero rei militaris Lacedemonii tradidisse dicuntur; unde et Hannibal Italiam petiturus Lacedemonium quaesiuit ductorem armorum. Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum; qui uictoriam cupit, diligenter imbuat militem; qui secundos optat euentus, dimicet arte, non casu. Nemo ' prouocare, nemo ofFendere audet quem scit superiorem fore, si pugnet. Athenienses unum prae ceteris mandasse militibus prisci loquuntur annales: Miles nondum emeritus exercitio et labori iugiter assuescat. Nam haec solent in castris sanitatem et in conflictu praestare uictoriam. Idem etiam tradiderunt quia in peditibus robur consistit exercitus, et parumper aptum esse militiae qui, nisi eques sit, pugnare non nouit.
Verumtamen nec exerceri nec ad pugnam uocatur utiliter cui stipendia non procedunt. Si enim subtrahas alimenta, tibi miles obsequium negabit aut fidem. Fames enim, ut dici solet, pugnat interius et sola haec, quae tutissima uidentur, expugnat. Nescit plebs ieiuna timere; si uero alimenta processerint, nunc timore penae, nunc praemiorum spe ad officium incitetur. Sint ubique campidoctores et militarium exercitiorum magistri, et his ipsis era proueniant, et uidebis in breui gentem in id uirtutis esse reductam quo uigebat quando maximus imperatorum lulius Cesar territa quaesitis ostendit terga Britannis. Sed et deliberationes castrenses, fictitiae tamen, frequentius agitentur ut in his exercitatus miles, cum usus exegerit, quid maxime expediat, sciat eligere. Si uero res fuerit seria, lateat militem, eo quod militare praeceptum est: a Quid fieri debeat tractato cum multis, quid uero facturus sis cum paucissimis et fidelissimis uel potius ipse tecum. Raro enim manet absconditum quod ad notitiam multitudinis uenit.
Militaria quoque praecepta et exempla strenuorum iunioribus saepe referenda sunt ut his ad scientiam instruantur, illis accendantur et animentur ad Athenienses etc. : Hoc Atheniensium praeceptum alibi invenire uirtutem. Nec tamen propositum meum est rei militaris hic artem tradere quae quidem maxima est et pemecessaria et sine qua (ut uerbis Plutarchi utar) mancus quilibet intelligitur principatus. Quam si quis ediscere uoluerit, adeat Catonem Censorinum, legat et illa quae Cornelius Celsus, quae lulius Iginus, quae Vegetius Renatus, cuius, eo quod elegantissime et diligentissime rei militaris artem tradidit licet exempla perstrinxerit, plura inserui; legat, inquam, quae isti posteris praescribenda duxerunt. Hoc tamen in omnium artium utilitate uersatur ut nequaquam praeceptis exercitium desit. Nam, sicut ait Cicero, in unamquamque rem dare praecepta facillimum est sed eam efficaciter exequi laboriosissimum. Quod uero in praeceptis eloquentiae ad Herennium scribens de arte dicendi asseruit, eam scilicet inefficacem et iuutilem esse sine usu et exercitatione dicendi, ad omnes artes arbitror transferendum quatenus non firmantur usu nec exercitio roborantur; adeo quidem ut, si artem usumque dissocies, utilior sit usus expers artis quam ars quae sui usum non habet. Nam et Dauid in funda et lapide, quorum peritiam et usum habebat, Allophilum strauit et in baculo suo aggredi ausus est uirum cunctis terribilem et bellatorem ab adolescentia sua; reiecitque loricam regiam et arma quibus exercitatus non fuerat ratus omnia esse impedimento militiae quorum usus exercitio non firmatur.
Ceterum sicut ars sterilis est usus ignara, sic et usus imperfectus est qui ex arte non prouenit. Est igitur singulorum initium a natura, qua reluctante et (ut dici solet) inuita Minerua nichil recte aggredimur. Progressus ab usu ab arte perfectio, si tamen iugi exercitatione fuerit solidata. Optinet hoc in liberalibus uirilibus et mecanicis aut si quae sunt quarum nondum audierimus mentionem, ut ars infecunda sit sine usu et usus temerarius sine arte. Militia ergo sine arte iners est, inofficiosa sine usu. Quocirca qui miles esse uoluerit, praediscat artem eamque usu et exercitio firmet ut, cum electus fuerit et militiae sacramento ascriptus, rei publicae et sibi utiliter uiuat et non sit, prout Plutarchus ait, manus manca. His enim uerbis in Institutione Traiani nouissime usus est, cum a manibus prolapsus est ad pedes. Sequamur ergo eum et, sicut ipse ait, quasi soccos pedibus faciamus ut non ofiendantur ad lapidem obicemue alium quem multiplex ingerit casus.
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