ac militaris. What [c] Seneca relates of the simplicity of his baths and his country-house, shews us what he was in the camp, and at the head of his troops. It is by leading a sober and frugal life in this manner, that generals are enabled to discharge that part of their duty, which [d] Cambyses so carefully recom mends to his soir Cyrus, as extremely proper to encourage the troops, and make them love their offi-. cers, and that is to set an example of labour to the soldiers, by supporting like them, and even more than they, cold, heat, and fatigue; wherein he [e] says, the difference will always be very great between the general and the soldier, as the labours of the last are. attended only with pain, whereas the other, in being exposed a spectacle to the eyes of the whole army, gains by it both honour and glory, motives that very much take off from the weight of the fatigue, and render it lighter. Scipio, however, was no enemy to discreet and well-tempered mirth. [f] Livy, speaking of the honourable reception king Philip gave him, when he passed with his brother through his dominions, in their march against Antiochus, observes that Scipio was very much pleased with it, and admired the graceful and insinuating manners with which the king of Macedon improved his entertainment; qualities, adds Livy, with this illustrious Roman, who was in other respects so great, very much esteemed, provided they did not degenerate into pomp and luxury. [c] Senec. Epist. 86. dXenophon, in Cyrop. lib. 1. [e] Itaque semper Africanus (the second Scipio) Socraticum Xenophontem in manibus habebat; cujus imprimis laudabat illud, quòd diceret eosdem labores non esse aque graves imperatori & militi, quòd ipse honos laborem leviorem faceret imperatorum. Cic. lib. ii. Tusc. Quest. n. 62. [] Venientes regio apparatu accepit & prosecutus est rex. Multa in eo & dexeritas & humanitas visa, quæ commendabilia apud Africanum erant; virum sicut ad cetera egregium ita à comitate, quæ sine luxuriâ esset, non adver sum. Lib. xxxvii. n. 7. K 2 6. To 6. To know equally how to employ Force and Stratagem. It is a just observation of Polybius, that in matters of war, finesse and stratagem are often more serviceable than open force and declared designs. This was Hannibal's excellency. In all his actions, enterprises and battles, dexterity and cunning had ever the greatest share. [g] The manner in which he deceived the wisest and most considerate officer that was sent against him, by setting fire to the straw that was tied round the horns of two thousand oxen, to extricate himself from a false step he had taken, may suffice alone to shew how dextrous Hannibal was in the science of stratagems. [h] Scipio was no less acquainted with it; as we may learn from the circumstance of his setting fire to the two camps of the enemy in Africa. 7. Never to hazard his Person without a Necessity. [i] Polybius lays it down as an essential and capital maxim for a commanding officer, that he should never expose his person, when the action is not general and decisive, and that even then he should keep at as great a distance from danger as possible. He confirms his maxim by the contrary example of Marcellus, whose rash bravery, which ill suited a general of his age and experience, cost him his life, and had like to have, ruined the republic. Upon this occasion he observes that Hannibal, who, without doubt, can never be sus. pected of fear, and too great a fondness for life, in all his battles was ever careful of the security of his per son; and [k] he makes the same remark of Scipio, who, in the siege of Carthagena, was obliged to act in person, and expose himself to danger, though he did it with the utmost prudence and circumspection. Liv. lib. xxii. n. 16, 17. [i] Pag. 603. Plutarch, Plutarch, in the comparison he draws between Pelopidas and Marcellus, says, that the wound or death of a general, should not be a bare accident, but a means of contributing to success, and influencing the victory and safety of the army; i wil© ánλà @pážiš. And he laments, that the two great men he was speaking of, should have sacrificed all their other virtues to their valour, in being lavish of their blood and lives without a necessity, in dying for themselves, and not for their country, to which generals are as accounta ble for their deaths, as for their lives. 8. Art and Dexterity. It were necessary to be a professed soldier to point out, in the different engagements of Hannibal and Scipio, their ability, address, and presence of mind; their watchfulness to make an advantage of all the motions of the enemy, of all the sudden occasions offered by chance, of all the circumstances of time and place, and in a word, of all that might contribute to the victory. I am very sensible that a soldier must take a great deal of pleasure in reading the description in good authors, of those famous battles which have decided the fate of the universe, as well as the. reputation of the great captains of antiquity; and that to study under such masters, and be able to improve, as well from their faults, as their good qualities, is a great means of attaining perfection in the art of war. But such reflections are beyond my power, and do not properly belong to me. 9. To have the Talent of Speaking and conciliating others to his Purposes with Address. I place this quality amongst the military virtues, because a general should excel in every thing; and the tongue, no less than the head and hand, is often a necessary instrument for the discharging his duty as he ought. It is one of the things which Hannibal admired K 3 admired most in Pyrrhus. [1] Artem etiam conciliandi sibi homines miram habuisse. And he makes this talent equal to the perfect knowledge in the art of war, by which Pyrrhus was most distinguished. To judge of our two generals by their speeches, as historians have preserved them, they both excelled in the talent of speaking. But I question whether those historians have not lent them a little of their own eloquence. Some very ingenious repartees of Hannibal, which history has handed down to us, shew that he had an excellent wit, and that nature alone wrought in him what others attain by art and study. As to Scipio, he had a mind better improved, and though his age was not altogether so polite as that of the second Scipio Africanus, yet his intimate acquaintance with the poet Ennius, with whom he chose to lie buried in one common grave, gives us reason to believe that he did not want a taste for polite learning. How ever, [m] Livy observes, that upon his arrival in Spain to take upon him the command of the troops, in the first audience he gave the deputies of the province, he spoke with a certain air of grandeur commanding respect, and at the same time with so much simplicity and persuasion, that without letting drop one single expression that had the least tincture of haughtiness and pride, he immediately calmed the fears of all those, whom the view of past ills had kept under terror and disquietude. [n] Upon another occasion, when Scipio had an interview with Asdrubal, in the apartment of Syphax, the same historian observes, that Scipio could wind and turn them as he pleased, with so much dexterity, that he alike charmed his host and his enemy with the force and turns of his eloquence. And the Carthaginian afterwards owned that this particular discourse had given him a much higher idea of Scipio than all his victories and conquests, and that he did not question but Syphax and his kingdom were already in the power of the Romans, such art and abiLiv. lib. 25. n. 14. [n] Lib. 28. n. 18. [m] Lib. 26. n. 19. lity had Scipio to draw over others to his party. One single fact like this is a sufficient proof how useful it is to persons designed for the army, carefully to cultivate the art of speaking; and it is difficult to comprehend why officers, who, in other respects have great talents for war, should sometimes seem to be ashamed of knowing any thing more than their own profession. The Conclusion. It would be proper here to give a judgment, whether Hannibal or Scipio excelled most in military virtues. But such a decision is beyond my ability. I have heard say, that in the opinion of good judges, Hannibal was the most consummate general that ever was, in the knowledge of war; and that the Romans attained perfection in his school, after having served their first apprenticeship in that of Pyrrhus. It must be owned, no general ever succeeded better in the choice of ground for drawing up an army, or in putting his troops upon the services for which they were most suited, or in laying an ambuscade, or providing a remedy under misfortune, or in maintaining discipline among so many different nations. He drew from himself alone, the subsistence of his troops, the pay of his soldiers, the remounting of his cavalry, the recruits of his foot, and all the necessary ammunition for maintaining a heavy war in a distant country, against a powerful enemy, for the space of sixteen successive years, and in spite of a powerful faction at home which refused him every thing, and crossed him in all his enterprises. Thus he may certainly be called a great general. I own too, that in making a just comparison of Hannibal's design with Scipio's, the design of Hannibal must be allowed to be more bold, hazardous, difficult, and destitute of all resources. He was obliged to march through Gaul, which he was to look upon as an enemy's country; to pass the Alps, which had been thought unsurmountable by any others to fix the |