1806.] Relrospefihe View of Historical Writers. 



ell 



thfi very heat of battle, they could 

 change tl>e wliole pofition of tlieir arinV) 

 in obedience to the prelVun; oi- expediency 

 of the nioincnt. He tells us, that Ilau- 

 liibal uas always acquainted with every 

 movement of the enemy ; that he bor- 

 jowed the fplendour of his military ta- 

 JeJifs from the lujman f<,hool ; that his 

 camp;Lii;u in Italy was ti)C uU'wwtum of 

 difcipline in the troops, and ability in 

 their General ; that the Roman conquells 

 were the rei'ult of valt projections, fo de- 

 rendcnt on each other, that victory was 

 progrellive, and ahnoft infallible. In 

 lliort, Polybius, as the hillonan of their 

 great generals, difclofes every Uratagem 

 clfential to ultimate fucceis. Unfortu- 

 nately, time has deftroyed a lariic por- 

 tion of this valuable work,* but the little 

 that remains is a model for all hilluriaus. 



Sai.lust had an cxquilitetaftc in draw- 

 ing characters ; and the events recorded 

 by i;im are fucli ;« he was perfonally ac- 

 quainted with. Martiid ftyles liim, the 

 Jirjl nf Ro/itaii hijturidiis ; but that is 

 certainly an exaiiiierutcd compliment. 

 In his relation of the Wars of Jugurtha, 

 he delineates a General conftantly form- 

 ing new devices, impenetrable in all his 

 ileiigns, and pieparcd lor every emer- 

 jicncy : his troops, however, though rm- 

 inerous, and fo commanded, are invari- 

 jd;ly conquered by the fupcriority of Ro- 

 man dilciplnie. The couiuiumate abihty 

 with which .Metellus extricates his army, 

 and purines his march, when fnrrounded 

 by Jugurtha, is the lall [)roof left us of 

 Komau liill and ingenuity in the field of 

 fiction. Sallull enters fully into this re- 

 cital, xvhich he confifh rs the mafter- 

 piece of military (kill. In his character 

 of Marius, he dif|>Jays all that prompti- 

 tude and activity with which the Roman 

 Generals fought a fpeedy and happy ter- 

 mination of their feveral campaigns ; it 

 being the maxim of that Republic to re- 

 <;onipence the event without adverting to 

 its piogrcfs. Salluft's Hlfiory of the 

 Confpiracy of Catiline leads ns to de- 

 plore the lofs of his other works. 



Cr.'^Ai:, iu the intention merely of fur- 

 iiiihing notes for an auili!)r, has, never- 

 tliclefs, perfected a hillory, unequalled 

 for its i>urity of ftyle and diction. The 

 maxim of this great warrior was, always 

 to attack his enemy. Tl «• moft prcfiiug 

 dangers never (hook the tirmnefs of hi» 



* Polybius wrote forty volumes on this 

 fubjcft, but the (iift five only remain ex- 

 tant, with detached pages of the folluwiag 

 twelve. 



mind, or deranged his facility in coun- 

 teracting them. His refolutions were 

 prompt ; his mcafurcs bold and vigorous. 

 lie never lolt an advantage, but otlca 

 milled his enemy by deceiving his owq 

 army as to his intended plans. At limes 

 he allowed his troops thole kinds ol'indul- 

 gcnce that attached them to hiin per- 

 fonally, and gratiiied their individual vy.- 

 nity by giving ihem Iplendid accoutre- 

 ments ; but he maintained difcLpliiie 

 with an indexible fe\crity. He recon- 

 noitred always before he advanced, jtud 

 often furprjfed the enemy by forced- 

 marches of incredible celerity. In the 

 blockade of Vercingentorix, his cmhiir- 

 kation for rjiinhind, his palVage over the 

 Rhine, or his fording the river at the foot 

 of the Pyrenneau mountains, — cvciT 

 movement made by his army, — is in it- 

 (elf a volume of information to militarv 

 men ; but how greatly is our adiniratii)n 

 increaled when we behold him at Phar- 

 (alia, by an admirable mantcuvrc, pr^ 

 i'srvc his flanks unbroken, though aliailed 

 by the impetuous prelfure oi' an army 

 much his I'uperior in numbers 



HiRTius, a Roman Conful, and the 

 friend of C;efar, has given a dilt'ufe, as 

 w ell as an obfcure account, of that ureal 

 General's wars in Egypt am! Africa, 

 He dwells particularly on Cajlar's cultom 

 of never relaxing the exercifc of hii 

 troops; to whi'.'h advantage he afc.-ibes 

 tlie victory of Paurfalia. 



Titus Livn s was the mod eloquent of 

 the Roman hillorians ; he was mfpired 

 with all the fublimity and grandeur of 

 the objects before him, whence he draws 

 an animated picture of ihofc pi'oud con- 

 querors of the world. By (bine he is 

 charged with fupcrliition, but certainly 

 without juftice. The manners of the age 

 he defcribes were fidl of omens and prog- 

 nofticalions, necelTary to be imprelied ou 

 the mind of the reader, as fuch belief was 

 the ground-work on which Roman poJicv 

 founded fomc of its moft important dc- 

 cifion-^. Ca'far, it is true, was not iu 

 himfelf credulou* ; but he took advan- 

 tage of this prevailing weakncfs, ami frc- 

 queiuly invigorated his army with re- 

 douljled Ipirit, by yielding to the (inou;- 

 able interpretation of fome portentous 

 accident, and thus led tb.em to decifive 

 victory. From Titus Livius we uuder- 

 iland that it w as the maxim of Hainilcar, 

 Hannibal, and Fabius, to regulate their 

 inan(eu\res according to the force of 

 their enemy, or the nature of the ground 

 they occupied. In this (yftem he repre- 

 leuti Uicia to have excelled ; and they 

 founded 



