325 



EefrofpeSlive View of Hijlorkal Writers. [Nov. i, 



many different tranflatioiis, yet his 

 work lias the advantage of poiVelfing all 

 tJie effeiitiai, without the fupcrlluous, de- 

 finitioiis of the military phrafcs then in 

 ufr, thereby giving a facility to the un- 

 deiilanding of other hillorians. Towards 

 the clofe will be found a inoft excellent 

 Trcatife on tlic d.fcipline of the cavalry, 

 concluding with an accurate and defcrip- 

 tive relation of the art of war, according 

 to the ancients. 



Ai'PiAN has written a detached Ilif- 

 tory of the Konian wars ; thofe of the 

 Africans, Syrians, Parthians, Spaniards, 

 Mithridatcs, and Hannibal : five volumes 

 on the civil wars, and ibnie few frag- 

 ments, are Hill in exilience. In the Hil- 

 tory of Mithridatcs, that monarcli is rc- 

 prefentcd with a iuperior genius, yet 

 caufmg revolt in towns, rebellion in em- 

 pires, and vainly attempting, all his life- 

 time, to introduce difeiplijie in his army. 

 The plan of his march to join the army 

 of Sertoriusjs introduced, a plan which 

 the Barbarians, many centuries after, 

 adopted when invading the lloinan em- 

 pire. Appian accompanies Pompey in 

 his wonderful paffage acrofs the Alps in- 

 to Spain, which he penetrated, having 

 previoufly paifcd with him oter the Py- 

 rennean mountains to engage Sertorius, 

 an officer remarkable for the fertility of 

 his invention, and prompt genius in fur- 

 prifihg his enemy. This march of the 

 lloman armies through naturally oppof- 

 ing countries, and an inclement atmo- 

 fphere, gives infinite intercft to the peru- 

 fal of Appian ; but he is wanting in pre- 

 cifion when he confounds the ordinances 

 of the phalanx with the regulations of 

 tiic IcLiion. JMilitary hiilorians employ 

 technical terms to illultratc the grand 

 niruiojuvrcs of an army ; but others, 

 >vho, like Appian, do not poflcfs that ad- 

 vantage, are conltniined to rcfort to the 

 fubfiitution of what tliey conceive to be 

 equivalent terms, and often involve the 

 iiibic6t in myftery. ' 



Flavivs JosEiMius, a Jcwifh General, 

 who fought againft the llomans, and af- 

 terwards became the intimate friend of 

 A'efpafian and of Titus, has compil- 

 ed the Iliftory of the war which termi- 

 iiutcd the political exilience of his na- 

 tion, and of the meniora!>lc fiegc of Je- 

 rufiilcm, which hitter hiltory affords us 

 more real information on the Roman 

 tactics than any other extant. Ilis ele- 

 gant defcription of A'efpiUian's march 

 tlirough (lalilec ferves sis an eternal rao- 

 imment of the ilomaiij' military lliill in 

 efforts of that nature. Its reieml^iance 



to the marches defcribed by Polybius iS 

 a certain proof of the attachment of the 

 llomans to purine the footlleps of their 

 ancellors. 



Tacit tJS pourtrays, in colours equally 

 dazzling and appropriate, the various 

 objects of his hiltory. He infinuatcs 

 himfelf into the hearts of mankind, 

 probes vice to the quick, holds up the 

 mirror to virtue, and concentrates the 

 features of many ages within the minia- 

 ture of a kw years. The man who is 

 called upon by his country to command 

 his fellow-foldiers, whofe conduct is to 

 influence the fate of his country, will ac- 

 quire every fource of experience by 

 ftudying Tacitus. 



Plitapxh may be faid, in his Lives, 

 to introduce into , your prefence the 

 great characters whom he alfeinblcs. Ho 

 compares their aCjions with their mo- 

 tives, their fuccelliSs with their means, 

 tlieir errors with their extenuation of 

 them, and .Tullice gives the verdict. Mo- 

 rality is finely blended with hiftory in 

 Plutarch. He aflbciates you with his 

 heroes, and frequently, by a fingle trait, 

 reveals the fccret fpring of an individuid's 

 conduct, or the detliny of a whole nation. 

 Plutarch, who was ;in imitator of Titus 

 Ti\ius, incrcafes his own faults on inilir 

 tary difculiions, by engrafting thofe of 

 the Latin Jiiftorian on them. 



St.F.TOxi us makes no remarks either 

 on the ucnius, the ambition, or the poli- 

 tics, of the Ca'fars. He merely gives 

 their private hiflory. But in fo doing he 

 delivers his fentiracnts with all the uiibi- 

 affed freedom of a republican tribune of 

 the people. 



Corn Li.i IS Xf.pos writes with equal 

 elegance and corrcclnefs ; biit he has 

 omitted thofe leading features which cha- 

 raflei isce men of celebrity. It is more 

 a fummary than a hiftory of great ac- 

 tions, intcrfperfed with many very able 

 obfervations. 



Abridgoiiients are well calcid.atcd to 

 gratify the tafic and to excite the curiofi- 

 ty of youth, by awakening their minds to 

 new ideas, which they afterwards fre- 

 quently purfue with avidity ; and, at a 

 more advanced age, fuch works aflift the 

 memory, and recal almolt forgotten 

 events. 



Veii.eius PATzncuT.rs is unrivalled 

 in tills kind of writing. Ilis Greek and 

 llomun Hiltory contains many original 

 anecdotes ; and his deductions are fo 

 ll'.ort and natural, that they elucidate 

 without dwelhiig on events. 



FLOftL'S has aUb the faculty of redu- 

 cing 



