ty five years of age; during which time their legs, their hands, and their eyes do cor- refpond one with the other, and are in the fame difpofition; for they did not keep them till their ftrength and vigour decay 'd, and their forwardnefs and infolence in- creafed, as they did afterwards when the times were more corrupt.
For OBnvian firft, and afterwards Tik^rms (preferring their private power before the profit of the publick) began to difarm the people, (that thereby they might have them more eafily at command; and to keep Handing Armies upon the Frontiers of their Em- pire. But becaufe they thought them infufficient to curb the people, and awe the Senate of Rome, they eftabliflied another Army (which they called the Pretorian) which was quartered always about the City, and jntended as a guard. But when afterwards the Em- perors permitted them who were lifted in thofe B iiuis, to lay afide ail other profeflions, and devote themfelves to War, they grew infolent immediately, and became not only terrible to the Senate, but pernicious to the Emperor, infomuch that many of them were put to death by the fury and infolence of thofe Soldiers, who created and diTpofed their Emperors as they pleafcd; and fomctimes it fell out that at the fame rime feveral Empe- rors were created by the feveral Armies, whichoccafion'd the divifion firfl, and by degrees the deUrudion of the Empire. Tliofe Kings tkcalorc wno arc defirous to live in l^fety and Book I. The An of WA R.
and peace, ought to have their Annies compofcd of fuch perfons, as when there is a ne- celEcy of War, will take up Arms freely lor the defence of their Country j and when Peace is concluded, will as readily acquiefce, and return to their old habitations and callings; which may eafily be done, if they make their Levies of fuch men as have profeffions before: A King is likewife (upon the publication of Peace^ to command his Generals and great Officers to their refpedive charges and governments elfewhere; the Reformades and Gentlemen to their own Houfes and Ellates; and the common Soldiers to their Original Trades and Occupations. And by the election of fuch meh, they will fight ftoutly to procure Peaccj but never difturb Peace to create a Wat.
Cofimo. I mull: confcfs your Difcourfe to me feems very confiderable j yet beihg fo contrary to what I fancy'd before, my mind is not fo well fatisfy'd but there remains fome doubt behind, which is ftill to be clear'd: for I obferve feveral Lords and Gen- tlemen, who in time of Peace, maintain themfelves wholly by the profeffion of Arms; as feveral great Commanders of your acquaintance and quality, who are in pay under feveral Princes and. States; be.'ides, mcft of the men at Afros are continued in pay for the guard and fecurity of fuch Cities and Cadles as are requifite to be kept; fo that irt my judgment, there is employment enough for them all in time of Peace.
Fabritio. I do not believe that you can think that in time of Peace there is entertain- ment for them all; for if no other reafon was to be aliedg'd, the fmallnefs of the nunl- bers requir'd to the furnifliing theGarrifons, would be fufficient to refute it. What pro- portion is there betwixt the Bodies of Foot which are to be raifed for carrying on a War, and thofe which are requir'd for fupplying theGarrifons in time of Peace: for thofe Cities and Caflles which in time of Peace are kept with a few men, are reinforc'd with great numbers in time of War; befides which, great Levies are made for the Field Armies, which upon the conclufion of Peace areconftantly disbanded. And as to fuch as are retain'd in the narure of Guards to the State, Pope Julius and you havedcmon- llrated how much thofe are to be apprehended, who will not entertain any other voca^ tion but War; having turned them out of your Guards for their Infolence, and enter- tained Svjiz.z,ers in their places, as people born and brought Up under Laws, and chofen by the Communalty by a more regular election; fo that tell me no more there is em- ployment for them all in times of Peace. As to the men at Arms, and their being continued in pay in times of peace, the anfwer I confefs is more difficult; yet upon clofeb examination it will not be found impoffible, becaufe this cuftom of keeping men at ArrtiS in pay is corrupt, and inconvenient; the reafon is, for that they are people who having no other Vocations, are occafions of daily diforders in the State, efpecially where their numbers are great; but where they are not fo numerous as to make an Army of them(elves, the danger of them is fo much the lefs. Yet many times they have done mifchief enough, as 1 hav^e faid before in the cafes of Francis Sforz^a, hi§ Father and Bracoo da Perugia. So thr%t I cannot approve this cuftom of keeping men at Arms in conftanc pay, having feen fo much experience of their corruptions, and the inconvenience which has follow'd thereupon O'fmo. V/ould you have no fuch Forces in pay at all? or if you would have them, how would you have them entertained?
Falfrttio. Not as the men at Arms in France, for they are as dahgerous arid infolerit as ours; but rather according to the method of the ancients, who raifed their Cavalry out of their own SubjecSts, whom they fent home again to their houfes when Peace was concluded, to follow their old Callings, as fhall be fliewn more largely before we end our difcourfe; fo that if thefe kind of Soldiers do now (even in times of Peace) receive pay, and live under that profeffion, it proceeds from corruption in their cuftoms. And as to the Fenfions which 1 and my fellow Officers receive, I fay that that alfo is a cor- rupt cuftom; for a wife and well-order'd Government ought not to entertain any fuch Penfioners, but is rather to employ their own Citizens for Generals in time of War, and when that is done, difmifs them to their own private Affairs. And with a wife King it is the fame; he is either to give no fuch Penfioris at all, or if he does, it ought to be in recompence of fome fjgnal exploit, or to oblige fome excellent perfon in time of Peace as well as War. And becar'ife you have inllanced in me, I am content to Hand for an example; and therefore I fay 1 never made War my profeffion. My bufinefs is to govern my fubjcdts, to defend them, to prefer Peace, but yet to know how to manage my felf in War; and if 1 have received honour or reward from the King, it is not for my underftanding or experience in War, fo much as for my integrity and counfcl in times of Peace. A wife prince ought not tiierefore to have any about him, but fuch as are fo conftituted; for if thev be too zealous either for Peace or for War, they will draw him inro inconvenience. This (accordfng to my propofition at firll) I could not bur fay as tc tiie fiift point; if it be iniufficieut, you muft appiy your felf elfewhere for farther _M m ra fatisfadion.
442 The An of WA R. Book I.
facisfaftion. But by what is faid, you may perceive the difficulty of reviving the cu- ftoms of the Ar.cients in our prefent Wars: What preparations are requifite to be made by any man that is wife, and what opportunities are to be expeded to brin^ them to perfedion; but you will underftand them better if your patience will give me leave to difcourfe them fiom point to point, and compare all the cuftoms of the ancients, with the particular practices of our times.
Co^MO. If we dcfired at Hrft to hear you difcourfe of thefe things, certainly what you have difcourfed alicady, has much encreafed our defire; wherefore as we give you thanks for what you have don^, fo wc doearneftly beg of you that you wouid^proceed to the remainder.
CHAP. V.
/» what Countries the hejl Soldiers are to he rais'ct.
Palritic. CEEing you are hitherto fo well pleafed, I will deduce my difcourfe of this ^ matter from the fountain, that thereby you may comprehend it the better, and I be enabled to demonftrare it more copioiifly. When War is refolved, every man's chief bufinefs is to put himfelf into a condition of giving the Enemy Battle, and fighting him fairly in the field. To enable himfelf for this, it is neceflary to raife an Army; to raife an Ai my, there is a neceffity of men, of arming them, difciplinin^ them, exerciHug them, (and that in great as well as fmall bodies) of teaching tJiem to encamp, and acquainting them vvith the Enemy by degrees, either by frequent facing or con- fronting him, or by encamping fomcwhere near his march, where they may have the profpeftof his Army as he palfcs by. In this the whole addrcfsaud indullry of a Cam- pania or field War conlifts, which doubtlcfs is more neceflary and honourable than any other J and he who underflands well how to draw up an Army, and prefent his Enemy Battle, may be excufed for all his other errors in the management of the War; but if he be ignorant or defedive in that, tho'in other things he be fufticient enough, yet he fhall never bring his War to any honourable conclufion. For win a Battle, and you can- cel all your former mifcarriages; lofe one, and all that ever you did well before evapo- rates, and comes to nothing.
It being fo necefiary then to find men, the firft thing to be done, is to know how to make our choice, (which the ancients called DekBiiSy and we Levies,) of which I lhall give you fome light.
They who have given us rules of the management of War, have recommended to us to make our Levies in temperate regions, that our Soldiers may be both valiant and cunning: For hot Countries are obferved to produce wife and fubtle people, but not couragious; cold Countries on the other fide do afford flout men, and hardy, but then they are feldom difcreet. This rule was proper enough for a Prince tiiat vvjs Monarch of the whole world, and might make his Levies where he pieas'd: But to give a rule that all may follow, I mufl needs fay that all Common-wealths, or Kingdoms, are to make their Levies in their own Countries, whether hot or cold, or temperate, it's the fame thing; becaufe by ancient experience we find that in any Country, Exercife and Difcipline makes good Soldiers; for where Nature is defcdive, induflry will fupply; and in this cafe it's the better of the two. And indeed to raife men in other Countries cannot be cail'd properly a deleEius, for ckleElum habere is to pick and cull the bef^ men in a Province, and to have power to choofe thofe who are unwilling as well as thofe who are willing to the War; which kind oi deUHus cannot be made cxadly but in your own dominion; for in countries belonging to another Prince, you mufl; be contented with fuch as are willing, it being not to be expeded that you fliould have liberty to choofe as you pleafe.
Cofmo. Yet among thofe who arc willing, you may pick and choofe, take and kave, what you think good, and therefore it is not fo improper to call that a Jehfitif.
Fnbrttio. You are in the rigiit as to one way; but if you confider the fccrer defcds of fuch an Eledion, you will rind that in flridnefs it is not an Elcdion; and that for tliefe following reafons. Firfl, thofe who are not your Subjeds, but are willing to the Wars, are none of the bcff, but generally the Icwdeft and moftdifio'ute pcrfons in the Province- for if any befcandalous, idle, incorrigible, irreligious, difobedienc to their Parents, Blaf- phemers, Cheats, and altogether ill-bred, they are thofe who are moft likely to lift them- felvcs for the War, and there is nothing fo contrary to good and true difcipline, as fuch kind of humours: When of fuch kind of Cattle you have more offer ilicmfclves, tlun the number you dcfign to entertain, you may take your choice indeed, but the whole mafs be- ing Book I. The Art of W A R.
ing bad, your choice can never be good. But many times it falls out, that there being not fo many of them as you have occafion to employ, you are glad to take all, arid in that ca{e you cannoc be faid habere dekBum fo properly, as rmlites conjcribere: And of fuch kind of diforderly people, the Armies of Italy and moil: other places do confift at this day; only in Germany it is otherwife, becaufe there no man is prefs'd or liAed barely upon the Emperor's command, but as he ftands willing and difpofed to the Wars himi'elf; you may judge then what part of the ancient difcipline of the Romans can be introduced into an Army made up of fuch a medly of wickednefs. Cofimo. What way is to be taken?
Fabritio. That which I recommended before, which is to choofe out of your own Subjects, and ro exercife your authority in your choice.
Cofimo. If your election be made in that manner, can any ancient form be introdu- ced?
Fabritio. You know it may, if it be in a Kingdom, and he who command be their Prince, or hwiul Soveraign; and if in a Common-wealth it is the fame, fo he be a great Citizen, and made General for that time, otherwife it is no eafy matter to do any thing that ihiU fuccced.
Cofimo. Why Sir?
Cofimo. Why Sir?
Fabritio. 1 fliall tell you that hereafter; at prcfent this may faffice, that no good is to be done any other way.
Cofimo. Well then, thcfe Levies being to be made in your own Territory, is it bcfl to make them in the Cities or Country?
CHAP. VI.
Whether It he hefi to choofe you Men out of the Cities or Country, Fabritio. ^TpHofe Authors who have writ any thing of this Nature, do agree unani- moufly, that the befi choice is in the Country, where they are inur'd to difficulty and labour; acquainted more with the Sun than the Shade, accuftomed to the Spade and the Plough, and to carry burdens, without any fhifting or mutiny. But becaufe our Armies do confiit of Florfe as well as Foot, my advice is, that the Horfe be vaikd in the Cities, and the Foot in the Country. Cofimo. Of what age would you choofe them?
Fai, tio Were I to raife a new Array, I would choofe them betwixt fevenreen and forty; were I only to recruit an old one, I would have them always of feventeen. Ccfimo. I do not well underftand your diftindion.
Fabritio. I will tell you, were I to raife an Army, or fettle a Militia where there was none btfore, it would be neceifary to make choice of the moil: apt and experien- ced that I could find (provided their age wa^ fuitable to the War) to inftru<5i them as I (hall direct. But if I were to raife men to recruit and reinf-orce an Army that was grown weak, I would rake none above feventeen, becaufe thofe who are there already will be able to teach them, Cofimo. Yon would order your Militia then, as our's is order'd with us.
Fabritio. You fay well; but I would Arm, and Officer, and Exercile, and Order them in a way I know not whetiicr you be acquainted with in your Country. ^ Cbfiri^io. Then you arc for Train'd Soldiers.
Fabritio. Why would you liave me blame them?
C(fimo. Becaufe feveral Vv'ife men have always ccndemn'd them.
fabritio. I think you arc in a miiiake to fay a wife man can be againH: training of Soldiers.• a man may be thought wife, ('tis poflible) and be no fuch thing.
Ccfimo. The ill {uccq^s which thofe Trained-bands have always had, is a great argu- ment of- the truth of that opinion.
Fabritio. Have a care the fault was not more in you, than in them; of which per- haps you may be convinced before I have done my difcourfe Cofimo. You will do us a very great favour. But I will tell you firfl:, in what it is this MiJitia is condemn'd, that }0u may afterwards ya^'ii^j it the better.
443 M m m 2 CHAP.
The Art of WA R. Book I ^ CHAP. VII.
0/ the Inconveniencd and Conveniente of Train d-Bands^ or a Settled Militia, Cojimo. TT is objeiSecl, that either they are inexperienced and ufelefs, and then to rely upon them is to ruin the Stare. Or elfe they are ready;ind skilful, and ftrong, ahd then, he who has the command of them may do what he pleafes. They inftance in the B.omans, who loft their liberty by thefe kind of men. They inftance likewife in the Venetian, and the King of France j the firft of which makes ufe only of foreign Arms, kft fome time or other, they fhould fall under the fubje&ion of feme of their Citizens: and the latter has difarmed his Subjeds, with the more eafe to keep them under com- mand. Butthofe who are againft thefe Train'd- Bands, are more fearful when they are raw and inexperienced, than otherwife; and to this purpofe they give two conlidera' ble realons. One is, becaufe they are unskilfuh and the other is, becaufe they are un- willing; and they fay, that people any thing in years never learn any thing well, and a man never does good when he is forced to the Wars.
Fabritio. The reafons which you have alledged, are produced only by perfons who miderftand things at a diftance, as I ftiall demonftrate plainly. And firft as to their imferviceablcnefs, I fay, there are no Soldiers more ufeful than ones own Subjeds, and no Subjefts can be order'd a better way. And this being clear and indifputable, 1 will iiot fpend time in proving it farther, becaufe I have the concurrence of all ancient Hi- ftory to conhrm ic. As to the inexperience and force vv'herev/ith they are charged, I fay (and it is true) that inexperience makes a man cowardly, and force makes a man mutinous; but courage and experience both are infufed into them by arming, and exer- cifing, and accommodating them well, as fhall be fhcwn in my following difcourfe. Bur as to the point of force, you muft know that fuch perfons as areraifed by the com- mand of a Prince, are neither to be altogether prefs'd, nor altogether Voluntiers; be- caufe to have them altogether Voluntiers, would be to incur the inconveniences which I have mentioned before; it would not be a fair election, and there would be very hvf go along with you; and wholly to force them, would be as dangerous on the other fide: therefore a middle way is to be taken, neither too forcible on the one fide, nor tod frank on the other, but fuch a one as may tempt them to the V/ar out of their refped to their Prince, v. hofe difpleafure they fear above all other puniftments; fuch a courfe aS this, tempered fo cunningly betwixt fair means and foul, cannot be dangerous, nor produce that difconrent and mutiny which occsfions fo mixh mifchief. I do not fay, that an army fo chofen and exercifed, is abfolutely invincible, for the Roman Armies were many rimes overcome, and Hannibafs Army was defeated; wherefore an Army cannot be fo order'd and difciplin'd, that one m.ay promife himfelf it fijall never be broken. The wife men therefore, of whom you fpcak, are not to calculate the ufe'ef- nefs of an Army, from the lofs of one Battle, but are rather to believe that having mifcarried once, they will be more cautious afterwards, and do fomething (as occa- fion ofters) to expiate their difgrace: and if the bufinefs ftould be thorowly examined, it would not be found to be the defeft of the form fo much, as w.int of perfedion in their Order. And this (as I faid before) is to be provided againft, not by blaming or exploding the way of train'd men, but by improving and correfting it where it ftall be found amifs; and how that is done, I v/ill fhew you particularly. As to your doubt that fuch an order of Soldiers, meeting with an Officer equally difpofed, may iifurp upon you, and turn you out of your Government,• I anfwtr, that Arms put or- derly and legally into the hands of Citizens or Subjects never did, or will do any harm. And Cities are kept longer innocent and incorrupt v/ith thofc, than any other forces; nay, than they are commonly without them. ko;ne had its Citizens in Arms four hundred years together, and yet kept its liberty intirc; Sparta prcfcrved its liber- ty 800 years in the fame pofture; fevcral Cities have been difarmed, and kept their liberties: but how long? Not forty years any of them, and the reafon is, becaufe great Cities have occafion for Soldiers, and when they have none of their own, they are for- ced to entertain Strangers, which commonly do much more mifchief than their own, for they are more eafily debauched, and a popular Citizen may more eafily corrupt and employ them as Inftruments of Ufurparioii and Tyranny, when tlicy have nothing biit naked and unarmed people ro deftroy. ^(::C\dQS, a City ought in reafon to be moie fearful of two Enemies than one. For in entertaining of Strangers, a City is to have an eye over her Mercenaries and her Natives; and to prove tliat this jealoufy is na- tural and reafonable, remember what I faid before of Fiancis Sjorja; whereas a City which employs only her own inhabitants, fears no • body elfe. But to ule one reafon Book I.
The An of WA R.
445 reafon for all, let me tell you, no man ever eftabliflied a Common-wealth, or Kingdom, who did net believe that the inhabitants (if arm'd) would be willing to defend it.
And had the Venetians been as wife in this, as other Counfels, they Would have fee up a new Monarchy in the World; and they are the more inexcufable they have not, becaiife their firft Legiflators put arms into their hands, and gave them ability to defend themfelves. But their territory being little at land, they employ 'd thefr arms only at Sea, where they performed many great things, to the enlargement of their Country. But in procefs of time, being forced to take arms by land for the relief of Vicenz^a, they entertained the MarquHs of Mamoua into their fervice, and made him their General,• whereas they fhould rather have committed that charge to one of their own Citizens, and ftnt him to have engaged the enemy at land. This unhappy refolution was that which clip'd the wings of their fuccefs, and kept them from extending their Empire; if they did it out of an opinion that their experience was not fo great in Land as in Sea Affairs, their diffidence was imprudent j for a Sea-Captain jcuftomed to the conflids of the Winds, and the sV'^ater, and the Ele- ments, and the Enemy, fliall fooner make a good Land Officer, where he has nothing to fight with but men; than a Land-Officer fhall make a good Captain at Sea. My Countrymen the Romans, who were fo knowing at Land, being at wars with the Car- thaginian that was fo potent at Sea, never troubled themfelves to entertain either Gre- cian or Spaniard into their fervice, though they were both fo good Soldiers at Sea, but: they committed that charge to their Land Officers, who fought the Canhagenians and beat them. If the Venetians did it to prevent the ufurpation of any of their fellow- Citizens, I think it was an unnecefiary fear; for (be/ides the reafons afoiefaid) if a Citizen \'it;h his Sea-forces never made himfelf MaiUr of any Sea-Town, he could have done it much lefs with zay Land force. So tnat hence it may be feen that it is nor putting the Citizens in arms, that is the caufe of tyranny; but ill order, and ill management in the Government; for whilft good order is preferved, there is no dan- ger of their being arm'd, wherefore their refolution in that point being imprudent, has robb'd them of much reputation and happinefs. As to the King of France's error in not keeping his fubjedts in difciplinc, and prepared for the Wars, which is by you urged for an example, there is no body (laying afide his private paffion) but muft conclude that fingle negleft to be a great weaknefs to his Kingdom.
But my digreffion has been too great, and perhaps beyond my defign, yet I have done it the more willingly, to demonftrate to you that foreign force is not to be re- lied upon fo much as ones own Subjefts; nor can ones own (ubitds be prepared and adapted for the Wars any way fo well, as by training and excrcife. Nor can there be any better way of forming an army, or eftablifhing a Militia in any place, than that which I have prefcribed. If you have read the orders of the firft Roman Kings, efpe- cially of Servius T^uUius, }ou wi'l find his orders like ours, and driving at nothing more than putting the Citizens into fuch a poftiire, that upon any emergence they might be brought fuddenly together, and formed into an army for the defence of the City.
CHAP. VIII.
Of what Sort of Feople an Army is to le compofed, pahritio. T>UT to return to our Levies; T fay a^ain, that being to recruit an old Af- ^ my, I would choofe my men of about feventcen; but to raife a new one that might be made fit for fervice in a fhort time, I would take in any betwixt feven- tecn and forty.
Cofimo. 'would you in your eledion make any difrerence of their trades?