. Great captains : a course of six lectures showing the influence on the art of war of the campaigns of Alexander, Hannibal, Cæsar, Gustavus Adolphus, Frederick, and Napoleon. to be a dandy, —but one of whom Sulla remarked that it would be wellto have an eye to yonder dandy. In manhood he cansocially be best described as a thorough man of the world,able and attractive; in stirring political life always remark-able for what he did and the way in which he did it. When Caisar was forty-two he was chosen Consul andreceived Gaul as his province ( 58). Pompey, Cras-sus and he divided the power o
. Great captains : a course of six lectures showing the influence on the art of war of the campaigns of Alexander, Hannibal, Cæsar, Gustavus Adolphus, Frederick, and Napoleon. to be a dandy, —but one of whom Sulla remarked that it would be wellto have an eye to yonder dandy. In manhood he cansocially be best described as a thorough man of the world,able and attractive; in stirring political life always remark-able for what he did and the way in which he did it. When Caisar was forty-two he was chosen Consul andreceived Gaul as his province ( 58). Pompey, Cras-sus and he divided the power of the Roman proposed to himself, eventually, to monopolize reasons do not here concern us. For this purposehe needed a thorough knowledge of war and an armydevoted to his interests. He iiad neither, but he madeGaul furnish him both. Let us follow Ctesar in a cursory C^SAR. 75 way through all his campaigns and see what the grain ofthe man does to make the general; for here we have theremarkable spectacle of a man entering middle life, who,beginning without military knowledge or experience, byhis own unaided efforts rises to be one of the few great. MEOltEf captains. I shall speak more of the Gallic War, becauseits giand strategy is not often pointed out. Cjesars object in Gaul was not merely to protect Romannterests. He needed war to further his schemes of cen-tralization. On reaching the Province, as was called theterritory at that time held by Rome in Gaul ( 58),he encountered an armed migration of the Helvetii, 76 GREAT CAPTAINS. moving from the Alps, by way of Geneva, towardsthe fertile lowlands. This was a daroferous threat tothe Province, and, moreover, to attack this tribe wouldserve as initiation to Caesar and hiis men. He com-manded the Helvetii to return to their homes, whichbeing refused, he first outwitted them in negotiations,until he asseml)led troops, followed, surprised, and at-tacked them while crossing the Arar, and annihilated athird
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