. The captains of the Old world : as compared with the great modern strategists, their campaigns, characters and conduct, from the Persian, to the Punic Wars. , mutually supporting one another, with their glitter-ing brazen casques and erect black and crimson plumes, theirlong shields advancing all in line, their tremendous pila bran-dished in the air. The trumpet gives the signal and out fliesa cloud of nimble skirmishers, covering the onset of the mani-pules and disturbing the approach of the enemy, by the arrowyhail of their keen javehns. Meanwhile the tramp of charginghorse and the clang o
. The captains of the Old world : as compared with the great modern strategists, their campaigns, characters and conduct, from the Persian, to the Punic Wars. , mutually supporting one another, with their glitter-ing brazen casques and erect black and crimson plumes, theirlong shields advancing all in line, their tremendous pila bran-dished in the air. The trumpet gives the signal and out fliesa cloud of nimble skirmishers, covering the onset of the mani-pules and disturbing the approach of the enemy, by the arrowyhail of their keen javehns. Meanwhile the tramp of charginghorse and the clang of close battle peal from either wing, show-ing that the cavalry are at work already, and now the sldrmishei*s,driven in by the solid advance of heavy troops, fall back by theintervals and rally, each squad in the rear of its own particularmanipule. Then with their well-known shout and the long stemtrumpet blast, which bids the Romans close, in rush the stoutnastati, sending their fearful pila hurtling through the air, rend-ing the strongest shields, piercing the best made coi-slets as thoughthey were but paper, and then, before they have recovered from. THE ROMAN TACTIC. 49 that deadly volley, upon tliem with the sword and buckler—tillthe whole front is one series of hand-to-hand encountei-s. If thehastati overmatched retire before the weight of the enemy, theprincipes receive them in the intervals between their fresh mani-pules, the hue is restored and is now sohd and continuous, and ifit be a phalanx which they are engaging, the onset of the triarii,with their long pikes wheeling in upon either flank, decides thevictory, and almost before it is a \ictory, lo! it is a rout, anextermination. Such for the most part was the Roman tactic; at times it wasaltered in adaptation to chcumstances, as at Zama, where Scipiocovered the manipules of his hastati by those of his principes,and those again by his triarii, purposely leaving avenues du-ectlythrough his hues, down which his skhm
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