Sextus Iulius Frontinus, vir consularis de re militari

A decorative initial "E" begins the text.THE art of war undoubtedly excels all other disciplines, for it is the creator and parent of the greatest kingdoms. It brought eternal fame to Cyrus the Persian, to Alexander the Macedonian, and to Caesar the Roman. It has bestowed immortality upon countless princes, both now and in the past. It compelled the world to obey the Roman Empire. Whence the orator from Arpinum Cicero spoke no less truly than eloquently: "Let the forum yield to the camp, leisure to war, the pen to the sword, and shade to the sun." A paraphrase of Cicero's "Cedant arma togae" (Let arms yield to the toga). Regarding this most excellent art of war, not a few men of the ancient age wrote eloquently and scientifically. From these founders, Frontinus, Vegetius, Aelianus, and Modestus have reached our descendants, like a four-horse chariot driving widely across the field of war, and they enter every labyrinth of the military with praise. I have very recently reread and corrected these, my dear and most noble of learned men, while vacationing at your Ponticulano a country estate. I have known no retreat more healthy, more magnificent, or more beautiful. Indeed, the Laurentinum of Pliny, the Lucullian villas, and all the sites magnificently built by luxurious architects are scarcely worthy of being compared with the Ponticulano of the Roscii. You are deservedly called blessed, for you possess both wealth and virtue. Therefore, I have immediately given these brilliant teachers of the art of war—which are the sweetest company—to the printer to be published under your name. Their learning is not threadbare, and their reading is highly erudite. They will be no less useful to scholars paling in the shadows than to bronzed warriors under the open sky. I ask that you, when you have leisure, not disdain to glance through them. Farewell, and love your Philippo in return.