Do not make fortune mistress of the war
On the destruction of enemies. One must not fight the enemy in all things by close order and by battles, nor make fortune mistress of the whole of affairs. The end of war is unclear, and most things go contrary to expectation. Those better prepared in iron and men, or in bows and walls, have often been injured by wind, or sun, or place, or deceit, or a spectacle and an apparition; and in great wounds the daimon Pan is a constant.
The Phocians, better prepared in everything, did not receive the Thebans when they saw them crowned with laurel: the men who did not fear the war fled the crown. Wind and sun, meeting them in the face, more injured Flaminius and Paulus. The narrowness of the Gates made Leonidas equal to the five hundred myriads. Pan ran with the Athenians to Marathon against the Persians. Themistocles drove Xerxes from Greece by a lie.
Some smear missiles with drugs so that every wound becomes fatal; others set their strength in woods. Some, as they flee, destroy the pastures first; many poison the wells. Alexander took the Alans by farming hellebore. So one must not attempt those who stand against us from the open only, but must also general against the enemy by many hidden arts.
This old Carthaginian law has been thought out: they honored generals who planned the best things even if they did not succeed, and they punished those who attempted something rash and accomplished it, making the judgment not of fortune but of purpose. Fine too is the old iambic: the safe leader is more profitable to all than the rash.
The arts of generalship are very many, and there is nothing that happens that is not written down, to teach so that those things may not happen: healthy and well-watered camping-places, seizures of higher ground, ditching, advance-guards, night-marches, forward-rides, searches, ambushes, scouts, good arming, foraging, and with sleep a sufficient preparation; toward the enemy, distrust in all things.
As for exposing how they do harm, these things are clear, I think, and known to those who have kept company with histories: drinks of theriac as a defense against poisoned missiles, and the same cure for corrupted waters. Salt-drinkings we would decline for most, because of the disgust of taking them.
Greek
1.2 Περὶ πολεμίων φθορᾶσ Οὐ πάντα συστάσεσιν οὐδὲ μάχαις πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους ἀγωνιστέον, οὐδὲ ποιητέον τῶν ὅλων πραγμάτων κυρίαν τὴν τύχην. Ἄδηλον γὰρ τὸ τοῦ πολέμου τέλος, καὶ παρὰ δόξαν τὰ πολλὰ χωρεῖ· τοὺς γοῦν ἄμεινον παρεσκευασμένους σιδήρῳ καὶ ἀνδράσι ἢ τόξοις καὶ τοίχοις ἢ ἄνεμος πολλάκις ἠδίκησεν, ἢ ἥλιος, ἢ τόπος, ἢ δόλος, ἢ θέα μα καὶ φάσμα, συνεχὴς δὲ ἐν τοῖς μεγάλοις τραύμασι δαίμων ὁ Πάν. Οὐκ ἐδέξαντο μὲν Θηβαίους ἄμεινον τῷ παντὶ παρεσκευασμένοι Φωκεῖς, ἐστεφανωμένους αὐτοὺς θεασάμενοι δάφνῃ, τὸν στέφανον φυγόντες οἱ τὸν πόλεμον οὐ φοβηθέντες. Φλαμίνιον δὲ καὶ Παῦλον ἀντιπρόσωποι τὸ πλέον μὲν ἄνεμος ἠδίκησεν καὶ ἥλιος. Ἴσον ἐποίησεν Λεωνίδαν ταῖς πεντακοσίαις μυριάσιν ἡ τῶν Πυλῶν στενοχωρία. Συνέδραμεν εἰς Μαραθῶνα κατὰ Περσῶν Ἀθηναίοις ὁ Πάν. Ξέρξην δὲ Θεμιστοκλῆς Ἑλλάδος ἐξήλασε ψεύσματι. Χρίουσι τὰ βέλη τινὲς φαρμάκοις, ἵνα τραῦμα πᾶν γένηται καίριον· τὴν ἐν ὕλαις ἰσχὺν ἄλλοι τίθενται. Προδιαφθείρουσί τινες φεύγοντες τὰς νομάς· φαρμακεύουσι τὰ φρέατα πολλοί. Ἀλανοὺς δὲ εἷλεν Ἀλέξανδρος ἐλλέβορον γεωργῶν. Οὕτως οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ μόνον ἐπιχειρητέον τοῖς ἀνθεστηκόσιν, ἀλλὰ γὰρ πολλαῖς τισι κατὰ τῶν πολεμίων καὶ ταῖς λανθανούσαις τέχναις στρατηγητέον. Ἐπινενόηται γοῦν Καρχηδονίων παλαιὸς οὗτος νόμος, ὅτι τοὺς στρατηγοὺς βουλευσαμένους μὲν τὰ ἄριστα, εἰ καὶ μὴ κατορθώσαντας, ἐτίμων, τοὺς δὲ προπετές τι ἐγχειρήσαντας καὶ καταπραξαμένους ἐκόλαζον, οὐ τῆς τύχης ποιούμενοι ἀλλὰ τῆς γνώμης τὴν κρίσιν· καλὸν δὲ καὶ τὸ ἰαμβεῖον τὸ ἀρχαῖον, ὡς λυσιτελέστερος πᾶσι τοῦ προπετοῦς ὁ ἀσφαλὴς ἡγεμών. Τέχναι μὲν οὖν στρατηγίας πλεῖσται καὶ οὐδὲν ὅ τι μὴ ἀνάγραπτον ὧν συμβαίνει διδάσκειν ἵνα μὴ γένωνται· ὑγιεινὰ στρατοπεδεύσεων καὶ ἔφυδρα χωρία, ὑψηλοτέρων καταλήψεις τόπων, ταφρεῖαι, προφυλακαί, νυκτοπορίαι, προϊππασίαι, διερευνήσεις, ἐνέδραι, κατασκοπαί, εὐοπλίαι, προνομείαι καὶ ἅμα τῷ ὕπνῳ παρασκευὴ διαρκής· πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἀπιστία. Πρὸς μὲν οὖν τὸ ἐλέγξαι ὅσα κακουργοῦσι, φανερά, οἶμαι, καὶ τοῖς ὡμιληκόσιν ἱστορίαις γνώριμα· θηριακῶν μὲν ἀντιδότων προπόσεις τῶν ἰοφόρων βελῶν ἀλεξητήριον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ὑδάτων διεφθορότων τὸ ἴσον ἄκος· τὰς ἁλμοποσίας γ' ἂν διὰ τὸν ἀηδισμὸν τοῦ λαβεῖν τοῖς πολλοῖς παραιτοίμεθα·
About this text
Julius Africanus, Cesti (Embroidered Girdles): a miscellany of history, science, and craft, in the surviving fragments — books 7, 2, and 3 in full, with parts of books 4, 8, 9, and 13, and the colophon of Cestus 18. The older English translates his letters only. The book-2 table of contents and a book-7 appendix are not in this volume.
New English from locked PG 10 / Khazarzar Greek of the Cesti fragmenta through 9.5. Earlier lemma-led scaffold English was discarded. Book-2 pinax and book-7 appendix held. This lock is exhausted.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 10 Cesti fragmenta (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.