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he might gain the victory with good counsel; for the spirited and active part of the soul without intelligence becomes a matter of accusation and is recklessness instead of courage. For we are courageous with our arms against those whom we can overcome; but we are reckless even against those whom we cannot, so that whenever danger hangs over us, from ... to attack face to face, then we handle the war in another way and hasten to prevail over our enemies without a fight. And the first of virtues for generals is the wisdom to gain a victory without danger; "by skill a charioteer gets the better of a charioteer," says Homer. For to win with danger even the Cadmean proverb disparages. But to me it has seemed best even in the battle itself to contrive something cunning and strategic, whenever the army is not sufficient against the strength of the enemy; just as it is possible for one who wishes to gather from history, that victory is not of one manner nor of one form, but achieved by different toils from of old up to now, so that victory is one, but the ways by which it comes to generals are different and various in nature. For some of the celebrated generals of old appear to have defeated their enemies by this manner, by strength itself; but others often used another and had the upper hand. 15.3.3 But my father and emperor, where he prevailed over his enemies by might, and where he did so by using some ingenuity, there were times when even in the battles themselves, by keenly discerning and daring something, he immediately had the upper hand. Sometimes using a strategic device, and at other times fighting hand-to-hand, he often set up many trophies from unexpected situations. For the man was, if anyone else, also fond of danger, and one could see dangers constantly rising up for him, but at times he would plunge into them bareheaded and go to close quarters with the barbarians, and at other times he would pretend to give way and feign fear, as the occasion offered and circumstances dictated. And, to put it all briefly, both in fleeing he prevailed and in pursuing he was victorious, and falling he stood up and striking down he was upright, like the positioning of caltrops; for however you might throw these, they will stand upright for you. 15.3.4 Having come to this point again, I beg to be excused from the blame that I am caught speaking too much about my own family; but I have often defended myself that it is not affection for my father that provides these accounts, but the nature of the events. For what prevents someone from being at the same time a lover of her father and a lover of truth, for the sake of truth itself? For I chose to write the truth and about a good man; and if he happens to be the father of the writer, let the name of father be cast aside here and lie as a superfluity; and let the work be dedicated to the nature of truth. For in other matters I have shown my affection for my father and for this reason I have sharpened the spears and whetted the swords of enemies against myself, and all those who have not been ignorant of our affairs know it. But surely in the genre of history I would not betray the truth. For there is another occasion for fatherly affection, in which we have acted courageously, and a different occasion for truth, which having come upon me I would not treat as a trivial matter. But if, as I said, this occasion also proves us to be lovers of our father, the fault-finding nature of men is not because the truth has been obscured. 15.3.5 However, let the account run back again to the subject at hand. The emperor had no other task, for as long as he had pitched his tent somewhere there, than to enroll new recruits with the whole army and diligently train them, how one must draw a bow and brandish a spear and ride a horse and form partial battle lines, teaching the soldiers that new formation of the battle line which he himself had invented, at times also riding along with them and riding past the phalanxes and suggesting everything that was needed. And of the sun the

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σὺν εὐβουλίᾳ τῆς νίκης κρατήσειε· τὸ γὰρ θυμοει δὲς τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ δραστήριον ἄνευ τοῦ φρονεῖν κατηγο ρούμενον γίνεται καὶ θράσος ἐστὶν ἀντὶ θάρσους. Θαρροῦ μεν γὰρ τοῖς ὅπλοις καθ' ὧν δυνάμεθα· θρασυνόμεθα δὲ καὶ καθ' ὧν οὐ δυνάμεθα, ὥσθ' ὁπόταν κίνδυνος ἡμῖν ἐπικρέμα ται, ἀπὸ ... κατὰ πρόσωπον προσβαλεῖν, τότε τρόπον ἕτερον τὸν πόλεμον μεταχειριζόμεθα καὶ ἀμαχεὶ τῶν ἐχθρῶν κρα τεῖν ἐπειγόμεθα. Καὶ πρώτη ἐστὶν ἀρετῶν ἡ στρατηγῶν σοφία κτᾶσθαι νίκην ἀκίνδυνον· τέχνῃ δ' ἡνίοχος περιγίνε ται ἡνιόχοιο, φησὶν Ὅμηρος. Τὸ γὰρ μετὰ κινδύνου νικᾶν καὶ ἡ Καδμόθεν παροιμία διαφαυλίζει. Ἐμοὶ δὲ ἄριστον νενόμισται καὶ τὸ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ μάχῃ μηχανᾶσθαί τι πανοῦρ γον καὶ στρατηγικόν, ὁπηνίκα μὴ ἀπόχρη τὸ στράτευμα πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἐναντίων ἰσχύν· καθώς ἐστιν ἐκ τῆς ἱστορίας ἀναλέγεσθαι τῷ βουλομένῳ, ὡς οὐκ ἄρα μονότροπος ἡ νίκη οὐδὲ μονοειδής, ἀλλὰ διαφόροις κόποις πάλαι μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο κατορθουμένη, ὥστε τὴν μὲν νίκην μίαν εἶναι, τοὺς δὲ τρόπους, δι' ὧν αὕτη τοῖς στρατηγοῖς περιγίνεται, δια φόρους τε καὶ ποικίλους τὴν φύσιν. Τινὲς γὰρ τῶν πάλαι ὑμνουμένων στρατηγῶν αὐτῇ ἰσχύϊ τῷδε τρόπῳ τοὺς ἐναν τίους νικήσαντες φαίνονται· ἄλλῳ δὲ ἄλλοι πολλάκις χρη σάμενοι τὴν νικῶσαν εἶχον. 15.3.3 Ὁ δέ γε ἐμὸς πατὴρ καὶ βασιλεὺς ὅπου μὲν ἀλκῇ τῶν ἐναντίων ἐκράτει, ὅπου δὲ καὶ περινοίᾳ τινὶ χρησάμενος, ἔστι δ' οὗ κἀν ταῖς μάχαις αὐταῖς ὀξύ τι στοχασάμενος καὶ τολμήσας τὴν νικῶσαν εἶχεν εὐθύς. Ὅπου μὲν καὶ στρατηγικῷ μηχανήματι συγχρησάμενος, ὅπου δὲ καὶ διὰ χειρῶν μαχόμενος, πολλὰ πολλάκις ἐξ ἀπροσδοκήτων ἐστήσατο τρόπαια. Ἦν μὲν γάρ, εἴπερ ἄλλος τις, καὶ φιλοκίνδυνος ὁ ἀνήρ, καὶ συνε χεῖς ἦν ὁρᾶν αὐτῷ τοὺς κινδύνους ἐγειρομένους, ἀλλὰ ποτὲ μὲν γυμνῇ τῇ κεφαλῇ πρὸς τούτους παραπεδύετο καὶ ὁμόσε τοῖς βαρβάροις ἐχώρει, ποτὲ δὲ καὶ ἐσχηματίζετο ὑποκατα κλίνεσθαι καὶ τὸν ὀρρωδοῦντα ὑπεκρίνετο, ὡς καιρὸς ἐδίδου καὶ τὰ πράγματα ὑπηγόρευε. Καὶ ἵνα συνελοῦσα τὸ πᾶν εἴποιμι, καὶ φεύγων ἐκράτει καὶ διώκων ἐνίκα, καὶ ἵστατο καταπίπτων καὶ καταβάλλων ὄρθιος ἦν κατὰ τὴν τῶν τρι βόλων θέσιν· καὶ ταῦτα γὰρ ὅπως ἂν ῥίψειας ὀρθά σοι ἑστήξεται. 15.3.4 Πάλιν δ' ἐνταῦθα γενομένη παραιτοῦμαι τὴν μέμψιν ὅτι περιαυτολογοῦσα καταλαμβάνομαι· ἀλλὰ πολλάκις ἀπελογησάμην ὅτι οὐχ ἡ τοῦ πατρὸς εὔνοια τοὺς λόγους τούτους παρέχεται, ἀλλ' ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων φύσις. Τί γὰρ κωλύει πρὸς τῆς ἀληθείας αὐτῆς, καὶ φιλοπάτορα εἶναι κατὰ ταὐτόν τινα καὶ φιλαλήθη; Ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ τἀληθῆ προειλόμην ξυγγράφειν καὶ περὶ ἀνδρὸς ἀγαθοῦ· εἰ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν ξυμβέβηκεν εἶναι καὶ πατέρα τοῦ ξυγγραφέως, τὸ μὲν τοῦ πατρὸς ὄνομα προσερρίφθω ἐνταῦθα καὶ κείσθω ἐκ τοῦ παρέλκοντος· τῇ δὲ φύσει τῆς ἀληθείας ἀνακείσθω τὸ σύγγραμμα. Ἐν ἄλλοις μὲν γὰρ τὴν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα ἐνεδειξάμην εὔνοιαν καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ δυσμενῶν κατ' ἐμαυτῆς ἠκόνησα δόρατα καὶ ξίφη παρέθηξα, καὶ ἴσα σιν ὁπόσοι τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς οὐκ ἠγνόησαν πράγματα. Οὐ μὴν ἐν τῷ τῆς ἱστορίας σχήματι καταπροδοίην ἂν τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Ἄλλος μὲν γὰρ καιρός ἐστιν εὐνοίας πατρικῆς, καθ' ὃν ἡμεῖς ἠνδρισάμεθα, ἕτερος δὲ καιρὸς ἀληθείας, ὅντινα παραπεπτωκότα οὐκ ἂν παρὰ φαῦλον θείην. Εἰ δ', ὅπερ εἶπον, καὶ φιλοπάτορας ἡμᾶς συναποδείκνυσιν ὁ καιρὸς οὗτος, οὐ παρὰ τοῦ τὰ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐπηλυγάσαι τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων μεμψίμοιρον. 15.3.5 Ὁ μέντοι λόγος ἀνατρεχέτω αὖθις πρὸς τὸ προκείμενον. Ἄλλο δ' οὐδὲν ὁ αὐτοκράτωρ ἔργον εἶχεν, ἐφ' ὅσον ἐκεῖ που τὴν αὐλαίαν ἐπήγνυτο, ἢ νεολέκτους τῷ παντὶ συγκαταλέγειν στρατεύματι ἐπιμελῶς τε ἐκπαιδεύειν, ὅπως χρὴ τόξον τείνειν καὶ δόρυ κραδαί νειν ἵππον τε ἐλαύνειν καὶ μερικὰς ποιεῖσθαι συντάξεις, τὸ καινὸν ἐκεῖνο σχῆμα τῆς παρατάξεως ὅπερ αὐτὸς ἐξεῦρεν, ἀναδιδάσκων τοὺς στρατιώτας, ἔστιν οὗ καὶ αὐτὸς συνιππαζόμενος τούτοις καὶ παραθέων τὰς φάλαγγας καὶ τὸ δέον ἅπαν ὑποτιθέμενος. Τοῦ ἡλίου δὲ τῶν