el
military service more laborious, under any general, because he was of
a constitution not to be overcome by fatigue. The cavalry, on some
occasion, venturing to request that, in consideration of their good
behaviour, he would excuse them some part of their business, he told
them, "Ye should not say that no indulgence has been granted you,--I
excuse you from rubbing your horses' backs when ye dismount." He
supported also the authority of command, in all its vigour, both among
the allies and his countrymen. The praetor of Praeneste, through fear,
had been tardy in bringing forward his men from the reserve to the
front: he, walking before his tent, ordered him to be called, and then
bade the lictor to make ready his axe, on which, the Praenestine
standing frightened almost to death, he said, "Here, lictor, cut away
this stump, it is troublesome to people as they walk;" and, after thus
alarming him with the dread of the severest punishment, he imposed a
fine and dismissed him. It is beyond doubt, that during that age, than
which none was ever more productive of virtuous characters, there was
no man in whom the Roman affairs found a more effectual support; nay,
people even marked him out, in their minds, as a match for Alexander
the Great, in case that, having completed the conquest of Asia, he
should have turned his arms on Europe.

17. Nothing can be found farther from my intention, since the
commencement of this history, than to digress, more than necessity
required, from the course of narration; and, by embellishing my work
with variety, to seek pleasing resting-places, as it were, for my
readers, and relaxation for my own mind: nevertheless, the mention of
so great a king and commander, now calls forth to public view those
silent reflections, whom Alexander must have fought. Manlius
Torquatus, had he met him in the field, might, perhaps, have yielded
to Alexander in discharging military duties in battle (for these also
render him no less illustrious); and so might Valerius Corvus; men who
were distinguished soldiers, before they became commanders. The same,
too, might have been the case with the Decii, who, after devoting
their persons, rushed upon the enemy; or of Papirius Cursor, though
possessed of such powers, both of body and mind. By the counsels of
one youth, it is possible the wisdom of a whole senate, not to mention
individuals, might have been baffled, [consisting of such members,]
that he alone, who declar