some much; and
that often a spirited horse is ridden by a faint-hearted rider, or
a dull horse by a courageous rider, and that in whatever way such
disparity is caused, confusion and disorder result. Again, infantry,
when drawn up in column, can easily break and is not easily broken by
cavalry. This is vouched, not only by many ancient and many modern
instances, but also by the authority of those who lay down rules for the
government of States, who show that at first wars were carried on by
mounted soldiers, because the methods for arraying infantry were not yet
understood, but that so soon as these were discovered, the superiority
of foot over horse was at once recognized. In saying this, I would not
have it supposed that horsemen are not of the greatest use in armies,
whether for purposes of observation, for harrying and laying waste the
enemy's country, for pursuing a retreating foe or helping to repulse his
cavalry. But the substance and sinew of an army, and that part of it
which ought constantly to be most considered, should always be the
infantry. And among sins of the Italian princes who have made their
country the slave of foreigners, there is none worse than that they have
held these arms in contempt, and turned their whole attention to mounted
troops.

This error is due to the craft of our captains and to the ignorance of
our rulers. For the control of the armies of Italy for the last five and
twenty years resting in the hands of men, who, as having no lands of
their own, may be looked on as mere soldiers of fortune, these fell
forthwith on contriving how they might maintain their credit by being
supplied with the arms which the princes of the country were without.
And as they had no subjects of their own of whom they could make use,
and could not obtain constant employment and pay for a large number
of foot-soldiers, and as a small number would have given them no
importance, they had recourse to horsemen. For a _condottiere_ drawing
pay for two or three hundred horsemen was maintained by them in the
highest credit, and yet the cost was not too great to be met by the
princes who employed him. And to effect their object with more ease, and
increase their credit still further, these adventurers would allow no
merit or favour to be due to foot-soldiers, but claimed all for their
horsemen. And to such a length was this bad system carried, that in the
very greatest army only the smallest sprinkling of infantry wa