at
for the recovery of Tarentum, Fabius Maximus was sent at the end of a
year with an army strong enough to retake it even had there been no
fortress there; and that although he availed himself of the fortress for
the recovery of the town, he might, without it, have resorted to other
means which would have brought about the same result. Nor do I see of
what service a citadel can be said to be, when to recover the city you
must employ a consular army under a Fabius Maximus. But that the Romans
would, in any case, have recovered Tarentum, is plain from what happened
at Capua, where there was no citadel, and which they retook, simply by
the valour of their soldiers.

Again, as regards Brescia, I say that the circumstances attending the
revolt of that town were such as occur but seldom, namely, that the
citadel remaining in your hands after the defection of the city, you
should happen to have a great army nigh at hand, as the French had
theirs on this occasion. For M. de Foix being in command of the king's
forces at Bologna, on hearing of the loss of Brescia, marched thither
without an hour's delay, and reaching Brescia in three days, retook the
town with the help of the citadel. But here, again, we see that, to be
of any service, the citadel of Brescia had to be succoured by a de Foix,
and by that French army which in three days' time marched to its relief.
So that this instance cannot be considered conclusive as against
others of a contrary tendency. For, in the course of recent wars, many
fortresses have been taken and retaken, with the same variety of fortune
with which open country has been acquired or lost; and this not only
in Lombardy, but also in Romagna, in the kingdom of Naples, and in all
parts of Italy.

And, further, touching the erection of fortresses as a defence against
foreign enemies, I say that such defences are not needed by the prince
or people who possess a good army; while for those who do not possess a
good army, they are useless. For good armies without fortresses are in
themselves a sufficient defence: whereas, fortresses without good armies
avail nothing. And this we see in the case of those nations which have
been thought to excel both in their government and otherwise, as, for
instance, the Romans and the Spartans. For while the Romans would build
no fortresses, the Spartans not merely abstained from building them, but
would not even suffer their cities to be enclosed with walls; desiring
to