# 6. How the Romans proceeded in the waging of War

Having discussed the procedure which the Romans adopted in expanding their dominions, I shall now discuss the procedure they adopted in conducting a war. As in all their actions it will be seen here how wise they were to depart from generally accepted methods in order to pave the way to greatness of the highest order. The aim of those who make war by choice or from ambition is to get something, and to keep what they acquire; and in this to proceed in such a way that the country, which is their fatherland, is thereby not impoverished but enriched. It is necessary, therefore, alike in acquiring and in keeping, to avoid expense, and, instead, to do everything so that the public may profit thereby.

In view of all this, it is expedient to keep to the Roman way of proceeding, which in the first place was, as the French would say, to make wars short and crushing. For, since the Romans put large armies in the field, the wars they waged with the Latins, the Samnites and the Tuscans were all over in a very short time. If one consults the records, indeed, it will be found that all their expeditions from the start up to the siege of Veii took but, in some cases six, in some ten, and in others twenty days. For their practice was, as soon as war had been declared, to lead forth their armies against the enemy and at once to engage him in battle. When they had won, the enemy, to prevent them devastating the surrounding country, came to terms; and the Romans confiscated some of his lands, which they handed over either for private use or to a colony which they placed on the enemy’s frontiers for the protection of Rome’s boundaries, with advantage both to the colonists who had the land and to the Roman public who had a garrison there at no expense to themselves. Nor, than this way of proceeding could any be safer, more forceful or more useful. For, so long as the enemy was not in the field, this garrison sufficed; while, should they go forth in strength to attack the colony, once again the Romans marched out in strength and gave them battle; and when the battle had been fought and won, and they had imposed yet heavier conditions, they went back home. They thus came step by step to acquire a reputation greater than the enemy’s and to increase their own strength at home.

They kept strictly to this method of making war till after the siege of Veii, when they made a change in their procedure. That they might carry on a longer war, they decided to pay their soldiers, which at first had been unnecessary since the wars were short, so they were not then paid. But, though the idea of the Romans in paying their troops was that it would enable them to make longer wars and to meet the case of more distant wars which would keep the troops longer in the field, yet they never departed from their basic principle of getting wars over quickly as far as place and time allowed. Nor did they ever depart from the custom of sending out colonies.

For in regard to the first method, namely, that of making wars short, apart from this having become their natural practice, the ambition of the consuls kept them to it; since they held office only for a year, of this year spent six months at home, and were keen on ending the war in order to have a triumph. They continued to plant colonies because of their usefulness and of the great opportunities they provided. They did, indeed, change somewhat the arrangement in regard to booty, and in this were not so generous as they had been at first. For (i) it did not seem to them necessary now that the troops were paid, and (ii), since the booty was now greater, they thought it a good plan that the public should benefit by it, so that they would not have to tax the city to pay for their enterprises. In a very short time this practice made the treasury very rich.

These two methods, then, of distributing the spoils and of sending out colonies, caused Rome to become enriched by her wars, whereas other princes and republics, being less wise, are impoverished by them. Indeed it went so far that in the end a consul does not seem to have been able to obtain a triumph unless he brought plenty of silver and gold and other booty of all sorts for the treasury’s benefit. Thus, the Romans by the aforesaid methods and by getting their wars over quickly – being able in the long run to tire out their enemies alike by defeating them, raiding them, and by means of treaties advantageous to themselves – became ever richer and more powerful.