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How the Romans Proceeded in Waging War
WikiSource ^ | Circa 1517 | Niccolo' Machiavelli

Posted on 03/15/2015 3:30:15 PM PDT by Jacquerie

We've recently been told by Ivy League Idiots from Obama's State Department that the solution to defeating ISIS is to grant them small business start-up loans here in America. I thought Freepers might appreciate some foreign policy clarity. I found some in a five hundred year old Renaissance Italian treatise.

The following is Chapter VI of Book II to Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy:

Having discussed how the Romans proceeded in their expansion, we will now discuss how they proceeded in making war, and it will be seen with how much prudence they deviated in all the actions from the universal methods of others, in order to make their road to supreme greatness easy.

The intention of whoever makes war, whether by election or from ambition, is to acquire and maintain the acquisition, and to proceed in such a way so as to enrich themselves and not to impoverish the (conquered) country and his own country.

It is necessary, therefore, both in the acquisition and in the maintenance, to take care not to spend (too much), rather to do every thing for the usefulness of his people. Whoever wants to do all these things must hold to the Roman conduct and method, which was first to make the war short and sharp, as the French say, for coming into the field with large armies, they dispatched all the wars they had with the Latins, Samnites, and Tuscans, in the briefest time. And if all those things they did from the beginning of Rome up to the siege of the Veienti were to be noted, it will be seen that they were all dispatched some in six, some in ten, some in twenty days; for this was their usage.

As soon as war broke out, they went out with the armies to meet the enemy and quickly came to the engagement. Which, when they won it, the enemy ((so that their countryside should not be completely laid waste)) came to terms, and the Romans condemned them (to turn over) lands, which lands they converted into private possessions or consigned them to a colony, which, placed on the confines of those people, served as a guard to the Roman frontiers, with usefulness as well to those colonists who received those fields as to the people of Rome, who, without expense, maintained that guard. Nor could this method be more secure, more effectual, or more useful. For, as long as the enemy were not in the fields, that guard was enough; but as soon as they went out in force to oppress that Colony, the Romans also came out in force and came to an engagement with them, and having waged and won the battle, (and), having imposed heavier conditions on them, they returned home.

Thus, little by little, they came to acquire reputation over them and strength within themselves (their state). And they kept to this method up to the time of war when they changed the method of proceeding; which was after the siege of the Veienti, where, in order to be able to wage a long war, they ordered them to pay their soldiers, (and) which at first ((since it was not necessary as the wars were short)) they did not pay. And although the Romans gave them the money, and by virtue of which they were able to wage longer wars, and to keep them at a greater distance if necessity should keep them in the field longer, none the less they never varied from the original system of finishing them quickly, according to the place and time: nor did they ever vary from sending out of colonies.

For, in the first system, the ambition of the Consuls contributed in making the wars short ((in addition to the natural custom)), who, being elected for one year, and six months of that year in quarters, wanted to finish the war in order to (have a) triumph. In the sending of colonies there was usefulness to them and resultant great convenience. They (the Romans) made a good distribution of booty, with which they were not as liberal as they were at first, as much because it did not appear to them to be so necessary ((the soldiers receiving a stipend)), as also because the booty being larger, they planned to enrich themselves of it so that the public should not be constrained to undertake the enterprises with the tributes from the City. Which system in a short time made their Treasury very rich.

These two methods, therefore, of distributing the booty and of sending of colonies, caused Rome to be enriched by the wars while other unwise Princes and Republics were impoverished (by theirs). And these were brought to such limits that a Consul did not think he could obtain a triumph unless, with his triumph, he could bring much gold and silver, and every other kind of booty into the Treasury.

Thus the Romans with the above described conditions and by finishing wars quickly, being satisfied by the length (of the wars) to massacre the enemy, and by defeating (their armies) and overrunning (their lands), and (making) accords to their advantage, always became richer and more powerful.


TOPICS: Reference
KEYWORDS: discoursesonlivylivy; epigraphyandlanguage; godsgravesglyphs; machiavelli; niccolomachiavelli; renaissance; romanempire
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A few forgotten maxims:

Make quick war.
Make war pay for itself.
Establish colonies in conquered lands.

No republic should MAKE war unless it can follow these simple methods. They served Rome well for four hundred years.

1 posted on 03/15/2015 3:30:15 PM PDT by Jacquerie
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To: Jacquerie

Cicero liked to quote a poet about Rome’s foreign policy:

“Oderint dum metuant” (”Let them hate us as long as they fear us.”)


2 posted on 03/15/2015 3:37:29 PM PDT by budj (beam me up, scotty...)
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To: NRx

Self ping for later reading.


3 posted on 03/15/2015 3:37:47 PM PDT by NRx
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To: Jacquerie
Establish colonies in conquered lands.

Colonize Afghanistan? For what?

4 posted on 03/15/2015 3:40:40 PM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: Jacquerie

Should be remembered that Machiavelli was a failed politician who spent the rest of his life trying to convince others he should be put back in charge.

Never worked.

War in the modern world does not and cannot pay for itself. The Romans paid for their’s by looting temples and selling people into slavery. Don’t think many Americans would support either. I know I wouldn’t.

The immensely greater wealth of the modern world, as opposed to the classical world, is based on a diverse thriving economy. There is simply no way to loot such an economy without destroying it, which leads us straight to the Goose and the Golden Egg.

I suspect there are very, very few Americans interested in becoming colonists in Syria, Iraq or Libya.

You are aware that the Roman colonies were very different from those of the 19th century, aren’t you?


5 posted on 03/15/2015 3:43:31 PM PDT by Sherman Logan
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To: Jacquerie

Colonies could be used to relieve us of those who are not “Roman.”


6 posted on 03/15/2015 3:44:02 PM PDT by AEMILIUS PAULUS
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To: Jacquerie

Don’t forget how the empire fell. They allowed “foreigners” unto their ranks to fill the military coffers whose loyalties were not for the Republic. Slowly but surely, their enemies outnumbered the Roman legions they had to “buy” more foreigner armies to fight wars for them which of course, turned on them once they saw how weak they’ve become. Sounds familiar?


7 posted on 03/15/2015 3:47:20 PM PDT by max americana (fired liberals in our company last election, and I laughed while they cried (true story))
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To: Jacquerie

See my tag line.............


8 posted on 03/15/2015 3:53:50 PM PDT by Robe (Rome did not create a great empire by talking, they did it by killing all those who opposed them)
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To: DoodleDawg

So as per Machiavelli’s maxims, don’t make war on Afghanistan. Sheesh.


9 posted on 03/15/2015 3:54:09 PM PDT by Jacquerie (Article V. If not now, when?)
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To: max americana

The Roman republic lasted near four hundred years. Ours lasted barely 150. Machiavelli is the father of political science and worth a read.

He and Livy also addressed the topic of foreigners in their ranks.


10 posted on 03/15/2015 3:56:44 PM PDT by Jacquerie (Article V. If not now, when?)
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To: Sherman Logan

It is your option to casually dismiss the wisdom of the ages.


11 posted on 03/15/2015 3:58:29 PM PDT by Jacquerie (Article V. If not now, when?)
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To: Jacquerie
Offer men the chance to loot, kill, catch slaves and rape women. If they die fighting kafirs, a perpetual 72 virgin orgy in paradise. Works like a charm as a motivator.
12 posted on 03/15/2015 4:02:16 PM PDT by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: Jacquerie

The Israelis could have learned something from the Romans. When Rome conquered Gaul, it did not establish an adjacent,self governing, militarized political entity of hostile Gauls. Perhaps the Israeli geniuses who established Gaza as a Palestinian entity should have read Caesar’s Commentaries.


13 posted on 03/15/2015 4:03:05 PM PDT by allendale
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To: DoodleDawg
Colonize Afghanistan? For what?

Splendid opportunity to settle these vastly underpopulated lands with 20 million or so of our illegal aliens. Fergusonite SonsOBama giving you a problem? Send'em to the colonies.

14 posted on 03/15/2015 4:03:34 PM PDT by Kenny Bunk ( Obama told us what he'd do, and did it. How about your Republican Representative?)
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To: Jacquerie
If we had been able to set up a benevolent dictatorship in Iraq similar to the ones we set up in Germany and Japan after WWII, then going to Iraq would have made sense.

Since it was obvious from the beginning that this would not have been tolerated by the American people or the global community, the War in Iraq was a failure waiting to happen.

15 posted on 03/15/2015 4:05:09 PM PDT by who_would_fardels_bear
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To: DoodleDawg

The war on drugs. The U S could own the supply and make the market.


16 posted on 03/15/2015 4:15:47 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: budj
Cicero liked to quote a poet about Rome’s foreign policy: “Oderint dum metuant” (”Let them hate us as long as they fear us.”)

Tacitus wrote about the Roman approach to war: "They created a desert, and called it peace".

17 posted on 03/15/2015 4:20:44 PM PDT by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come for you.)
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To: Jacquerie

The Romans were not too concerned about collateral damage or rules of engagement.


18 posted on 03/15/2015 4:25:34 PM PDT by HChampagne
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To: Sherman Logan

Machiavelli was imprisoned for his politics.

You didn’t read my post, so there is no point in engaging you any further.


19 posted on 03/15/2015 4:44:44 PM PDT by Jacquerie (Article V. If not now, when?)
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To: Jacquerie
Be sure that the jihadis of all stripe (from ISIS to Nation of Islam) take their wars seriously.
20 posted on 03/15/2015 5:03:08 PM PDT by 9thLife ("Life is a military endeavor..." -- Pope Francis)
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