Quotes · Quote card
Quotation from The Civil War by Julius Caesar
“Why should he hazard the loss of any of his men, even in a successful battle? Why should he expose soldiers to be wounded; who had deserved so well of him? Why, in short, should he tempt fortune? especially when it was as much a general's duty to conquer by tactics, as by the sword”
The Civil War, Book I.72, trans. W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn (1869)
Near Ilerda Caesar declines a battle his troops want, preferring to starve the enemy of water and spare both his men and fellow citizens.
Citation: "Why should he hazard the loss of any of his men, even in a successful battle? Why should he expose soldiers to be wounded; who had deserved so well of him? Why, in short, should he tempt fortune? especially when it was as much a general's duty to conquer by tactics, as by the sword" — Julius Caesar, The Civil War, Book I.72, trans. W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn (1869). (id the-civil-war-q3)
Portrait: Retrato de Julio César (26724093101) (cropped), Ángel M. Felicísimo from Mérida, España, Public domain.
