2,084 words
“You know how to gain a victory; you do not know how to use it.” Those are the famous words Maharbal, a commander in the Carthaginian army, told Hannibal after they had achieved a momentous success on the battlefield at Cannae. Whether or not Maharbal really did utter the admonishment does not matter. (more…)
Illustration from J. N. Dolfen’s Darkness Over Cannæ (2020).
Illustration from J. N. Dolfen’s Darkness Over Cannæ (2020).
7,819 words
And I have in mine owne bowels made my grave, That of all nations now I am forlorn, “I was that citie that the garland wore . . . delivered unto me By Romane victors, which it wonne of yore; Though not at all but ruines now I bee, And lie in mine owne ashes, as ye see.”[1]
Scipio’s Tears, Scipio’s Oath
There was that memorable scene, played again and again in every age. That vision of ruin at the moment of triumph. So did Napoleon later look out on the vale leading down to the Olomouc Road and see that the hunt after honor had reared a trophy for “devouring death.” (more…)