Alexander : a history of the origin and growth of the art of war from ...

PREFACE.xiuold campaigns, because the different conditions did not callfor their development, as well as because history is full ofgaps, the underlying ones certainly are ; and these can bebest understood by tracing them from their origin. It is believedthat when the series of volumes, of which this is thefirst, shall have reached our own times, the entire body of theart of war will have been well covered. This volume caninclude but a small part of it.This is not a political history.If any errors in the descriptionof the intricate political conditions of Alexander's agehave crept in, the author begs that they may be pardoned asnot properly within the scope of the work. Time has beendevoted to manoeuvres and battles ;politics has been treatedas a side issue.Individual prowess was a large part of ancient war. InHomeric times it was especially prominent. A narrative ofAlexander is apt to abound in instances of his personal couragerather than of his moral or intellectual force. Theformer seemed to appeal more strongly to the ancients.Theold historians deal almost exclusively in details of this kind,and in following them, one is instinctively led into givingmuch prominence to acts of individual gallantry. In oldendays troops had to be led, and the commander-in-chief wascalled on to give a daily example of his bravery. Troops arenow moved. Brisrades are mere blocks. While he needscourage as much as ever, the commander should avoid exposureto unnecessary risk. His moral and intellectual forcesare more in demand than the merely physical.There are singular discrepancies between all atlases, ancientand modern. The best of maps vary in their details toan annoying extent. The maps in this volume do not aim atinfallibility. They are accurate enough not to mislead. Thecharts are original. In many cases topography has been