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

6 PURPOSE OF THIS WORK.open to the friendly reader the rulesand maxims which governor limit strategy and tactics. And before coming tothe first, — and jjerhaps the greatest of all, — Alexander ofMacedon, it is proposed to describe briefly the armies antedatinghis, to say something about his predecessors in the art,and to give a short account of a very few oftheir campaignsor battles, in order to show what equipment this wonderfulsoldier possessed when, a mere lad, he undertook, ascaptaingeneralof the smallest and yet greatest nation on earth,Greece, the expedition against the stupendous power of thePersian empire, and thus placed the weight of the worldupon his youthful shoidders.a well connected historical narrative.brilliant generals must be omitted.The instances and commandersto be quoted will be but tyjjical ofThis cannot readily be done inMany noted wars andthe rest, and willillustrate the gradual advance from unintelligent to intellectualwarfare. A history of war must embrace all warsand battles, small and great. A history of the art of warmay confine itself to narrating such typical wars and battlesas best illustrate its growth.Persian Noble.