readx;

Later generations divided the book into four volumes, because some people believe that part of the content of the "Strategy" was added by later generations, so the content of the author of the "Strategy" is not in fact conclusive. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

From the third volume of "Strategy" onwards, although its title is more eye-catching, its content is basically a relative case quote:

Surprise the Enemy:

1. The consul Titus Quinctius, who defeated the Equi and the Volskites in a battle. He decided to capture Antium, where the walls were high. He gathered the soldiers together and explained to them how necessary it was, and how easy it was to do without delay. He took advantage of the enthusiasm of his soldiers, aroused by his speeches, and conquered the city in one fell swoop. (468 B.C.)

2. When Marcus Cato was in Spain, he discovered that he could conquer a city by surprise. In this way, he traversed in two days what would normally take four days to cover the undulating and deserted land, and finally annihilated the unsuspecting enemy. When his men asked him why he had been able to win so easily, he told them that they had won because they had completed a four-day march in two days. (195 B.C.)

In the first case, the two forces of the Equi and the Volsch were nothing more than small and medium-sized city-states in central Italy, but it is interesting to note that the Equi were officially conquered and merged by the Romans in 308 BC and became another vassal power of the rise of Rome.

Here, a brief description of the history of the Roman Republic:

In 510 B.C., the Romans expelled the former tyrant Lucius Tarquin Supeb (Tarquin the Proud), ending the Roman monarchy and establishing the Roman Republic, which consisted of a separation of powers between the Senate, the consuls, and the tribal Itiatributa. The Senate, which held real power in the country, consisted of aristocrats. The consuls were elected from among the nobility by the Council of Centurion and exercised supreme executive power. The tribal assembly consisted of male commoners and male nobles.

For the first sixteen years after the expulsion of the king, Rome was plunged into a long period of so-called "riots". In 494 B.C., when Rome was at war with neighboring tribes, and the Roman commoners refused to fight and left Rome with weapons, known as the "plebeian movement", in this case, the nobles were forced to recognize the power of the plebeians to elect tribunes and convene plebeian assemblies, and the tribunes elected by the plebeians were responsible for protecting the power of the plebeians from the nobles. In 471 BC, the Plebeian Assembly received the title of Tribus Itiatributa), but its resolutions were valid only for the plebeians. In 454 BC, Rome established a ten-member legislative council composed of nobles and commoners. In 451 B.C., the Legislature of Ten promulgated a code of laws, which was engraved on 10 bronze tables, and in 450 B.C., two more tables were added, which became known as the Law of the Twelve Bronze Tables. The Bronze Watch Law abolished the restriction that commoners and nobles could not intermarry, and it also marked the birth of Roman law. In 326 BC, debt slavery was abolished.

When Rome was founded, it was a small country. Since the beginning of the 5th century BC, it has conquered some cities in the Latin Confederation and close neighbors such as the Etruscans, and conquered the indigenous and Greek city-states in the southern part of the Italian peninsula, becoming a great power in the western Mediterranean.

5th century BC - 396 BC, Rome fought a war with the Etruscan city-state of Vivian. Eventually, the Etruscans collapsed, but Rome doubled its territory and became a great power in central Italy.

The year before, the Gauls invaded and razed the city of Rome, but were later defeated and driven away. For more than 700 years, Rome remained unconquered by foreign tribes.

Between 264 and 146 BC, there were three wars between Rome and Carthage for supremacy on the Mediterranean coast, known as the Punic Wars. 4 Macedonian wars were waged from 215 BC to 148 BC.

The First Punic War in 264 BC was mainly in naval battles over the Mediterranean. Fighting began in Sicily, followed by a Roman attack on Carthage, which was defeated.

218 BC Second Punic War, the most famous of the three. The Carthaginian commander Hannibal led an army of 60,000 men through the Alps and invaded Rome. Rome sent troops to Carthage, Hannibal returned to help, Carthage was defeated, lost all overseas territories, surrendered ships, and paid reparations to Rome.

Rome was defeated in the First Macedonian War in 215 BC

Rome won the Second Macedonian War 200 BC

Roman victory in the Third Macedonian War in 171 BC

Roman victory in the Fourth Macedonian War in 149 BC

In the Third Punic War (149-146 BC), Rome took the initiative to attack, besieged the city of Carthage for a long time, and finally Carthage was defeated, conquering Carthage in 146 BC and making it a Roman province - the province of Africa.

After four Macedonian wars, Rome conquered Macedonia and took control of all of Greece. Through the Syrian war and diplomacy, it took control of parts of West Asia and built a great power that spanned Africa, Europe, and Asia and dominated the Mediterranean.

This period of rapid economic development also intensified social contradictions. In the 30s of the 2nd century BC ~ the 30s of the 1st century BC, known as the era of civil war, the Sicilian slave revolt and the Spartacus revolt broke out successively. The struggle between the bankrupt peasants and the big landlords, the struggle between the powerless and the powerful, the struggle between the knights and the senators was formed. And in 133 - 123 BC there was a reform of the Gracchus brothers. In 107 BC, with the support of the democrats, Marius was elected consul and began to implement military reforms. He introduced a system of conscription, which caused a large number of landless or landless citizens to pour into the army.

In 90 BC, in order to fight for Roman citizenship, the Italians revolted, known as the War of the Leagues.

In 82 BC, Sulla, supported by the aristocracy, led an army to occupy Rome. The following year, the Citizens' Assembly was forced to elect him dictator for life, setting a precedent for military dictatorship in Roman history. In 60 BC, Crassus, Caesar, and Pompey secretly formed an alliance to jointly control the political situation in Rome, known as the First Triumvirate. In 53 BC, Crassus died in peace. In 48 BCE, Julius Caesar defeated Pompey in a civil war and was declared dictator for life. He was a reformer, but his dictatorship attracted the hatred of his political opponents, and he was assassinated by aristocratic conspirators on March 15, 44 BC.

After Caesar's death, the Roman Civil War resumed. In 43 BC, Antony, Lepida, and Octavian openly formed an alliance and gained the legal right to rule the country for five years, known as the latter triumvirate. Octavian then defeated the other two, and in 27 BC the Senate conferred the honorific title of "Augustus" on Octavian, establishing the Führer. Octavian became the de facto emperor in power, the Roman Republic ended, and ancient Rome entered the Roman Empire.

Judging from these brief descriptions of the Roman Republic, the fall of the Roman Republic entered the era of the Roman Empire. It was decided mainly on two points, one was the assassination of Caesar, and the other was that Octavian became the ultimate victor of the Triumvirate.

......

Julius Caesar, often referred to as Julius Caesar the Great, is also considered to be the last god of war in the Roman Republic.

And the identity of the Triumvirate is very interesting, either Caesar's relatives or Caesar's henchmen. And in this respect, the latter triumvirate is in fact a direct manifestation of Caesar's power.

Lepida was Caesar's henchman and one of Caesar's military commanders in the city of Rome.

His father died during the Roman Civil War as a result of his involvement in a conspiracy against the Senate. Lepida went to Caesar, who was growing in power, and became one of the latter's strongest supporters. With Caesar's support, Lepida entered politics, and he quickly rose through the ranks of promotions.

In 49 BC Lepita became a magistrate, and when Caesar fought in Spain against Pompey's main army stationed there, it was Lepita who oversaw Rome in his place. From 48 BC to 47 BC, Lepida was in charge of the part of Spain conquered by Caesar. Lepida worked faithfully for Caesar, and after Caesar defeated Pompey in the East, he managed to get Lepida elected consul in 46 BC. In February 44 BC, Caesar was declared dictator for life by the Senate. Lepida was appointed by Caesar as the commander of the cavalry, an important position equivalent to Caesar's agent.

Octavian, also known as Augustus, was born in Rome and was originally known as Gaius Octavius Turinus. His father, Gaius Octavius, came from a noble but not well-known knightly family, and he was governor of Macedonia until his death in 58 BC. What's more, his mother, Attia, was the niece of Gaius Julius Caesar, the greatest Roman general and de facto ruler, who adopted Octavian and designated him as his first heir by will.

Antony accused Octavian of trying to win Caesar's favor by acting as a prostitute to adopt him. The Roman historian Suedonius (s) analyzed Antony's accusations as an attempt to spill Octavian's dirty water. As Caesar's adopted son, Octavius received a new name, as was customary in Rome: Gaius, Julius, Caesar, Octavianus (henceforth known as "Octavian").

When Caesar was assassinated in March 44 BC, Octavian was in the Apollonian army. He was eighteen years old, and his opponents often subconsciously despised the young man. However, he repeatedly emphasized that he was Caesar's son in order to arouse favors among the people (so much so that he deliberately omitted Octavian by calling himself Julius).

He marched to Italy and recruited Caesar's old men to expand his army. When he arrived in Rome, he found the capital in the hands of the republicans who had murdered Caesar, Marcus Junius Brutus and Cassius. After a tense stalemate, he formed an alliance with Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepida, important colleagues of Caesar. The trio formed the military dictatorship known as the Second Triumvirate. Then they began to clean up the Senate. 300 Patriarchs and 3000 Knights were confiscated and killed. Not only was this a "purification", but a large part of the confiscated property was used to maintain and expand their army.

And Antony's identity is not comparable to ordinary people, in a sense even closer than Octavian's relationship with Caesar, because Antony is Caesar's son-in-law, plus as the second mistress of the Egyptian queen......

In 54 BCE, Mark Antony joined Caesar's staff in Gaul. In the Gallic campaign, he once again demonstrated his military prowess, but his own personality caused trouble at every turn. It is said that Caesar himself was angry many times because of his behavior.

Nevertheless, Mark Anthony became a strong supporter of Caesar. For 50 years BC he served Caesar as a tribune of the citizens. Caesar's ten-year term as administrative governor expired, and Caesar wanted to run for the position of consul, but the conservatives led by Pompey in the Roman Senate demanded that he first relinquish his duties as administrative governor and commander of the army. But Caesar could not meet this request, for if he renounced his position he would become a commoner, and he would probably be persecuted as a commoner until he was given the position of consul, and without military power he would be completely defenseless against Pompey's army. Mark Antony advised Caesar and Pompey to relinquish their military power at the same time. But this suggestion was opposed, and Mark Antony himself became the target of attack, and he was expelled from the Senate and fled Rome to join Caesar's army.

Caesar had by this time stationed his army at the southernmost point of his administrative domain: on the banks of the Rubicon. Knowing that he could no longer reach a peaceful settlement with Pompey, he led his army across the Rubicon to Rome, where the last civil war of the Roman Republic began. Marc Antony was Caesar's second-in-command in this civil war, and in all battles with Pompey, he commanded Caesar's left flank, showing Caesar's trust in him.

After Caesar became dictator of Rome, Mark Antony became his cavalry commander, his right hand. Caesar placed the Italian peninsula under the management of Marc Antony when he went to Africa in 47 BC to fight the remnants of Pompey, but Marc Antony's skills as an administrator were far inferior to those of his generals. When discontent arose everywhere, he decided to use force. Hundreds of citizens were killed, and the city of Rome fell into anarchy. Caesar was so upset with this that he relieved Mark Anthony of all power. The two did not see each other again for the next two years. It was only after 44 BC that Mark Antony was appointed assistant to Caesar's fifth consul that the two reconciled.

Regardless of the dispute between the two, Mark Anthony was always a supporter of Caesar. On the feast of the Faun in February 44 BCE, Mark Anthony publicly presented a crown to Caesar. Caesar refused to accept the gift as a sign that he did not want to be emperor.

On March 15, 44 BCE, Caesar was murdered by a group of senators led by Caius Cassius and Marcus Brutus.

Fearing that the murderers would bloodied Caesar's supporters, Mark Antony disguised himself as a slave and escaped from Rome. But when Caesar's assassins did nothing against Caesar's supporters, Mark Antony soon returned to Rome. He negotiated with the assassins. At first, as the consul of the year, it seemed that he intended to pursue peace and reduce tensions between the parties. At Cicero's suggestion, the Senate decided to **** the assassin. At Caesar's funeral, Mark Anthony, who had been Caesar's aide-de-camp, assistant and relative for many years, was the natural one to deliver the eulogy. In his eulogy, he denounced the crime of murder and swore an oath that he would not be at odds with the murderer. He showed his debating genius by tearing off the wide robe covering Caesar's body to show the wounds on Caesar's body. That night, Roman citizens attacked the assassins' homes and forced them to flee.

(Adoption in Ancient Rome: In ancient Rome, it was common to adopt boys, especially among the upper echelons of the Senate.) The Romans believed that a family should have at least one boy, but not too many. Because the family needs a male heir, but the cost of raising children is too high. Adoption became the solution. It also brings families closer together, fostering and strengthening their alliances. During the imperial period, this system also served as a means of ensuring a smooth succession to the throne: the emperor adopted his chosen heir as a son.

Rome was ruled by powerful families. It was the responsibility of each patriarch to bear children to carry on their estates, family names, and political traditions. A large family is a luxury affair. The daughters had a good dowry, and the sons had to spend money to enter the official career (curm). The higher the political status of a family, the more money it spends. So, Roman families limited the number of their children to no more than three.

The chief senator Appiulcher (who lived in the 1st century BC) had six children, which at the time was considered a political suicide. Sometimes, having too few children is not a good choice. Babies die young, and too few men are born. For families who are cursed to have many children or who have no descendants due to natural damnation, adoption is a lifesaver. Even a man as wealthy as Lucius did not hesitate to pass on his two eldest children to others: one to the family of Scipio the Younger (who was Scipio the Younger, the victor of the Third Punic War) and the other to Fabian.

Under Roman law, it was a legal right of paternal fathers to transfer their children for adoption. Adopted children are usually the longest, in good health and capable. Adoption is an expensive investment for childless families, and quality must be assured. Most families with adoption agreements are of similar status, often political alliances or blood ties. A commoner who was adopted by a nobleman would become a nobleman and vice versa, however, at least in the republican period, this required the consent of the senate (as in the famous case of Publiulcher). Adoption costs money, and the boy uses his adoptive father's name, plus a cognomen who identifies his family. Adoption is not a secret affair, nor is it considered shameful, and the adopted child does not have to be disowned from his original family. Like a marriage engagement, adoption is a way to strengthen inter-family ties and political alliances. Adopted children often enjoy the benefits of both the original and current families. Almost all of the wealthy families of Rome adopted children and passed them on to other families.

The most famous adoptee during the Republic was Octavian. His real name was Gaius, and he was adopted by Julius Caesar and named Gaius-Caesar-Octavianus. The Romans could also adopt people older than him, such as Clodius, and his sister Clodia was also a well-known adopted woman.

It is also a common form of informal adoption for a dying person to leave a child in the custody of someone else. The guardian then also has the rights of the father to the ward. For example, the dictator Sulla raised his children in Lucullus, and Augustus raised the children of Mark Antony. (To be continued.) )

This book is from //x.html