Ab urbe condita

And indeed he was, undoubtedly, a man deserving of all praise for his soldierly qualities, distinguished as he was not only by intellectual force but also by his physical prowess.

He was especially noted for his swiftness of foot, which gave him his cognomen[*]( “Cursor"="the runner.” ); he is stated to have beaten all those of his own age in racing. Owing either to his great strength or the amount of exercise he took he had an enormous appetite.

Under no commander did either horse or foot find service harder, for he himself never knew what it was to be tired. On one occasion the cavalry ventured to ask him to excuse them some of their fatigue duty in consideration of their having fought a successful action.

He replied: “That you may not say I never excuse you anything, I excuse you from rubbing your horses' backs when you dismount.”

He was as much of a martinet to the allies of Rome as he was to his own countrymen.

The commander of the Praenestine detachment had shown a lack of courage in bringing his men up from the rear into the fighting line . Papirius, walking in front of his tent, ordered him to be called up, and on his appearance told the lictor to get the axe ready. The Praenestine, on hearing this, stood paralysed with fear.

“Come, lictor,” said Papirius, “cut out this root; it is in the way of people as they walk.” After almost frightening him to death with this threat, he dismissed him with a fine.

No age has been more prolific in great and noble characters than the one in which he lived, and even in that age there was no one whose single arm did more to sustain the commonwealth. Had Alexander the Great, after subjugating Asia, turned his attention to Europe, there are many who maintain that he would have met his match in Papirius.

Nothing[*](Comparison of the Strength of Rome with that of Macedonia under Alexander the Great.) can he thought to be further from my aim since I commenced this task than to digress more than is necessary from the order of the narrative or by embellishing my work with a variety of topics to afford pleasant resting-places, as it were, for my readers and mental relaxation for myself.

The mention, however, of so great a king and commander induces me to lay before my readers some reflections which I have often made when I have proposed to myself the question, “What would have been the results for Rome if she had been engaged in war with Alexander?”

The things which tell most in war are the numbers and courage of the troops, the ability of the commanders, and Fortune, who has such a potent influence over human affairs, especially those of war.