ABSTRACT
Socrates said: ‘Tell us at what stage he began to teach you about generalship, so that, if one of us happens to serve as a unit or company commander, we may have a better grasp of military matters.’ The boy replied: ‘We started and ended at the same stage. He taught me tactics and nothing else.’ Socrates said: ‘But this is the smallest part of the art of generalship. For a general must be ready to provide military gear and arrange supplies for his troops and he must be resourceful, hardworking, and vigilant, and also be tough and shrewd. What is more, he must be benevolent and harsh, frank and dissimulating, cautious, but also ready to plunder another’s property, generous and rapacious. Indeed, he must be bountiful and greedy, sound in defence and aggressive in attack. The man who is set to become a good general must also have many other qualities, both naturally or acquired by training. But of course tactical skill is a fine thing.’
