War: What is it good for? (68 page)

108  “A hundred and fifty thousand people”: Ashoka, Major Rock Edict XIII (ca. 255
B.C.
), trans. in Thapar 1973, p. 255.

3.
THE BARBARIANS STRIKE BACK

112  “there are lots of cavalry”: Vindolanda tablets 2.164 (written around
A.D.
100),
http://vindolanda.csad.ox.ac.uk/TVII-164
.

114  “The empire”: Augustus's will (
A.D.
14), quoted in Tacitus,
Annals
1.11.

114  “Even victory”: Clausewitz, “The Culminating Point of the Attack,” trans. in Howard and Paret 1976, p. 566.

114  “Beyond that point”: Clausewitz,
On War
(1832), bk. 7, chap. 5, trans. in Howard and Paret 1976, p. 528.

114  “In the entire realm”: Luttwak 2001, p. 16.

116  “If we remember”: Clausewitz,
On War,
bk. 7, chap. 5, trans. in Howard and Paret 1976, p. 528.

117  “Life was thrown into chaos”: Herodotus 1.106.

117  “neutralize”: See L. Wright 2006, pp. 297–330.

120  “what you could call the ‘falling domino' principle”: President Dwight D. Eisenhower, news conference, April 7, 1954,
www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon/ps11.htm
.

122  “Recently … the Western Qiang”:
Book of the Former Han
94b, p. 3804 (published
A.D.
111), trans. in Lewis 2009, p. 148.

122  “Even women bear halberds”:
Book of the Later Han
70, p. 2258 (published early fifth century
A.D.
), trans. in Lewis 2009, p. 263.

124  “You know”: Summers 1982, p. 1.

124  “The Romans stayed calm”: Cassius Dio,
Roman History
72.7 (published ca.
A.D.
230). The original version of this part of Dio's history has been lost, and it is now known only from a somewhat garbled summary prepared by the Byzantine scholar Ioannis Xiphilinos in the 1070s
A.D.

125  “All the companies”: Ammianus Marcellinus,
Histories
25.1.12–13 (published ca.
A.D.
380).

126  “When a Scythian kills”: Herodotus 4.64.

127  “They have squat bodies”: Ammianus Marcellinus,
Histories
31.2.

128  “These strongest and bravest”:
Book of the Later Han
70, p. 2258, trans. in Lewis 2009, p. 263.

132  “a chaos unamenable”: Toynbee 1957, p. 265.

135  “against all men”: Treaty of Dover, March 10, 1101, trans. in Chaplais 1964, no. 1.

137  “This caused great wars”: Regino of Prüm,
Chronicon,
bk. 2, entry for 888 (written around
A.D.
906), trans. in Kirshner and Morrison 1986, p. 56.

138  “feudal anarchy”: Adam Smith,
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
(1776), bk. 5, chap. 2, art. 3.

138  “great lords”: Ibid., bk. 3, chap. 4.

139  “This rich wine”:
Chronique de Bertrand du Guesclin
(late fourteenth century), line 7254. Quoted in Charrière 1839, p. 264.

139  “The city walls had collapsed”: Yang Xuanzhi,
Memories of Luoyang
(
A.D.
547), trans. in Jenner 1981, p. 142.

140  “Understand this truth”: Prince of Gurgan,
The Book of Qabus
(ca.
A.D.
1080), trans. in Morgan 1988, p. 12.

140  “The ruler depends”: Emperor Taizong,
Zizhi Tongjian
192, p. 6026, cited in Wechsler 1979, p. 131.

141  “Chang'an lies in silence”: Wei Zhuang,
Lament of the Lady of Qin
(ca.
A.D.
890), trans. in Kuhn 2009, p. 17.

143  “Keep peace with walls”: Ammianus Marcellinus 31.6.4.

143  “From the walls”: Priscus,
History,
frag. 6 (written ca.
A.D.
475).

143  “captured more than a hundred cities”: Anonymous,
Life of Hypatius
104, trans. in Heather 2006, pp. 309–10.

144  “They even take the fat”: Giovanni da Pian del Carpine,
Ystoria Mongalorum
(ca.
A.D.
1250), trans. in Dawson 1955, pp. 37–38.

147  “to the sounds of trumpets”: Giovanni Miniati da Prato,
Narrazione e disegna della terra di Prato,
cited in Origo 1957, p. 61.

147  “At this … the people rejoiced”: Unnamed chronicler, cited in Huizinga 1955, p. 23.

150  “Had contact with the West”: Kirch 2010, p. 117.

152  “benefit the people”: Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Sword Collection Edict 2 (1588), trans. in Tsunoda et al. 1964, p. 320.

157  “If that failed”: Hassig 1992, p. 146.

161  “Proud of itself”:
Cantares mexicanos
(sixteenth century), cited in M. Smith 2003, p. 183.

163  “This day is called”: Shakespeare,
Henry V,
4.3, 40–60.

4.
THE FIVE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

165  “a pitchy black night”: Rudyard Kipling, “The Man Who Would Be King,” first published in the series Indian Railway Library 5 (Allahabad: A. H. Wheeler, 1888). I cite it from
The Bombay Edition of the Works of Rudyard Kipling
(London: Macmillan, 1913), with quotations from vol. 3, pp. 171, 174, 178–79, 186.

169  “When you approach the enemy ships”: Zhu Yuanzhang, in
Veritable Records of the Ming,
Hongwu 12/6b (compiled ca. 1400), trans. in Chase 2003, p. 34.

173  “no wall exists”: Niccolò Machiavelli,
Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livy
2.17 (written ca. 1517, published 1531).

173  “Our first care”: Machiavelli,
The Art of War
7.1 (written 1519–20, published 1521).

173  “We make war”: Roger Boyle, Earl of Orrery,
A Treatise on the Art of War
(1677), p. 15, cited in Parker 1996, p. 16.

173  “Can we doubt”: Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, letter 3 (1560), cited in Ross and McLaughlin 1953, p. 255.

174  “most of the troops”: Lala Mehmed Pasha, memorandum to Grand Vizier Yemishchi Hasan Pasha (ca. 1600), quoted in Imber 2002, p. 284.

174  “The critical point”: V. D. Hanson 2001, pp. 19, 20.

175  “it is this Western desire” … “the absolute destruction” … “the
desire
to deliver fatal blows”: V. D. Hanson 1989, p. 9.

175  “for the past 2,500 years”: V. D. Hanson 2001, p. 5.

178  “a distant marginal peninsula”: Frank 1998, p. 2.

182  “much dyed in blood”: Battle participant (1653), cited in Capp 1989, pp. 80–81.

182  “Wagons … can serve”: Qi Jiguang,
Practical Arrangement of Military Training,
zaji 6/11b (1571), cited in Chase 2003, p. 165.

183  “Cannon to right of them”: Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Charge of the Light Brigade” (1854).

184  “Look with favor on the merchants”: Sinan Pasha (ca. 1450–1500), cited in Inalcik 1969, p. 102.

184  “For years”: Tahmasp I,
Memoirs
(1524), cited in Dale 2010, p. 88.

184  “As soon as he came to the throne”: Iskandar Beg Munshi,
History of Shah ‘Abbas the Great
(ca. 1620), trans. in Savory 1978, p. 523.

184  “the Roads are so safe”: Jean Chardin,
Travels in Persia, 1673–1677,
cited in Dale 2010, p. 113.

187  “rancks advance”: Colonel Robert Monro, cited in M. Roberts 1965, p. 258.

188  “Drill, baby, drill”:
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/09/03/steele-gives-gop-delegates-new-cheer-drill-baby-drill/tab/article/
.

189  “Our lives and possessions”: Blaise de Montluc,
Commentaires
(1592), cited in David Bell 2007, p. 36.

189  “Dear me”: Richard Brinsley Sheridan,
Saint Patrick's Day
(1775), 1.2.

189  “that a uniform dress”: Philip Saumarez (1747), cited in Herman 2004, p. 261.

189  “sobriety, diligence, obedience”: Samuel Pepys (1677), cited in Coote 2000, p. 271.

189  “the want of money”:
The Diary of Samuel Pepys,
September 30, 1661,
www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1661/09/30/
.

190  “moan of the poor seamen”: Ibid., October 7, 1665,
www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1665/10/07/
.

190  “This is what comes”: Ibid., June 14, 1667,
www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1667/06/14/
.

190  
l'état, c'est moi
: This bon mot may well be apocryphal, but if Louis did not say it, he should have done.

191  “credit makes the soldier fight”: Daniel Defoe,
The Complete English Tradesman
(1725), vol. 1, chap. 25.

191  “No longer is it nations”: Jean-Paul Rabaut Saint-Etienne, cited in David Bell 2007, p. 48.

194  “Sores erupted on our faces”: As told by Aztec informants to Bernardino de Sahagún (1530s), cited in Léon-Portilla 2006, p. 85.

195  “naked people”: Letter to Juan de Oñate (1605), cited in Kamen 2003, p. 253.

195  “the most disadvantageous lottery”: Smith,
Wealth of Nations,
bk. 4, chap. 7, pt. 1.

195  “white plague”: N. Ferguson 2003, pp. 59–113.

196  “You have three things we want”: Unnamed African chief, cited in T.D. Lloyd 1984, p. 37.

197  “wars by sea”: Sultan of Gujarat (1509), cited in Pearson 1987, p. 56.

197  “Trade in Asia”: Jan Pieterszoon Coen, letter to Directors 17, December 27, 1614, cited in Parker 1996, p. 132.

197  “The trade of the world”: Captain George Cocke, quoted in Pepys,
Diary,
February 2, 1664,
www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1664/02/02/
.

198  “I am falling”: Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao (1730s), cited in L. James 1997, p. 10.

198  “The princes became independent”: Edmund Burke, opening speech in the impeachment of Warren Hastings, London, February 15, 1788, cited in Bond 1859, p. 42.

199  “wall which vomited fire and flame”: Bengali survivor of the Battle of Buxar (1764), cited in L. James 1997, p. 41.

199  “the most considerable of any nation”: Anonymous author of
Magnae Britanniae Notitia; or, The Present State of Great Britain
(London, 1718), p. 33, cited in Colley 2009, p. 59.

200  $400 million: Calculated at
www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/
using average earnings; if the amount is measured in terms of the retail price index, Clive merely walked off with $25 million.

200  “Could it be believed”: Burke, debate on the India Bill, London, December 1783, cited in Parker 1996, p. 117.

201  “O piteous spectacle!”: Shakespeare,
Henry VI, Part 3
(1591), 2.6.73.

205  “consequence of a certain propensity”: Smith,
Wealth of Nations,
bk. 1, chap. 1.

205  “By directing [his] industry”: Ibid., bk. 4, chap. 2.

206  “open-access order”: North et al. 2009.

206  “Let any gentleman but look”: William Pulteney, First Earl of Bath (1743), cited in Brewer 1989, p. 91.

207  “should voluntarily give up all authority”: Smith,
Wealth of Nations,
bk. 4, chap. 7, pt. 3.

207  “Such a measure”: Ibid.

207  “government even in its best state”: Thomas Paine,
Common Sense
(1776), first section. Available at
www.gutenberg.org
.

207  “government itself will become useless”: Alexander Hamilton, “Views on the French Revolution” (1794), cited in Wood 2009, p. 302.

209  “Nothing but Force”: Ambassador John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, October 9, 1787, cited in Wood 2009, p. 214.

209  “As defence”: Smith,
Wealth of Nations,
bk. 4, chap. 2.

210  “Rule, Britannia!”: Lyrics by James Thomson and music by Thomas Arne, first performed in
The Masque of Alfred
(1740).

210  “In 1793, a force appeared”: Clausewitz,
On War,
bk. 8, chap. 3, trans. in Howard and Paret 1976, p. 591.

210  “We the People”: U. S. Constitution, Preamble (1787),
www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html
.

211  “it is time for the age of Knight-Errantry”: George Washington to François-Jean de Beauvoir de Chastellux, April 25, 1788, cited in David Bell 2007, p. 74.

211  “satirical inscription”: Immanuel Kant,
Perpetual Peace
(1795),
www.constitution.org/kant/perpeace.htm
.

212  “The full weight of the nation”: Clausewitz,
On War,
bk. 8, chap. 3, trans. in Howard and Paret 1976, p. 592.

212  “We are bearing fire and death”: Captain Dupuy to his sister, January 25, 1794, cited in David Bell 2007, p. 180.

212  “What a revolutionary torrent”: Jean-Baptiste Carrier, December 20, 1793, cited in David Bell 2007, p. 182.

213  “No more maneuvers”: Lazare Carnot (1794), cited in Howard 2009, p. 80.

218  “The earth was made for Dombey and Son”: Charles Dickens,
Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation
(1846), chap. 1.

218  “as the
floating
property”: Bernard and Hall 1844, p. 6.

219  “exactly as if the subjects”: Armine Mountain (1842), cited in Fay 1997, p. 222.

220  “I never was in so severe a business”: General Gerard Lake, November 1803, cited in Barua 1994, p. 599.

221  “There is nothing”: Samuel Colt, report to Parliament (1854), cited in McPherson 1988, p. 16.

221  “In ten minutes the affair was decided”: Henry Havelock, July 12, 1857, cited in E. Stokes 1986, p. 59.

222  “On her dominions”:
Caledonian Mercury,
October 15, 1821, p. 4.

223  “world-system”: Darwin 2009.

223  “The great object”: Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston, speech to Parliament, August 6, 1839, cited ibid., p. 36.

225  “Fifty-four forty or fight!”: Slogan in James Polk's 1844 presidential campaign, cited in Foreman 2010, p. 25.