nation, in the orderyng of their men to the warre,
have made in their hoste, or in their armie, a principall
member, the whiche though thei have varied with the
name, thei have little varied with the nomber of the
menne: for that thei all have made it, betwene
sixe and viii. M. men. This nomber of men
was called of the Romaines, a Legion, of Grekes a
Fallange, of Frenchemen Caterva: this verie same
in our tyme of the Suizzers, whom onely of the auncient
warfare, kepe some shadowe, is called in their tongue
that, whiche in ours signifieththe maine battaile.
True it is, that every one of them, hath after devided
it, accordyng to their purposes. Therefore me
thinkes beste, that wee grounde our talke, upon this
name moste knowen, and after, according to the aunciente,
and to the orders now adaies, the beste that is possible
to ordaine it; and bicause the Romaines devided their
Legion, whiche was made betwene five and sixe thousande
men, in ten Cohortes, I will that wee devide our main
battaile, into ten battailes, and that we make it of
sixe thousande menne on foote, and we will give to
every battaile, CCCCL. men, of whiche shall be, CCCC.
armed with heavie armour, and L. with light armour:
the heavie armed, shall be CCC. Targettes with
sweardes, and shalbe called Target men: and C.
with Pikes, whiche shalbe called ordinarie Pikes:
the light armed shalbe, L. men armed with Harkabuses,
Crosse bowes, and Partisans, and smal Targaettes, and
these by an aunciente name, were called ordinarie
Veliti: all of the ten battailes therefore, comes
to have three thousande Targaet men, a thousande ordinarie
Pikes, CCCC. ordinarie Veliti, all whiche make the
nomber of fower thousande and five hundred men.
And we saied, that we would make the maine battaile
of six thousande; therefore there must be added an
other thousande, five hundred men, of whiche I will
appoinet a thousande with Pikes, whom I will call
extraordinarie Veliti, and thus my menne should come
(as a little before I have saied) to bee made halfe
of Targaetes, and halfe of Pikes and other weapons.
I would appoinete to everie battaile, or bande of
men, a Conestable, fower Centurions and fouretic peticapitaines,
and moreover a hedde to the ordinarie Veliti. with
five peticapitaines; I would give to the thousande
extraordinarie Pikes, three Conestabelles, ten Centurions,
and a hundred peticapitaines; to the extraodrinarie
Veliti, two Conestabelles, v. Centurions, and
l. peticapitaines: I would then apoinet a generall
hed, over all the main battaile: I would that
every Conestable should have an Ansigne, and a Drum.
Thus there should be made a manne battaile of ten
battailes, of three thousande Targaet men, of a thousande
ordinarie Pikes, of a thousande extraordinarie of
five hundred ordinarie Veliti, of five hundred extraordinarie,
so there should come to bee sixe thousande men, emongeste
the whiche there should bee M.D. peticapitaines, and
moreover, xv. Conestables, with xv. Drummes,
and xv. Ansignes, lv. Centurions, x. heddes