For no Marsian augur (whom fools view with awe,)
  Nor diviner, nor star-gazer, care I a straw;
  The Isis-taught quack, an expounder of dreams,
  Is neither in science nor art what he seems;
  Superstitious and shameless they prowl through our streets,
  Some hungry, some crazy, but all of them cheats. 
  Impostors, who vaunt that to others they’ll show
  A path which themselves neither travel nor know: 
  Since they promise us wealth if we pay for their pains,
  Let them take from that wealth and bestow what remains

* * * * *

CHAPTER VII.

THE ROMAN ARMY AND NAVY.

                     Is the soldier found
  In the riot and waste which he spreads around? 
  The sharpness makes him—­the dash, the tact,
  The cunning to plan, and the spirit to act.—­Lord L. Gower.

1.  It has been frequently remarked by ancient writers that the strength of a free state consists in its infantry; and, on the other hand, that when the infantry in a state become more valuable than the cavalry, the power of the aristocracy is diminished, and equal rights can no longer be withheld from the people.  The employment of mercenary soldiers in modern times renders these observations no longer applicable; but in the military states of antiquity, where the citizens themselves served as soldiers, there are innumerable examples of this mutual connection between political and military systems.  It is further illustrated in the history of the middle ages; for we can unquestionably trace the origin of free institutions in Europe to the time when the hardy infantry of the commons were first found able to resist the charges of the brilliant chivalry of the nobles. 2.  Rome was, from the very commencement, a military state; as with the Spartans, all their civil institutions had a direct reference to warlike affairs; their public assemblies were marshalled like armies; the order of their line of battle was regulated by the distinction of classes in the state.  It is, therefore, natural to conclude, that the tactics of the Roman armies underwent important changes when the revolutions mentioned in the preceding chapters were effected, though we cannot trace the alterations with precision, because no historians appeared until the military system of the Romans had been brought to perfection.

3.  The strength of the Tuscans consisted principally in their cavalry; and if we judge from the importance attributed to the equestrian rank in the earliest ages, we may suppose that the early Romans esteemed this force equally valuable.  It was to Ser’vius Tul’lius, the great patron of the commonalty, that the Romans were indebted for the formation of a body of infantry, which, after the lapse of centuries, received so many improvements that it became invincible.

4.  The ancient battle array of the Greeks was the phalanx; the troops were drawn up in close column, the best armed being in front.  The improvements made in this system of tactics by Philip, are recorded in Grecian history; they chiefly consisted in making the evolutions of the entire body more manageable, and counteracting the difficulties which attended the motions of this cumbrous mass.