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But when a prince is with his army, and has under control a

multitude of soldiers, then it is quite necessary for him to

disregard the reputation of cruelty, for without it he would

never hold his army united or disposed to its duties.

Among the wonderful deeds of Hannibal this one is enumerated:

that having led an enormous army, composed of many various races

of men, to fight in foreign lands, no dissensions arose either

among them or against the prince, whether in his bad or in his

good fortune. This arose from nothing else than his inhuman

cruelty, which, with his boundless valour, made him revered and

terrible in the sight of his soldiers, but without that cruelty,

his other virtues were not sufficient to produce this effect. And

short-sighted writers admire his deeds from one point of view and

from another condemn the principal cause of them.