BOOK

In this way, those who are driven by a desire for childish boasting believe they can hunt for a reputation for knowledge. In the past, it was common for young men to first seek fame by making some notable accusation. These critics will call me another Phormio, the philosopher of the Peripatetic school, or they will say I am like Sergius Galba. Phormio was a philosopher who famously gave a long lecture on the duties of a general to Hannibal, the great Carthaginian commander. Hannibal mocked him because Phormio had no practical experience in war. Sergius Galba was a Roman orator criticized for similar reasons. Others will point out that I have smooth skin and a body softened by staying in the shade of a study. They will say I have never received a wound, yet I intend to speak many words about military matters: about the bravery and cowardice of leaders, the arrangement of the battle line, and the choosing of suitable locations for camps. They will find it especially strange that I address these words to you, a great leader who was raised in military camps, who has led the largest armies, and who remains forever undefeated.

There will also be others who are difficult, monstrous "shunners of light" Lucifugi: a term for people who avoid the light of day, often used to describe those who hide away to criticize others or who lack true enlightenment. who put on a false appearance of knowledge. Under a show of expertise and an inflated opinion of their own learning, they claim much for themselves. They chatter foolishly like crows among themselves. These men will try to overwhelm me not so much with actual charges, but with insults. I will not fear their swelling words. I value them no more than Demetrius. Demetrius the Cynic was a philosopher known for his blunt and often crude honesty. We have heard that he used to say the voices of the ignorant should be treated the same as the sounds made by the stomach. He believed it mattered very little whether a foul sound came from the upper or lower part of the body.

Others will press me more sharply and trample me with that line from the satirist: "An incurable itch for writing holds many." This is a reference to the Roman poet Juvenal, who used the term Cacoethes to describe an uncontrollable urge or "itch" to write. They forget another line from the same satire: "It is something to have come this far, even if one is not allowed to go further." I could rightly strike back at all these people. However, I prefer to leave them untouched and keep a calm mind. I am certainly not one of those who wishes to have no rivals, or who believes their own talents are so advanced that they have produced nothing that can be criticized or nothing that is not "perfect to the fingernail." This is a Latin idiom meaning a work is polished to the highest degree of perfection.

I will not be bothered if some things have escaped my notice or were written without enough thought. I know that I have explored everything with great care and diligent research into the books of the ancient authors. If I am warned by friends or scholars of true errors, I will correct them. If the criticism is unfair, I prefer to follow the laughter of Democritus rather than the tears of Heraclitus. Democritus and Heraclitus were ancient Greek philosophers. Democritus was known as the "laughing philosopher" who mocked human folly, while Heraclitus was the "weeping philosopher" who grieved for it. I will not be upset if this is the opinion of my writings. Those critics do not realize that even the most learned, serious, and holy men suffered such things from rivals who wrongly criticized everything. I will start with the poets, who are much older than the historians, orators, or any other type of writer. Homer was the first leader of all literature and the father of antiquity. He was the source and origin of all divine inventions. Yet, he did not stop later generations from studying, even though he had many rivals who criticized him as he faltered and...