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GREAT MEN'S BODIES
son.… Who taught the world that "for averting a panic there is nothing so good as hard work."
But he was not only a man of action. He could speak too.
Quintilian says: "If Julius Cæsar had only found leisure for the forum, he would be the one we should select as the rival of Cicero. He has such force, point, and vehemence of style that it is clear that he spoke with the same mind that he warred. Yet all is covered with a wonderful elegance of expression, of which he was peculiarly studious."
And a neighbor and friend of us all says:
"… 'A wonderful man was this Cæsar!
You are a writer, and I am a fighter, but here is a fellow
Who could both write and fight, and in both was equally skilful!'*******
Better be first, he said, in a little Iberian village,
Than be second in Rome, and I think he was right when he said it.
Twice was he married before he was twenty, and many times after;
Battles five hundred he fought, and a thousand cities he conquered;
He, too, fought in Flanders, as he himself has recorded;
Finally he was stabbed by his friend, the orator Brutus!
Now, do you know what he did on a certain occasion in Flanders
When the rear-guard of his army retreated, the front giving way too,
And the immortal Twelfth Legion was crowded so closely together,
There was no room for their swords?
Why, he seized a shield from a soldier,
Put himself straight at the head of his troops, and commanded the captains,
Calling on each by his name, to order forward the ensigns;
Then to widen the ranks, and give more room for their weapons.
So he won the day, the battle of Something-or-other.
That's what I always say; if you wish a thing to be well done,
You must do it yourself; you must not leave it to others!'"
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