Monday, April 26, 2010

Roman mindset

A general is just as good or just as bad as the troops under his command make him. - General Douglas MacArthur

This could be argued as reflecting Caesar's command, but also against.
I believe it reflects his command because of all his gambles. If the army under him wasn't as revved up as they were, they could have crumbled. Much of this has to do with the Roman mindset of pleasing your general. Caesar inspired them as a whole to force their victory, no matter how unlikely their win would be. If this Roman mindset did not exist, the troops under Caesar would have suffered more losses and his command would not have been so prized.
One could say the Roman mindset actually disproves this quote as a parallel to Caesar's command, for the very reason that, other than a cultural norm, Caesar's gambles would not have succeeded as well, or at all.

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