52. We cannot enter into alliance with neighboring princes
until we are acquainted with their designs. We are not fit to
lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of
the country--its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and
precipices, its marshes and swamps. We shall be unable to turn
natural advantages to account unless we make use of local guides.
[These three sentences are repeated from VII. SS. 12-14 --
in order to emphasize their importance, the commentators seem to
think. I prefer to regard them as interpolated here in order to
form an antecedent to the following words. With regard to local
guides, Sun Tzu might have added that there is always the risk of
going wrong, either through their treachery or some
misunderstanding such as Livy records (XXII. 13): Hannibal, we
are told, ordered a guide to lead him into the neighborhood of
Casinum, where there was an important pass to be occupied; but
his Carthaginian accent, unsuited to the pronunciation of Latin
names, caused the guide to understand Casilinum instead of
Casinum, and turning from his proper route, he took the army in
that direction, the mistake not being discovered until they had
almost arrived.]
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