The principle that has guided them has been, first, to lower the credit of infantry so that they might increase their own. They did this because, subsisting on their pay and without territory, they were unable to support many soldiers, and a few infantry did not give them any authority; so they were led to employ cavalry, with a moderate force of which they were maintained and honoured; and affairs were brought to such a pass that, in an army of twenty thousand soldiers, there were not to be found two thousand foot soldiers.
A gyalogságot elhanyagolták, hogy hírnevet szerezzenek maguknak; mindezt azért, mert állammal nem rendelkezvén, ez volt a mesterségük: kevés gyalogossal semmire sem mentek, sokat pedig nem tudtak ellátni; így aztán lovasságra szorultak, mert ezeket volt, aki megfelelő számban táplálja és megbecsülje. Végül odáig jutottak, hogy egy húszezer főnyi hadseregben nem volt kétezer gyalogos.