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Callus Tacticus
From Discworld & Pratchett Wiki
| General Tacticus | |
| [[Image:|thumb|center|200px|{{{1}}}]] | |
| Name | Callus Tacticus (also A. Tacticus) |
| Age | |
| Race | Human |
| Occupation | Military leader |
| Looks | |
| Residence | Ankh-Morpork, later on Genua |
| Death | long time ago |
| Parents | |
| Relatives | |
| Children | |
| Marital Status | |
| Books | Mentioned in several books, most notably Jingo, Wintersmith |
| Cameos | Hogfather, Carpe Jugulum, Feet of Clay |
The greatest military theoretician in the history of the Disc (as opposed to Carelinus, the greatest conquerer), tactics are named after General Tacticus. He has been seen as too competent for his own good. The general wrote a number of military journals, most famously Veni Vidi Vici: A Soldier's Life with very practical advice for the aspiring commander, such as the following section on what to do if one army occupies a well-fortified and superior fortress and the other does not:
"Endeavor to be the one inside."
At the height of his renown, the royal family of Genua died out and Genua requested that Ankh-Morpork nominate a suitable new duke. They rewarded Tacticus with the selection; his first act after assuming the throne was to declare war on the biggest rival: Ankh-Morpork. This led to the downfall of the Empire of Ankh-Morpork, which at that time stretched all the way into Klatch and across the Sto Plains.
The General has also been referred to as A. Tacticus.
Annotation
The "A. Tacticus" could derive from Aeneas Tacticus, (4th century BC) who was one of the earliest Greek writers on the art of war. His book How to Survive under Siege (Greek: Περὶ τοῦ πῶς χρὴ πολιορκουμένους ἀντέχειν), deals with the best methods of defending a fortified city...
See also Aelianus Tacticus, a Greek military writer of the 2nd century, resident at Rome. Aelian's military treatise in fifty-three chapters on the tactics of the Greeks (Περί Στρατηγικων Τάξεων Ελληνικων), is a handbook of Greek, i.e. Macedonian, drill and tactics as practiced by the Hellenistic successors of Alexander the Great. The author claims to have consulted all the best authorities, the chief of which was a lost treatise on the subject by Polybius. Perhaps the chief value of Aelian's work lies in his critical account of preceding works on the art of war, and in the fullness of his technical details in matters of drill.
Most of the legendary character TP has created seems to have been inspired by Sun Tzu however.
Oh, and "Callous" in English means "Emotionally hardened; unfeeling".
