The Roman writer Aulus Gellius, in his Attic Nights (XIII.22), records the following anecdote. Gellius was once conversing with his teacher, one Titus Castricius, whom he describes in glowing terms as “a man of the greatest prestige and dignity.”
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Before I explore the main subject of this essay, I wanted to relate a tale about Alexander the Great’s leadership acumen. The historian Arrian relates an event that he believes best distills Alexander’s genius for command. It can be found in VI.26 of his History of Alexander. When Alexander and his army were passing through the Gedrosian desert (a part of what is now Baluchistan), they ran low on water and began to be tormented by extreme thirst. Water was almost nowhere to be found, and it would be some time before they could reach a reliable aquifer.
The Roman writer Aulus Gellius relates an anecdote about his discovery of the meaning of an old proverb. He tells us that he read the following line in one of the speeches of Marcus Cato Censorius:
The following parable is found in Aulus Gellius (XVI.19), who himself takes it from Herodotus (I.23). It reminds us that effort and talent, if applied consistently, will eventually reap rewards.
Quintus Curtius 
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