writings on public administration go back to ancient civilization. The ancient Egyptians and Babylonians left considerable advice on the techniques of management and adminis tration. So and Rome. Modern management tech niques can be traced from Alexander the Greats use of staff? to the assembly line methods of the arsenal of Venice from the theoriang of Niccola Machiavelli on the nature of lead Adam Smith's advocacy of the division of labo s and from Robert Owens assertion that "vital machines attention as "inanimate machines to Charles Babbage's conten (employees) should be given as mu tion that there existed "basic principles of management The history of the world can be viewed as the rise and fall of public administrative institutions. Those ancient empires that rose and prevailed were those with better administrative institut than their competitors. Brave soldiers have been plentiful in every society but they were ultimately wasted if not backed up by administrators who can feed and pay them. Marcus Tullius Cicero, the ancient Roman orator, is usually credited with first saying that "the sinews of war are infinite money Rome, like Egypt, Persia, and other empires before it, conquered much of the ancient world (well at least that centered around the Mediterranean) because it had an organizational doctrine that made its soldiers far more effective than competing forces--and because its legions were backed up by a sophisticated administrative system of supply based on regular if not equitable taxes. The Roman Empire only fell when its legions degenerated in corps of mercenaries and when its supply and tax bases were corrupted. Napoleon was wrong. Armies do not "march on their stomachs, as he said; they march on the proverbial backs of the tax collectors and on the roads built by administrators. Regular pay allows for discipline. Strict discipline is what makes a mob an army. And a disciplined military, obedient to the leaders of the state, is a precondition for civilization. This is the classic chicken and egg problem. Which comes first-effective public administration or an effective military? The rise and fall of ancient Rome proved that you could not have one without the other bureaucrats in ancient Rome and modern Europe literally wore uniforms that paralleled ilitary dres After all, the household servants of rulers traditionally wore livery. It indicated that the wearer was not free but the servant of another. Government administrators are still considered s ants in this sense, they are public servants because they, too, have a obligations that mean they are not completely free. Indeed, until early in the twentieth century many otherwise civilian public most notably diplomats-had prescribed uniforms. officials in Europe agers tend to be inordinately admired and dispropor tionately rewarded as risk takers. True, the specific risks and rewards are different, but the phenom- enon is the same. They both may have to put their careers, and sometimes significant parts of thei anatomy as well, on the line" to obtain a goal for their state or organization. Notice again the military language for "the line" originally referred to the line of battle where they faced the enemy. This is wh line officers today are still those who perform the services for wh h the organization exists. This is the direct link between the Roman centurion and the fire chief, hospital director, or school principal. Life on the line is still a daily struggle ement and leade tated by one It is possible to find most of the or another of the writers of the classical, medieval, and pre-modern world. However, our concern is academic discipline and occupational not with this prehistory of modern management but with the pecialty that is us public