Bellum se ipsum alet

, coined the phrase in 195 BC The phrase bellum se ipsum alet was first mentioned in Ab urbe condita libri XXXIV,9,12, written by Roman historian Titus Livius (Livy) (59 BC-17 AD), who attributed it to Cato Marcus Porcius ("the Elder", 234–149 BC), a statesman in Ancient Rome. According to Livy, Cato in 195 BC used the phrase during the conquest of Hispania when he refused to buy additional supplies for his army in Iberia (Hispania, modern Spain and Portugal). ==The strategy==

Thirty Years' War Prior to the Thirty Years' War, the laws of the Holy Roman Empire provided for funding armies by raising special war taxes. The funds needed for the large armies raised during the war however exceeded the income of the respective warlords from those taxes, and forced them to resort to additional, unfavourable measures such as borrowing of money and currency depreciation. Ferdinand II allowed Wallenstein to exploit occupied territory with the caveat that money should not be collected by force without his approval. This caveat was however neglected, Thus, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring implemented restrictions on the local population to prevent the Altreich and the army from falling short of food supplies. ==See also==