"Meanwhile cultivate the Muses whilst thou art yet young; read of deeds thou soon mayest rival; never may Greece's story, never may Rome's, cease to speak with thee. Study the lives of the heroes of old to accustom thee for wars that are to be. Go back to the Latin age. Admirest thou a fight for liberty? Thou wilt admire Brutus. Does treachery rouse thine indignation? The punishment of Mettius will fill thee with satisfaction. Dost thou hate undue severity? Abominate Torquatus' savagery. Is it a virtue to die for one's country? Honour the self-devotion of the Decii. Horatius Cocles, facing the foe on the broken bridge, Mucius holding his arm in the flames,Link to the editor's note at the bottom of this page these shall show thee what, single-handed, brave men can do. Fabius will show thee what overthrow delay can cause; Camillus and his slaughter of the Gauls what in face of odds a leader can effect. From history thou mayest learn that no ill fortune can master worth; Punic savagery extends thy fame, Regulus, to eternity; the failure of Cato outdoes success. From history thou mayest learn the power of frugal poverty; Curius was a poor man when he conquered kings in battle; Fabricius was poor when he spurned the gold of Pyrrhus; Serranus, for all he was dictator, drove the muddy plough. In those days the lictors kept watch at a cottage door, the fasces were hung upon a gateway of wood; consuls helped to gather in the harvest, and for long years the fields were ploughed by husbandmen who wore the consular robe."

from Claudian's "On the Fourth Consulship of the Emperor Honorius"