Laudator Temporis Acti

Livy 7.9.8 (tr. Betty Radice):

It was then that a Gaul of enormous size advanced on to the empty bridge and shouted as loudly as he could: 'Let the bravest man Rome has today come on and fight, so that the two of us can show by the result which race is superior in war!'

tum eximia corporis magnitudine in vacuum pontem Gallus processit et quantum maxima voce potuit "quem nunc" inquit "Roma virum fortissimum habet, procedat agedum ad pugnam, ut noster duorum eventus ostendat utra gens bello sit melior."

Id. 8.7.7 (Geminus Maecius to Titus Manlius):

'Then will you fight me yourself...? The outcome of a duel between you and me will show how much better a Latin cavalryman is than a Roman.'

"visne igitur...tu ipse congredi mecum, ut nostro duorum iam hinc eventu cernatur quantum eques Latinus Romano praestet?"

These taunts recorded by Livy remind me of a challenge I heard during an acrimonious firmware design meeting, when I worked for Paradyne Corporation in the 1980s:

"Let's go out in the parking lot and I'll show you what a hardware guy can do to a software guy."