Laudator Temporis Acti

Josephus, Jewish War 3.72-75 (tr. H. St. J. Thackeray):

[72] For their nation does not wait for the outbreak of war to give men their first lesson in arms; they do not sit with folded hands in peace time only to put them in motion in the hour of need. On the contrary, as though they had been born with weapons in hand, they never have a truce from training, never wait for emergencies to arise. [73] Moreover, their peace manœuvres are no less strenuous than veritable warfare; each soldier daily throws all his energy into his drill, as though he were in action. [74] Hence that perfect ease with which they sustain the shock of battle: no confusion breaks their customary formation, no panic paralyses, no fatigue exhausts them; and as their opponents cannot match these qualities, victory is the invariable and certain consequence. [75] Indeed, it would not be wrong to describe their manœuvres as bloodless combats and their combats as sanguinary manœuvres.

[72] οὐ γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἀρχὴ τῶν ὅπλων ὁ πόλεμος, οὐδ᾿ ἐπὶ μόνας τὰς χρείας τὼ χεῖρε κινοῦσιν ἐν εἰρήνῃ προηργηκότες, ἀλλ᾿ ὥσπερ συμπεφυκότες τοῖς ὅπλοις οὐδέποτε τῆς ἀσκήσεως λαμβάνουσιν ἐκεχειρίαν οὐδὲ ἀναμένουσιν τοὺς καιρούς. [73] αἱ μελέται δ᾿ αὐτοῖς οὐδὲν τῆς κατὰ ἀλήθειαν εὐτονίας ἀποδέουσιν, ἀλλ᾿ ἕκαστος ὁσημέραι στρατιώτης πάσῃ προθυμίᾳ καθάπερ ἐν πολέμῳ γυμνάζεται. [74] διὸ κουφότατα τὰς μάχας διαφέρουσιν· οὔτε γὰρ ἀταξία διασκίδνησιν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν ἔθει συντάξεως, οὔτε δέος ἐξίστησιν, οὔτε δαπανᾷ πόνος, ἕπεται δὲ τὸ κρατεῖν ἀεὶ κατὰ τῶν οὐχ ὁμοίων βέβαιον. [75] καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι τις εἰπὼν τὰς μὲν μελέτας αὐτῶν χωρὶς αἵματος παρατάξεις, τὰς παρατάξεις δὲ μεθ᾿ αἵματος μελέτας.