Death is the sentence which fate has passed on all mankind, but to die nobly is the special honor which nature has reserved for the good. Isocrates. To Demonicus. Speech 1. Section 43.
Image: Manlius Torquatus condemns his son to death by Alexandre-Romain Honnet, 1799. During the Latin War beginning in 340 BCE, Manlius Torquatus and his co-consul, Publius Decius Mus, decided that the old military discipline would be reinstated, and no man was allowed to leave his post, under penalty of death. Manlius's son, seeing an opportunity for glory, forgot this stricture, left his post with his friends, and defeated several Latin skirmishers in battle. Having the spoils brought to him, the father cried out in a loud voice and called the legion to assemble. Berating his son, he then handed him over for execution to the horror of all his men. Thus, "Manlian discipline."
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