"Our enemies are Medes and Persians, men who for centuries have lived soft and luxurious lives; we of Macedon for generations past have been trained in the hard school of danger and war. Above all, we are free men, and they are slaves"
About this Quote
This is conquest propaganda dressed up as sober history: a motivational contrast so clean it feels like fate. Arrian, channeling Alexander-era rhetoric, turns geopolitics into a moral fable. The Persians are not merely opponents; theyre a cautionary lifestyle brand. "Soft and luxurious" isnt description so much as indictment, a way to claim that comfort erodes virtue and that empire is, paradoxically, earned by people who can live without it.
The intent is practical: stiffen Macedonian resolve before a fight that, on paper, looks suicidal. By reframing the enemy as decadent, Arrian offers soldiers a psychological discount on fear. If the other side is "soft", then Macedonian hardship becomes an asset rather than a wound. The phrase "trained in the hard school of danger and war" is also a narrative of legitimacy: Macedons violence is recast as discipline, almost education, while Persian power becomes mere inheritance.
Then comes the sharpest move: "we are free men, and they are slaves". Its a political claim and a moral lubricant. Freedom here is less about democratic practice than about masculine autonomy and willingness to die without coercion. Slavery, in Greek and Macedonian polemic, often meant submission to a king, not literal bondage - a way to downgrade an imperial rival into a servile people who fight because they must. The subtext is chillingly modern: dehumanize the enemy, moralize your own aggression, and turn war into a referendum on character.
Arrian writes centuries later, in a Roman world that loved Greek freedom-talk while living inside an empire. The line works because it flatters readers with a fantasy: history belongs to the hard, the free, and the violent - and the winners get to define those terms.
The intent is practical: stiffen Macedonian resolve before a fight that, on paper, looks suicidal. By reframing the enemy as decadent, Arrian offers soldiers a psychological discount on fear. If the other side is "soft", then Macedonian hardship becomes an asset rather than a wound. The phrase "trained in the hard school of danger and war" is also a narrative of legitimacy: Macedons violence is recast as discipline, almost education, while Persian power becomes mere inheritance.
Then comes the sharpest move: "we are free men, and they are slaves". Its a political claim and a moral lubricant. Freedom here is less about democratic practice than about masculine autonomy and willingness to die without coercion. Slavery, in Greek and Macedonian polemic, often meant submission to a king, not literal bondage - a way to downgrade an imperial rival into a servile people who fight because they must. The subtext is chillingly modern: dehumanize the enemy, moralize your own aggression, and turn war into a referendum on character.
Arrian writes centuries later, in a Roman world that loved Greek freedom-talk while living inside an empire. The line works because it flatters readers with a fantasy: history belongs to the hard, the free, and the violent - and the winners get to define those terms.
Quote Details
| Topic | Freedom |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
More Quotes by Arrian
Add to List
