I gather that the Celtics face danger more boldly than other races. Certainly they make heroic death in war the subject of their poems. In battle they wear garlands on their heads and they put up victory monuments; they take pride in their achievements and leave behind them memorials of their bravery, in Greek style. To run away is held to be so shameful that they often will not even escape if a house collapses and falls on them, nor if the house is on fire and they are caught by the flames. Many of them stand firm as the sea washes over them. Some pick up weapons, rush into the waves, and feel their impact, brandishing naked swords and spears, as if these could frighten or wound them.
Aelian, Historical Miscellany 12.23 (trans. Wilson).
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