The Boeotian and Chalcidian peoples were tamed
by the sons of Athenians in works of war,
Who quelled their arrogance in dark bonds of iron,
And set up these horses as a tithe for Pallas.
…from Herodotus‘s Histories, Book 5, 5.78, describing the inscription on a bronze chariot dedicated at the gateway of the Acropolis in the 5th century BC.
There’s something about a world where men conclude war with works of poetry and sculpture.
Something.