“Cousin Tertullus in Rome:
     We had been told, on leaving our native soil, that we were going to defend the sacred rights conferred on us by our ancestors' toil and sacrifice and to bring benefits to populations in need of our assistance and our civilization.
     We were able to verify that all this was true, and, because it was true, we did not hesitate to shed our quota of blood, to sacrifice our youth and our hopes. We regretted nothing, but whereas we over here are inspired by this frame of mind, I am told that in Rome factions and conspiracies are rife, that treachery flourishes, and that many people in their uncertainty and confusion lend a ready ear to the dire temptations of relinquishment and vilify our action.
     I cannot believe that all this is true, and yet recent wars have shown how pernicious such a state of mind could be and to where it could lead.
     Make haste to reassure me, I beg you, and tell me that our fellow-citizens understand us, support us and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of Rome.
     If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware of the anger of the Legions!”
Marcus Flavinius, Centurion of the 2nd Cohort of the Augusta Legion.

Michael Curtis Ford, the author of gripping, fictional military histories based on deep research sent me the translated version of this letter written by a Roman soldier, stationed in what we now call the Middle East, in the year 32 AD -- that's almost two thousand years ago

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