TED ERZURUM COLLEGE / 9-A
Salvation through Iron but Not Gold
Nevhat FIRAT
“ Whether the Romans could endure all kinds of disasters , but could not survive disgrace , and that not gold but iron would be the salvation of the country .”
84
These were the words of General Camillus after the battle of Allia in which they suffered a heavy loss , being forced to witness the sight of naked , war-crazed barbarians called Gauls after a humiliating battle where their men fled the battlefield , almost right after the war had started , contained with tall , naked warriors shedding blood wildly along with their signature battle cries . At the time you might have believed those words to be empty promises of some defeated general who lost all his army desperately trying to re-enact support . But this statement would have proved to be profoundly wrong as Romans would pick up this as their main motto becoming extremely ambitious about never letting this monstrous scenery happen again , differentiating them from other Italian minor states , and with it they would gradually consolidate power on the Mediterranean sea , gradually shifting their identity from a minor Italian citystate to the mightiest empire of all time although they never had the ; strongest military , strongest navy , smartest people or wisest rulers but simply because they had sheer determination . And to me , this strongly advocates that in order to leave a mark in this world , you don ’ t necessarily need to be exceptionally smart or talented , although it certainly contributes greatly . Rather , it ’ s about having determination .