De Virtutibus

These men, then, being arrayed against them, a small number against many myriads of men, and availing themselves of their skill, and exerting all their courage, as if each individual were himself a host, rushed upon the dense phalanxes in a contemptuous manner, and slaying all whom they met, they mowed down the thickly-packed battalions, and all the forces which were in reserve as a reinforcement to fill up the ranks where men were slain, so that they overthrew many myriads with their mere single shout, till not one of all the youth in the opposing army was left. And they slew also all the women who had assented to the unholy devices of the men, taking the maidens alive, because of their compassion for their innocent age,

and though they brought this terrible war to a successful termination, they lost not a single one of their own men; but every man who went forth unto battle returned back again unwounded and unhurt, just as he entered the conflict, or rather, if one is to say the real truth, with redoubled vigour; for their joy at this victory made their strength not inferior to what it had been at first;

and the cause of this, was simply that they even courted danger in their anxiety to engage in the contest in the cause of piety, in which God, that invincible ally, fights in front of them as their champion, inspiring their minds with wise counsels, and implanting the mightiest vigour in their bodies.