Whither are we fleeing, my most valiant men? Do you not know that flight never leads to safety, but shows the folly of a useless effort? Let us return to our companions, to be at least sharers in their coming glory, if it is without consideration that we are abandoning them as they fight for the Republic." - Meaning and context.">
QuotesCosmos
Julian, to his fleeing troops at the Battle of Strasbourg, reported in Ammianus, Res gestae, bk. 16, ch. 12, sec. 40 (tr. J. C. Rolfe, i, 1935). His army rallied and defeated the German forces. Here, the term "republic" was used in its literal Latin meaning to denote the Roman state.
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Whither are we fleeing, my most valiant men? Do you not know that flight never leads to safety, but shows the folly of a useless effort? Let us return to our companions, to be at least sharers in their coming glory, if it is without consideration that we are abandoning them as they fight for the Republic.

— Julian (emperor)

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Whither are we fleeing, my most valiant men? Do you not know that flight never leads to safety, but shows the folly of a useless effort? Let us return to our companions, to be at least sharers in their coming glory, if it is without consideration that we are abandoning them as they fight for the Republic." in the context of "Julian, to his fleeing troops at the Battle of Strasbourg, reported in Ammianus, Res gestae, bk. 16, ch. 12, sec. 40 (tr. J. C. Rolfe, i, 1935). His army rallied and defeated the German forces. Here, the term "republic" was used in its literal Latin meaning to denote the Roman state." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Julian (emperor)" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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Julian (emperor)

About Julian (emperor)

Flavius Claudius Julianus (c. 331 – 26 June 363) was a Hellenistic philosopher, military leader, Roman emperor, and satirist, often referred to as Julian the Apostate because of his rejection of formal Christian doctrines, and opposition to their spread, and sometimes as Julian II, to distinguish him from Didius Julianus. Sometimes now referred to as Julian the Philosopher, he was the last pagan Augustus of the Roman Empire.