1When it has come to battle, it is shameful for the chief to be surpassed in valour, shameful for the retinue not to match the valour of its chief. 1But to have come back from the battle alive when one's chief has fallen is a lifelong infamy and disgrace: to defend him, to protect him, and to credit even one's own brave deeds to his glory is their chief oath: the chiefs fight for victory, the companions for their chief. 2If the state in which they were born grows sluggish from long peace and leisure, many of the young nobles of their own accord seek out those tribes which are then waging some war, because rest is unwelcome to the race, and they win fame more easily amid dangers, and you cannot maintain a large retinue except by violence and war; 3for they demand from the generosity of their chief that war horse, that bloody and victorious framea; 3for feasts and provisions, homely but abundant, take the place of pay.
3The means for this munificence come through wars and plunder. 4Nor would you so easily persuade them to plough the land or wait for the year's harvest as to challenge an enemy and earn wounds; 4indeed, it seems lazy and spiritless to acquire by sweat what you could win by blood.