Ab urbe condita
Titus Livius (Livy)
Livy. History of Rome, Volumes 1-2. Roberts, Canon, Rev, translator. London, New York: J. M. Dent and Sons; E. P. Dutton and Co., 1912.
He replied: “That you may not say I never excuse you anything, I excuse you from rubbing your horses' backs when you dismount.”
He was as much of a martinet to the allies of Rome as he was to his own countrymen.