Note 082 Leo observes (Tactic. p. 668) that a fair open battle against any nation whatsoever, is Ancient Greek

and

the words are strong, and the remark is true: yet if such had been the opinion of the old Romans, Leo had never reigned on the shores of the Thracian Bosphorus.

The History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire —Fall In The East —Chapter 53