The cult of Mithra, less widespread then than it has become since our expedition in Parthia, won me over temporarily by the rigors of its stark asceticism, which drew taut the bowstring of the will, and by its obsession with death, blood, and iron, which elevated the routine harshness of our military lives to the level of a symbol of universal struggle.
Mithraren kultuak, garai hartan, gaur egun, Partharren kontrako expedizioen ondotik, bihurtua den baino askoz ere ez-ezagunagoa zenak, liluratu egin ninduen ziplo, borondatearen uztaia gogorki teinkarazten zuèn bere aszetismo sukartsuarengatik, gure soldadu-bizitza arruntaren laztasun hutsala munduaren zentzu-azalpenaren mailara antzaldatzen zuèn heriotzarekiko, burdinarekiko eta odolarekiko bere obsesioarengatik.