Combat Fatigue

I see these young men, brave souls willing to fight for their nation, march with strength and vigor to the battlefields. But the veteran warriors, they wear the scars of battle on their faces, not physically, but a kind of psychic wound that no amount of medicine can heal.
I plead with Maximus to let our men rest, let them retain that youthful energy they enlisted with, but he says the most battle hardened men are the most disciplined, having no qualms thrusting their spear when told and feel no remorse for their actions.
This disregard for life is why men like Maximus frighten me. To him, their deaths and kill count are but statistics to be managed, their numbers his leverage on the battlefield.

There are no true winners in war, no matter how much land we take.
Everybody loses in the game of warfare.

— Draconian Emperor Tulian