Explanation: Pre-modern sources have a tendency to… inflate numbers, shall we say? Not always intentionally, to be fair - counting the enemy is a difficult enough task even with binoculars and modern methods of recording and calculation. And even calculating one’s own army isn’t always easy in a time before structured military institutions and logistics calculations! When the totality of your organization is “Send a rider to each region and tell them The King(tm) needs troops for his next campaign,” you may legitimately not know the exact number you came up with - or even that you’re supposed to have!

But also, isn’t it so much more DRAMATIC when “outnumbered” means “FIVE TO ONE, HEMMED IN ON ALL SIDES, WITH OUR BRAVE BOYS ONLY HAVING A ROCK AND A STICK, AND THEY HAD TO SHARE THE ROCK”?

Ancient historians in particular, though, had a taste for recording completely fucking made up speeches that sounded suitably dramatic for each side’s commander to say to their NOBLE AND BRAVE SOLDIERS. One of the few speeches that we have that is considered likely to be accurate (the writer’s father-in-law was an officer on the general’s staff during the battle) is fairly short and practical:

“Ignore the racket made by these savages. There are more women than men in their ranks. They are not soldiers- they are not even properly equipped. We have beaten them before and when they see our weapons and feel our spirit, they will crack. Stick together. Throw the javelins, then push forward: knock them down with your shields and finish them off with your swords. Forget about plunder. Just win and you will have everything.”

Roman general Paulinus during Boudicca’s revolt in Britain