It comes from a line written by the Roman poet Horace, “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” which means ‘it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country’. Owen - who fought and died ...

The allure of dying a glorious death in war isn’t recent. Ancient Roman poet Horace hailed it as dulce et decorum [sweet and fitting] in his widely recognised ode written between 23 BC and 13 BC.