How Roman armies instilled discipline
Oct. 22nd, 2004 12:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greybetaSo, I was reading up for my Roman history class. We're in the period when the Sullan Constitution is being ripped apart by Pompey and Crassus (the other two guys that will later form the first Triumvirate with Julius Caesar). The issue of how Roman armies kept discipline came up, and Crassus's solution was reinstituting the practice of decimation.
Decimation is where the Roman armies would kill off every tenth soldier, usually at the whim of a general who lost a battle. The unlucky soldiers were chosen by casting lots. That would have been bad enough, but the method of killing makes it even worse. Your own comrades would form a circle around you and stone you to death. This method of discipline was very effective because nobody wanted to be the guy in the middle. You either died fighting for Rome or at the hands of your friends.
This gives me a whole new meaning to feeling "decimated".
Decimation is where the Roman armies would kill off every tenth soldier, usually at the whim of a general who lost a battle. The unlucky soldiers were chosen by casting lots. That would have been bad enough, but the method of killing makes it even worse. Your own comrades would form a circle around you and stone you to death. This method of discipline was very effective because nobody wanted to be the guy in the middle. You either died fighting for Rome or at the hands of your friends.
This gives me a whole new meaning to feeling "decimated".
