The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History - Karatunov.net

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The Roman A rmy
from battle, leaving the ramparts, entering the camp over the walls, feigning illness
to avoid battle, betraying the camp, and giving information to the enemy.
Trials of soldiers guilty of these and other crimes were conducted in the camp
or fort, and an officer, usually a tribune, was given the task of investigating the
matter, while another officer passed judgment.
Punishments
The Romans of the Republic devised rewards and punishments that kept their
soldiers under strict discipline and eager to win the recognition of their officers
and comrades. Polybius stresses the great importance that Republican Romans
attached to military honors and obedience, and in the early Roman army puni
s h m ents were brut a l . Those found guilty of certain of fenses were clu bbed to
death, a process called fustuarium. Anyone who failed to keep the night watch
properly endangered the whole army, so the death penalty was deserved. It was
also applied to those who stole from other soldiers, to those who gave false evidence,
to men who engaged in homosexual acts, and to anyone who had already
been punished three times for lesser offenses. A deeply ingrained sense of honor
ensured that most of the soldiers stayed at their posts, preferring death to disgrace
; i f t h ey lost we a pons or their shiel d s , Po lybius recounts that most men
fo u ght sava gely to get them back or die in the proce s s , ra t h er than su f fer the
shame that attached to throwing weapons away or running from the battle. If
whole units turned and ran, about one-tenth of the men concerned were chosen
by lot and clubbed to death (decimation) and the rest were put on barley rations
instead of wheat.
The Im perial army ret a i n ed many of these Rep u blican procedu re s , but it
s eems that the reg u l a ti ons were en forced more ri goro u s ly in wartime than in
peacetime, and there was always a case for mitigating circumstances. Ruffus recommended
that soldiers who committed offenses while under the influence of
drink should not be subject to capital punishment, but should be transferred to
a different unit (Brand, 1968). Tacitus (Annals 13.35) implies that first offenders
and new recruits were treated with leniency by most commanders, depending
on the seriousness of their crimes. Much depended on a soldier’s rank, his character,
and his previous servi ce record , wh i ch were well known to the of f i cers .
For instance, according to Appian (Civil Wars 3.7), when Mark Antony wanted
to identify the troublesome elements among his troops, the officers were able to
produce a list from their records.
Occasionally, whole cohorts or entire units were punished. The legions that
survived the battle of Cannae, for example, were sent to Sicily, where they lived
under canvas for several years, until Scipio Africanus took them to Africa, where
t h ey redeem ed them s elve s . Some units or parts of units were made to camp