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

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The Roman A rmy
vexillations from the legions of Egypt and the Danube and a large number of
auxiliaries. The size of this force and the reputation of its commander were sufficient
to bring the Parthians to terms. Armenia was to be ruled by a king whom
the Romans chose and supported, and the Parthians were for the moment res
tra i n ed from furt h er depred a ti ons against the eastern Roman provi n ce s . If
Corbulo had been able to follow his instincts, he would probably have carried
the war into Parthia itself. The reality, however, was that he was not a Republican
general with considerable freedom of action, but a legate of the emperor,
and as such he had to obey orders.
Corbulo’s ultimate fate did not reflect his achievements, and he was not all
owed to retu rn to Rome as the savi or of the east and to go on to other comm
a n d s . In the ad mid-60s a con s p i racy was discovered against the Emperor
Nero, in which Corbulo was implicated because his son-in-law Lucius Annius
Vi n i c i a nus was one of the acc u s ed . Wh en the ri n gl e aders had been punished ,
Nero left Rome to tour through Greece, and on arrival in ad 66 or 67, he invited
Corbulo to meet him. The shrewd gen eral who had done so mu ch for Rom e
knew what the invitation implied and committed suicide. His daughter Domitia
would become the wife of the future Emperor Domitian.
Heroes from the Ot h er Ra n k s
Only a very small proportion of the vast numbers of soldiers who served Rome
throughout her history are known by their names, mostly derived from inscripti
ons com m em ora ting special occ a s i ons or more com m on ly recording thei r
deaths. For information about the soldiers who distinguished themselves in Roman
military servi ce , h i s torians must rely on the few sources that record the
men and their achievements. In this regard, the surviving literature and inscriptions
represent an arbitrary selection of heroic acts or consistently high achievement.
Con tem pora ry records would have been mu ch more abu n d a n t . The army
kept records of its personnel from Republican times, with details of when they
enlisted and their various duties. It is clear that the officers also noted the characteri
s ti c s , good and bad , of the men . According to Appian (Civil Wa r 3 . 7 ) ,
when Mark Antony wanted to identify the troublemakers in his army, the tribunes
produ ced a list for him from their files. Wh en soldiers had perform ed
p a rti c u l a rly well in battles or on campaign s , t h eir names were similarly
recorded and written up in reports, from which the commanders could compile
lists when rewards were to be handed out. Soldiers appreciated the presence of
their generals or the emperor in battles because they were more likely to be noticed
if they had a chance to excel. In Dacia in ad 88 before the battle of Tapae,
Dom i ti a n’s gen eral Tet tius Ju l i a nus ordered his men to inscri be their own