Legions of Rome Read Free Page A

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    In 216 BC , two previous oaths of allegiance were combined into one, the ius iurandum , administered to legion recruits by their tribunes. From the reign of Augustus, initially on January 1, later on January 3, the men of every legion annually renewed the oath of allegiance at mass assemblies: “The soldiers swear that they will obey the emperor willingly and implicitly in all his commands, that they will never desert, and will always be ready to sacrifice their lives for the Roman Empire.” [Vege., II ]
    On joining his legion, the legionary was exempt from taxes and was no longer subject to civil law. Once in the military, his life was governed by military law, which in many ways was more severe than the civil code.
    IV. SPECIAL DUTIES
    Legions’ headquarters staff included an adjutant, clerks and orderlies who were members of the legion. The latter, called benificiari , were excused normal legion duties and were frequently older men who had served their full enlistment but who had stayed on in the army.
    V. DISCIPLINE AND PUNISHMENT
“I want obedience and self-restraint from my soldiers just as much as courage in the face of the enemy.”
    J ULIUS C AESAR , The Gallic War , VII , 52
    Tight discipline, unquestioning obedience and rigid training made the Roman legionary a formidable soldier. Roman military training aimed not only to teach men how to use their weapons, it quite deliberately set out to make legionaries physically and mentally tough fighting machines who would obey commands without hesitation.
    As one of the indications of his rank, every centurion carried a vine stick, the forerunner of the swagger stick of some modern armies. Centurions were at liberty to use their sticks to thrash any legionary mercilessly for minor infringements. A centurion named Lucilius, who was killed in the AD 14 Pannonian mutiny, had a habit of brutally breaking a vine stick across the back of a legionary, then calling “Bring another!,” a phrase that became his nickname. [Tac., A , I , 23]
    For more serious infringements, legionaries found guilty by a court martial conducted by the legion’s tribunes could be sentenced to death. Polybius described the crimes for which the death penalty was prescribed in 150 BC —stealing goods incamp, giving false evidence, homosexual offenses committed by those in full manhood, and for lesser crimes where the offender had previously been punished for the same offense three times. The death penalty was later additionally prescribed for falling asleep while on sentry duty. Execution also awaited men who made a false report to their commanding officer about their courage in the field in order to gain a distinction, men who deserted their post in a covering force, and those who through fear threw away weapons on the battlefield. [Poly., VI , 37]
    If whole units were involved in desertion or cowardice, they could be sentenced to decimation: literally, reduction by one tenth. Guilty legionaries had to draw lots. One in ten would die, with the other nine having to perform the execution. Decimation sentences were carried out with clubs or swords or by flogging, depending on the whim of the commanding officer. Survivors of a decimated unit could be put on barley rations and made to sleep outside the legion camp’s walls, where there was no protection against attack. Although both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony decimated their legions, this form of punishment was rarely applied during the imperial era.
    First-century general Corbulo had one soldier brought out of the trench he was digging and executed on the spot for failing to wear a sword on duty. After this, Corbulo’s centurions reminded their men that they must be armed at all times, so one cheeky legionary went naked while digging, except for a dagger on his belt. Not famed for his sense of humor, Corbulo had this man, too, pulled out and put to death. [Tac., XI , 18]
    VI. LEGIONARY PAY
    Julius Caesar doubled the legionary’s basic pay