(no subject)
Katie O’Malley
Latin Writing
The Nature of Punishment in the Roman Army
In order to examine punishments in the Roman army, one can examine the punishments given to the soldiers who revolted, as described by Tacitus in chapters forty-four, forty-eight, and forty-nine in Annals Book I. In chapter forty-four, after the revolt in Germany the soldiers begged Germanicus to punish the guilty, pardon those who had erred, and lead them against the enemy. Germanicus responded that the soldiers must settle things for themselves. The soldiers responded by dragging the leaders of the mutiny in chains to Gaius Caetronius, who was the commander of the first legion. Then they brought the reus to stand on a platform in front of a mob of soldiers. If the soldiers called out that he was guilty, the reus was pitched forward into the crowd, waiting to slash him to death with their drawn swords. And the “soldiers rejoiced in the slaughter as if they were exonerating themselves” (Tacitus 1.44.3)
Similarly, in chapter forty-eight, Germanicus sent a letter to Ceacina saying that “if they did not first apply punishment to the evil ones, he would apply indiscriminate slaughter” (Tacitus 1.48.1). So Caecina gathered those whom he found to be loyal and read them the letter. Then Caecina suggested they choose a time to attack the worst of the leaders of the mutiny. Thus they choose a time and attacked the unsuspecting men and slaughtered them in their tents. Chapter forty-nine goes on to further describe the slaughter. Both loyal men and mutineers were killed in the massacre. No commanders or tribunes were present to control them, so the men had total freedom to carry out their designs. Germanicus cried to see the destruction from the slaughter calling it “ a disaster not a remedy” (Tacitus 1.49.2). Afterwards the soldiers felt the urge to march against the enemy to atone for their frenzied behavior. Caesar accordingly sent twelve thousand men from the legions with twenty-six allied cohorts and eight cavalry squadrons, who had remained loyal, across the Rhine.
This set an example that the veterans who were sent to Raetia soon followed. Then the general gathered all the centurions for the legions to judge. If the centurions were deemed to have good conduct they retained their rank, and if they were found to be cruel and greedy they were dismissed. The treatment of the commissioned officers of the Roman army who were found guilty was radically different from the treatment of common soldiers. This exemplifies the disparity created by class in the Roman army. If a soldier had money and was of an upper class, he would be an officer and enjoy strong protections .
However, the common soldier’s lot was much different. One of the reasons given for the revolts was the cruelty of the centurions, who had license to treat their soldiers any way they pleased. The soldiers complained of the unmerited whipping, the necessity of bribing the centurions to spare themselves horrible tasks, the terms of service extended beyond the contract, and the overall cruelty and avarice of the centurions. The common soldier in the Roman army was probably just like a slave, with no choice in what he did. The soldiers were unquestionably very abused; they were whipped for no reason and kept on for longer than their terms of service.
It was surprising that the soldiers were the ones to punish the other soldiers. Usually the officers and centurions were the ones to punish soldiers. This bespeaks a change in the usual ordering of things, which was probably a result of the revolt’s disruption of the normal discipline of the Roman army. The image that can be gleaned from Tacitus is that usually the Roman army is a like a smoothly functioning machine in its operations. It seems that Tacitus believes that the revolts were marked deviations from normal conditions because of the way he describes the revolts with great horror, and the way he describes Germanicus’ reaction to the slaughter.
The Romans had a different system of punishment than the modern-day United States. In Rome, if a man was accused as a reus, he was guilty until proven innocent; whereas, in the United States one is innocent until proven guilty. Furthermore, in the United States, there is a centralized judicial system, which consists of judges who swear to be impartial and which guarantees every defendant a lawyer, even if the defendant cannot pay. In Rome, the highest ranking commanders of the army typically acted as judges and meted out punishments of their choosing to the accused, who did not have a lawyer or any guarantee of a fair trial.
Latin Writing
The Nature of Punishment in the Roman Army
In order to examine punishments in the Roman army, one can examine the punishments given to the soldiers who revolted, as described by Tacitus in chapters forty-four, forty-eight, and forty-nine in Annals Book I. In chapter forty-four, after the revolt in Germany the soldiers begged Germanicus to punish the guilty, pardon those who had erred, and lead them against the enemy. Germanicus responded that the soldiers must settle things for themselves. The soldiers responded by dragging the leaders of the mutiny in chains to Gaius Caetronius, who was the commander of the first legion. Then they brought the reus to stand on a platform in front of a mob of soldiers. If the soldiers called out that he was guilty, the reus was pitched forward into the crowd, waiting to slash him to death with their drawn swords. And the “soldiers rejoiced in the slaughter as if they were exonerating themselves” (Tacitus 1.44.3)
Similarly, in chapter forty-eight, Germanicus sent a letter to Ceacina saying that “if they did not first apply punishment to the evil ones, he would apply indiscriminate slaughter” (Tacitus 1.48.1). So Caecina gathered those whom he found to be loyal and read them the letter. Then Caecina suggested they choose a time to attack the worst of the leaders of the mutiny. Thus they choose a time and attacked the unsuspecting men and slaughtered them in their tents. Chapter forty-nine goes on to further describe the slaughter. Both loyal men and mutineers were killed in the massacre. No commanders or tribunes were present to control them, so the men had total freedom to carry out their designs. Germanicus cried to see the destruction from the slaughter calling it “ a disaster not a remedy” (Tacitus 1.49.2). Afterwards the soldiers felt the urge to march against the enemy to atone for their frenzied behavior. Caesar accordingly sent twelve thousand men from the legions with twenty-six allied cohorts and eight cavalry squadrons, who had remained loyal, across the Rhine.
This set an example that the veterans who were sent to Raetia soon followed. Then the general gathered all the centurions for the legions to judge. If the centurions were deemed to have good conduct they retained their rank, and if they were found to be cruel and greedy they were dismissed. The treatment of the commissioned officers of the Roman army who were found guilty was radically different from the treatment of common soldiers. This exemplifies the disparity created by class in the Roman army. If a soldier had money and was of an upper class, he would be an officer and enjoy strong protections .
However, the common soldier’s lot was much different. One of the reasons given for the revolts was the cruelty of the centurions, who had license to treat their soldiers any way they pleased. The soldiers complained of the unmerited whipping, the necessity of bribing the centurions to spare themselves horrible tasks, the terms of service extended beyond the contract, and the overall cruelty and avarice of the centurions. The common soldier in the Roman army was probably just like a slave, with no choice in what he did. The soldiers were unquestionably very abused; they were whipped for no reason and kept on for longer than their terms of service.
It was surprising that the soldiers were the ones to punish the other soldiers. Usually the officers and centurions were the ones to punish soldiers. This bespeaks a change in the usual ordering of things, which was probably a result of the revolt’s disruption of the normal discipline of the Roman army. The image that can be gleaned from Tacitus is that usually the Roman army is a like a smoothly functioning machine in its operations. It seems that Tacitus believes that the revolts were marked deviations from normal conditions because of the way he describes the revolts with great horror, and the way he describes Germanicus’ reaction to the slaughter.
The Romans had a different system of punishment than the modern-day United States. In Rome, if a man was accused as a reus, he was guilty until proven innocent; whereas, in the United States one is innocent until proven guilty. Furthermore, in the United States, there is a centralized judicial system, which consists of judges who swear to be impartial and which guarantees every defendant a lawyer, even if the defendant cannot pay. In Rome, the highest ranking commanders of the army typically acted as judges and meted out punishments of their choosing to the accused, who did not have a lawyer or any guarantee of a fair trial.