f-- ;

Le mtier dc soldatdans le
monderomain
Cc volume comprend trente alticles, reflets des commurucations donncs lors du
cinquirne congrs de Lyon sur l'annc romainc qui s'cst tcnu Lyrn cn scptcmbre
2010 et qui a t l'occasion d'aborder diffrcnts aspccts du < mtier de soldat n dans lc
monde romain du Haut-Ernpirc ct du Bas-Ernpire. C'e st la question dcs sources, surtout
pigraphiques et alchologiques, qui a d'abord t abordc. Vient ensuitc l'tudc du
recrlltelnent des soldats : les spcificits du rcclutement des auiliailcs, le cas dc
l'g1ptc, lcs rcclutcm.nt, .^tr'"rdinaires, le staftt des lgionnaires. Puis c'est la vie
quotidiennc du soldat qui cst analyse : qu'attendait-on clu soldat, quellcs taient scs
tchcs, colrmet tait-il entran ? Sont enfn cxamins lc cas de certains ofniciers et de
soldats spcialiss : qucllcs sont lcs caractristiqucs d'un bon gnr'al, que font les
canal'cu/art, qui sont lespetttores ? Sars oublicr lc prfct dc Berenike , les interprtes,
les etp/orotores,lcs dttpltccu^ii etles sesq u!licart'i.
- r,r
ll
t!
Tt-
tlJ
9
Le mtier de soldat
Ort contribu ce volurnc :
Ciulia Blnnttl, Alfredo BuoNop,un, Maria Letizia C.lonlll, David Colt-ntc,
Pierre Cosun, Giorg'io Cnnn, Patrice F.quRR, Audrey FRlur, Agns Cnosuunsr,
Rudolph HtNscu, Sylvain JANNtl", Alna Maria Kusnn, Jean-Pierre Laponrn,
Yann LB BoHnc, Patrick L Roux, Andreina Mactoxcarn., M:uc Mryn I Oltv,
Fatih ONun, Sabino Psn,t YeNns, Maria Federica PBrn.cclq, Mihai Porscu,
Cecilia RIcct, Christophe Scutvttt HtorNRrcu, Michal A. Spnn1, Karl Srnosnl,
Elisabetta Tootsco, Adrien ToNoun, Sofie W,tsNs, Gabriele Wnscu-Kt-m,
Everett L. WHneLn, Cathenne Wot-pp, Livio Znnsru.
clanslcmondc
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LI: DIIAftILIII
@ CEROR - Dpt lgal tlccmbre 2012
ISBN : N " 978-2-904974-44-l
ISSN:N" 0298S500
Prirdcrcntc: 70 #.
Le rntier de soldat dans
le rnonde rornain
Textes rassembls et dits par
Catherine
\Wor-r'r'
Actes du cinquime Congrs de Lyon
(23
-
25 septembre 2010)
Diffusion Librairie De Boccard
I 1, rue Mdics
PARIS
Lyon,2012
Being a Soldier in the Rornan knperial
Arrny
-
Expectations and Responses
Michal A. SpETDEL
Universitt Bern
On 1l
January
29 BCr' the gates of the temple of Ianus
Quirinus
were
solemnly closed and the ancient rite of Augurium Salutis was celebrated.2 Both
ceremonies required that one condition was fully met: peace throughout the
Roman Empire. The gates of Ianus
Quirinus
remained closed for over two years,3
and caesar's heir made sure that no one misunderstood the ancient symbol: for
the f,rrst time in centuries, the Roman world was officially in a state of universal
peace. The reality was differenr, bur that is beside the point.a \(/hat is truly
signihcant is that tradition would now also have required the dismissal of Rome's
citizen-soldies. \hat happened instead is, of course, well-known. Although large
numbers of soldiers were discharged and many legions were disbanded, nearly
half remained in service (the legions were soon to number 28) and were
distributed per provincia.s.5 Simultaneously closing the gates of Ianus
Quirinus
and
stationing legions throughout the provincial world therefore amounted to the
public acknowledgment by Imperator caesar to maintain, against tradition, a
professional and permanent army even in times of peace. Despite the long period
of continuous and profound changes that had affected the Roman military sysrem
particularly since the second Punic
rar,
I I
January 29 BC can therefore be seen
to mark the symbolic birthday of the new imperial Roman army
-
and of a new
type of Roman soldier.
By the end of the reign of Augustus military service in the Roman imperial
army had become a true profession and an employment defined by a new set of
fixed conditions.6 Incidentally, this development also established the existence of
!agani, civilians, as the complementary social category and a central element of
ISBN : 978-2-90497 4-44-l
ISSN:0298S500
Diffusion De Boccard 75006 Pais
O CEROR 2012
-
Tous droits rservs
-
Dpt lgal dcembre 2012
Illustration de l'" page : dtail de la colonne trajane (l l3 ap. J. C.) - Rome
Inscr. Ital. ){III 2, ll3, 395 (Fasti Praen.). V. Ehrenberg, A.H.M.
Jones
(1955: p.45).
Ianus
Quirinus: Livy 1,19,3. Do 51,20,4. Oros., Adaers. Pag. 6,20,L. Augurium Salutis:
Dio 51,20,4. Cf. Suet., Aug.3l,4.
Cf. Oros., Adaers. Pag. 6,2l,l.Dio 53,22,5 and 53,27,L. RGDA 13.
Dio 51,20,5.
Swet., Aug. 17,3.49,1. Dio 51,4,1-5,1. Oros., Adoers. Pag.6,l9,l4. L. Keppie (1984:
p.134tr.). G. Wesch-Klein (1991).
Srel., Aug. 49,2. Cf. Tac., Ann. 1,17. M.A. Speidel (2009: p.22ff.; 408ff.). The
Augustan military reforms were radical and revolutionary, and mark a profound change
in the developments towards a standing army, wich had already begun during the Late
Republic. Cf. e.g. R.E. Smith (1958: esp. p.70-7Q.
BEING A SOLDIER IN THE RoMAN IMPERIAL ARMY
-
EXPECTATIONS AND RESPONSES
the professional soldier's raison d'te (as well as to the many regrettable frictions
between the two groups that ensued.7 The Byzantine historian Priscus, for one,
still admired the wisdom of this institution in the mid-fifth century AD:8
"The creators of the Roman State, I said, who were wise and good men, in
order to prevent things from being done at haphazard made one class of men
guardians of the laws, and appointed another class to the profession of arms, who
were to have no other object than to be always ready for battle, and to go forth to
war without dread, as though to their ordinary exercise having by practice
exhausted all their fear beforehand..."
Innumerable studies have contributed to our knowledge of this institution,
of its development, and of its significance in various contexts and from various
aspects. In fact, the Roman imperial army is no doubt the most thoroughly
studied and best-known army of the Ancient
rorld.
Many of the possibilities to
describe or to define the characteristics of 'le mtier de soldat' have therefore
been explored, such as the legal aspects, privileges and restrictions that came
with military service in the imperial army, the soldier's daily life and religion, or
the reconstruction of military training and combat. Flowever, only few studies
appear to have attempted to examine the collective expectations, ideals, attitudes,
and beliefs of the imperial Roman military community as reflected by their own
statements in the documentary and archaeological evidence. If contrasted with
the results from other sources) and with the expectations and the image, or
images, which other social groups had of the military, such a study would be a
welcome and signihcant contribution to our understanding of the military
profession, of the collective patterns of behaviour and of the social esteem of the
Roman soldier.e In this spirit, the following observations intend to shed light on a
few perhaps not sufficiently explored aspects of what it meant to be a Roman
soldier, and how professional military service in the Roman imperial army might
have contributed to the shaping of a man's identity.
Speaking of 'the Roman soldier', is, of course, creating an abstract ideal
type and an all-encompassing category, which had no true counterpart in reality.
Nevertheless) it can be argued that there is more justification to generalize about
the Roman soldier than there is with any other professional group within the
Roman world. For around 25 years of military service no doubt conditioned the
individual soldier, irrespective of his social and ethnic background, to conform to
the norms and expectations of Roman military culture,r0 and to eventually adopt
7
Cf. J.F. Gilliam (1986: p.65-68). For important aspecrs of this developmenr see now
also
rJ.
Eck (2010a). Raison d'tre: cf. below, text to n. 24f. Frictions: M.A. Speidel
(2}ll: p.213tr). Cf. also M.A. Speidel (forthcoming).
t
Prisc., Fr. 8, FHG (trans.
J.P. Bury). Cassius Dio 52, 27, foo, propagated this view.
n
For an excellent attempt at the subject cf. however
J.-M. Carri (1989). Cf. also
M.A. Speidel (2010: p.l4lfi .
to
Cf. M.A. Speidel (2009: p.22ff.; 515ff.) for the new imperial 'military culrure'.
176
MICHAELA. SPEIDEI-
a great many common values and collective patterns of behaviour, emotion and
thought, which were specifically linked to his profession.
First recruits. Some young men may have looked forward to their military
seryice, like M. Acilius Fontanus from Saguntum in Spain, who was remembered
for having been eager (cupide) to join the army.rr Others may have been more
sceptical, fearing the dangers of military life. C. Nonius from Sulmo in central
Italy appears to have been among them. He scratched a grafflto onto a wall of the
temple of Hercules
Quirinus
near his home town, promising the god to sacrifice a
boar and a calf should he return from the army in good health.r2 Perhaps
C. Nonius had been drafted, for, contrary to what is often assumed, conscription
remained an important recruiting method throughout the period under
discussion.13 Flowever, there is nothing to indicate that conscripts served under
different conditions than volunteers) or that they were less efFrcient. Neverreless,
the army's administration, at the provincial level, kept notice of the
circumstances under which a recruit had joined
the forces.r'This is now
confirmed by a recently published document on a fragmentary bronze tablet.15
The preserved section of the Latin text relates to the honourable discharge n 240
of a soldier from the 22. Legion who had been recruited as a
[dilJectrius
ex
provincia Th[raciaJ.16 The precise nature of the text remains unclear, but it
evidently uses official military terminology. The tetm
[dilJecrrzus obviously
relates to recruitment by dilectus.ll At least one reason fo indicating this
seemingly curious detail in official military registers, from which the text appears
to be quoting, is provided by a well-known letter which Trajan wrote to rhe
younger Pliny:r8 if someone was discovered to have illegally joined the army, his
punishment would depend on the circumstances of his recruitment. In the case
of conscripts (lectt) the fault lay with the recruiting officials, whereas volunteers
Qtoluntaril would be punished for concealing rheir true social origins. The new
document therefore seryes to remind us of a signihcant aspect of military service:
Roman soldiers were required to originate from a honourable social background.
In fact, the known lists of those who were excluded from the right to join the
army are surprisingly long.'e Even Theodosius' legislation in the immediate
" CIL II2ll4,347i ... ingressum iu(o)enem militiam cupide ...
'' AE 1981, 283
= Supp.It. IY 7: C(aius) onius L(uci)
f(itius) Serg(ia)
t--l I e
munici[pJio Sulmone p[romisitJ I miles Herc[uJli Curino sei sala[us eJ I castris rediset ztot[a -J
I aerem et aitulu[mJ I et aotis dam[natusJ I [aJdest.
tt
See now esp.
l7.
Eck (2010).
t4
RMR 64i31-2.
t5
AF'2006, 1866
= Zs.Mrv,A. Szab (2009).
t6
No doubt,
[dilJectarius is the correcr restorarion pace Zs. Mrv, A. Szab (2009).
Cf. AE 2006, 1866. For conrexr see G. Alfldy (1987: p.368-376) and AE 2002, 1772
with M.A. Speidel (2009: p.333tf .).
"
Cf. also CIL VIII 14603
=
ILS 2305 (Simitthus): L(ucius) Flaminius D(ecimi)
f(itiu!
Arn(ensi) I mil(es) leg(ion) III Aug(ustae) I 7(centuria) Iuli Longi dilecto I lectus ab
M(arco) Silano ...
18
Plin., Ep. lo,3o.
'n
Cf. Dig. 49,16,4,1ff. (Menander), 49,16,2,1 (Menander). 49,16,6 (paulus). Veg., l,Z.
CPL lO2. R.!. Davies (1989: p.l0f.). G.
rVesch-Klein
(1998: p.l56ff.).
177
BEING A SoLDIER IN THE ROMAN IMPERIAL ARMY EXPECTATIoNS AND RESPoNSES
aftermath of Adrianopolis continued to insist on such principles.2O In other
words, a soldier could understand his being accepted for military service to
amount to an official recognition of his status as a honourable man.21 At times,
this may have been no more than a fiction, but even as such it would have served
to uphold or to raise a soldier's self-esteem, and to shape his expectations (e.g. of
the respect civilians were to show him). Few soldiers would therefore have agreed
with Tacitus that only the riff-raff of society, the needy and the homeless joined
the army.22 Soldiers would much rather have pointed to the fact that those
honourably discharged from Roman military service were officially counted
among ttre honesti, and enjoyed legal privileges.23
But soldiers expected recognition, respect and rewards for many other
reasons too. Above all, for their brave deeds and for the hardships and the deadly
dangers of their military service even in times of peace, which they undertook to
guarantee the integrity and the welfare of the Roman State and of the Empire's
civilian inhabitants.2' That at least was what imperial pronouncements declared
and what orators and philosophers such as Dio Chrysostomos, Aelius Aristides or
Maximos of Tyros said what military service under the principate was about.25
Diocletian, in his edict on maximum prices, still claimed that his armies were on
the march for the general welfare of atl (communis omnium slzrs) and even
Orosius aff,rrmed, over a century later, that the Roman army fought in the
common interest of the State (in usum communis reipublicae).26 But such
expectations were ubiquitous and can even be found inscribed, for instance, on
bronze dice-dispensers and on game boards from purely civilian contexts."
Priscus, a Paphlagonian serving in Trajan's army, would have agreed.28 His
'o CTh.7,13,8.'l ,13,9.8,2,3.erc. Cf. H. Leppin (2010).
"
For the concept and the importance of honour in imperial Rome in general
cf. J.E. Lendon (1997: esp. 30ff., and 237ff. for the army).
"
Tac., Ann. 4,4,
" Cf. M.A. Speidel (2009:p.318 with further literature).
2a
Brave deeds : cf e.g. CIL )i'III 7234 (Mainz):
fortiter arm[a tJuli. M.P. Speidel (1992:
pl24ff. and 2005 p.73ff. with numerous examples). Brave deeds recognized:
M.A. Speidel (2010: pl44f.). See also the inscription from Aquae Flavianae below.
Dangers: cf. e.g. BGU 180. CIL VIII 20857. CIL XII 149. CIL XIII 1828. 2667.ILs
2259. 2646. 5795. RIB 3218. RIU 1L48. 1248. SB 7523 = Sel. Pap. II254. O.Krok. 6.
47. 87. P.Abinn. 12. M.A. Speidel (2009e: p.490ff.). On the subject cf. also
M.A. Speidel (2011: p.218). For an example of the attitudes of the victims of this
Roman ideal cf. M.A. Speidel (forthcoming).
25
Imperial pronouncements: cf. M.A. Speidel (2009:44ff.). Dio Chrys. 1,28. Ael. Arist.,
Or. Rom. 67.71.81-84. etc. Maximus Tyr. 23. Cf. also Dio 56,16,3.
26
Praef. 14 in the edition of S. Lauffer (1971). See M.A. Speidel (2009e: p.488ff.).
Oros., Adzters Pag. 5, l, 13.
"
ILS 8626a (Rome): Parthi occisi, I Br[iJtt[oJ aictus, I ludit[eJ
[RJomani,
and ILS 8626b
(Trier): airtus im!er, I hostes oincti, I ludant Romani. AE 1989, 562b (Froitzt'eim): Pictos
I aictos, I hostis I deleta, I ludite I securi. See also CIL XIII 3780 (Trier). 3781 (Trier).
AE 1891, 131 (Luni). AE1892,30 (Tipasa).
28
AE Lgg3,1547. SEG 43,91L. C. Marek (1993: p.100ff.) thought Piscos was a simple
soldier. M.P. Speidel (2005a: p.80-86) took him to be an eques singularis Augusti.
Recently however, R. Haensch (2009: p.2141f.) argued that the man might rather have
178
MICHAELA. SPEIDEL
Greek funerary inscription declares that he had been 'a friend and an aid to
many', that he had 'protected a whole people' (or 'the entire army'?),2e and that
he returned home as a resplendent star, the pride of his parents. christian
terminology of t},e miles Christ and of his counterpart, the paganus,)o appears to
reflect such ideals and thereby reveals an image of the Roman soldier that was
hardly as universally negative as the surviving complaints about soldiers'
misdeeds and their abuse of power have led many scholars to believe.3r
The soldiers' quest for public and private acknowledgement and respect is
evident from a great number and variety of documents, including, for instance,
military diplomas. For not only did these documents contain the legal privileges
that the emperor had personally granted in recognition of their military service,
but the layout of their texts changed in the second half of the second cenrury ro
presented the recipients' names in letters of notably increased size. This betrays
the growing signiltcance of these bronze tablets as a presentable remembrance of
25 years of service in the Roman army.32 The desire of veterans to proudly
exhibit such a precious inscribed memento back home is even more evident from
the early third century trend to produce private copies in bronze of official
discharge and other documents tfrat were usually only written on wooden tablets
or on papyrus. By this time, as is well-known, the dangers of military service had
increased considerably, and soldiers could refer to their service as an 'unholy
pan'.33 Their need of recognition and reward grew accordingly. But so
apparently did their enry of civilians, whom they often believed to be living
carefree lives in luxury, but expecting soldiers to subject to strict discipline,
physical hardship, and abstinence from leisure and joy. Such resentments no
doubt contributed to rhe brutal acts of violence, particularly by 3'o c. soldiers,
when they believed that civilians were supporting an illegitimate cause..,
Yet what, might we ask, was a legitimate cause in the eyes of Roman
soldiers? or perhaps rather) what meaning did imperial pronouncements
officially attach to service in the Roman army, and what were soldiers officially
been an equestrian officer. The poetical language with its many allusions to Homer and
Hesiod makes it nearly impossible to decide the issue.
2e
r\,av 'g'Jlaooev &,tayra.'A whole people': R. Haensch (2009: p.215).
.The
entire
army': M.P. Speidel (2005a: p.84).
'o
\. Eck (2010a: p.605 with n. 25). The earliest attested use of the term miles Christi
(otporrr4 Xproto'lr'oo) is 2 Timothy 2, 3f.
'r That is not to negate or belittle the many known misdeeds of Roman soldiers and
officers, or to advocate a 'kinder, gentler army', cf. M.A. Speidel (2009: p.496f),
M.A. Speidel (2oll: p.2l3ff.), but even 3'd c. christians are said ro have prayed for the
welfare of the Roman Empire and of its soldiers: Tert., Apol. 30,4. Cypr., Ad Demetr.
20. Arnob., Ada. Nat. 4,36. Cf. also M.A. Speidel (2010: p.150).
t'
M.A. Speidel (2009: p.3fr.). The importance of military diplomas as a remembrance
is perhaps also betrayed by the significantly higher'survival rare' of tabellae 1, with their
^^
full text of the imperial constitution and the name of the recipient in elegant script.
'3 M.P. Speidel (1994: no. 596).
'a Paneg. Lat.9,3,9. ll(3),3,9. Cf. G. Alfldy (1987: p. lf.).M.,{. Speidel (2009:
p.537f.). M.A. Speidel (201r: p.2l8f.).
t79
----l-r-
BEING A SOLDIER IN THE RO4AN IMPERIAL ARMY. EXPECTATIONS AND RESPONSES
told to be fighting (and risking their lives) for? Horace, for one, declared in the
Augustan age that dying for the fatherland in a foreign war was sweet and
glorious.35 No doubt, the Roman soldiers' self-image and collective behaviour
was) to a great extent, determined by whether or not they had reason to believe
that their service was for a necessary, just and legitimate cause, which was set
within a traditional system of values and that was supported by, and in the
interest of, the vast majority of society. The official justification of military service
was also essential to the definition of the army's performance and its relation to
society, as it sheds light on the range of what could be presented, to soldiers and
civilians, as legitimate military action, both within and beyond the confines of the
Empire.
Curiously, perhaps, the reasons which Roman soldiers were officially given
to hght and to die have received little scholarly attention. Rather, there appears
to be a wide-spread consensus that the soldies of the imperial army were
expected to be, and considered themselves to be, exclusively in the emperor's
service.36 Thus, Augustus speaking of milites mei, classis mea er of exercitus meus in
his res gestae is often quoted to illusuate the monarch's appropriation of the
Roman army.3t Similarly, Tacitus described the legions that had fought under
Tiberius in Germany as the emperor's 'very own recruits, his very own
veterans'.38 It is, of course, evident (and well-known) that the relation between
emperor and soldiers (and the language used when referring to this relation in
ofhcial proclamations) was an issue of crucial political importance and concern.
Yet, it ought to be remembered that, on the one hand, Cicero, while governor of
Cilicia, also repeatedly referred to the army under his command as exercitus
meus,'n whereas, on the other hand, even after I I
January
29 BC we still hear of
legiones populi Romani
Quiritium,
as in the acts of the ludi saeculares from l7 BC,ao
or of the exercitus populi Romani, as }:^e mbula Siarensis from AD 19, for instance,
repeatedly calls it.ar Indeed, die term exercitus populi Romani was in use
throughout the first three centuries AD.a2
Obviously, the reality of power had profoundly changed over rhe decades
that witnessed the Triumvirates, Caesar's dictatorship, Augustus' principate and
so many years of civil wars. Flowever, we must also accept that the new imperial
system did not abolish the terminology of the traditional military doctrine, which
t5
Hor,, Carm. 3,211-16.
'u Cf. e.g. L.
\ickert
(1954 p.2000ff.).
J.B. Campbell (1984: p.7.34.302). G. Alfldy
(1987: p.23).
J. Stker (2003: p.294. 297). O. Hekster (2007: p.91). K. Ruffing, 2010.
See M.A. Speidel (2010: p.141 n. l8) with turther bibliography.
t1
RGDA 15.26. 30. Cf. also CIL IV 1408
= ILS I l4l: ... exercitus Imp(eratoris) I Seaeri
P Perrinacis Aug(usti) et M(arci) I Aureli Antonini Aug(ust) ...
'8 Tac., Ann. lr42: ipsius tirones, ipsius aeteranos ...
tn
Cic., Deiot.39. Cc., Fam. 15,2.
no
cIL vr 32323
=
ILS 5050
=
AE 2002, 192.
n'
AE 1984, 508 =
AE 1999,891 etc. Cf. also Dio 57,2,3.
o'
cIL,M,tO22. AE 1919,60. CILXIV430l and4303.
r80
MICHAELA. SPEIDEL
held that Roman soldiers fought for Rome and its state.43 Thus, Roman jurists of
the first three centuries AD insisted that military service was rei
!ublicae
causarnn
and inscriptions, both ofhcial and private, state that officers and soldiers of the
Roman army fought and died
!ro
re publica,a5 which, of course, was not the
'Roman Republic' but the 'Roman state'.46 Pliny the Elder described the ruler's
role within this setting: according to the introduction to his Irzralis Historia,
Titus, as Vespasian's coregent, held military commands pro re public.n? This was
indeed the off,rcial interpretation of the soldiers' mission in the new political
system as, for instance, propagated by the senatus consuhum de Cn. Pisone pate n
20 AD. For according ro rhis text, soldiers under ttre imperium and the aus!icium
of the princeps were always to remain loyal to the domus Augusta, because the
welfare of the Empire (salus imperi nostn) was founded on rhat House.as This
notion, universally established, it seems, in the early days of Augustus' sole rule,
displays the ambivalence of the Roman soldier's political situation. His mission
was dedicated to the welfare of the Empire, but his loyalty was ro be to the
Emperor, as the ruler would know best what needed to be done in order to
guarantee he salus impeni. The military oal.' (sacramentum) of the late Roman
period, as paraphrased by Vegetius, contained precisely tlre same two obligations:
to obey the Emperor and not to refuse to die for fhe'Romna res publica'.ae It has
been said, that such patriotic language was an attempt to preserve the fiction that
at
On the subject in general see M.A. Speidel (2010).
n.n
Dig. 4,6,7. 4,6,35,9. 4,6,45. Cf. also Dig. 4,6,34,pr. 4,6,40,pr. 4,6,41 . 4,35,4. 49,16,1.
n'
ILGR 158 = AE 1992, t534
=
AE 1999, t448
=
AE 2002, 1297 (Actium, zd n:
armatam statuam
[poniJ I in
foro dizti Traiani pecunia publica cen[suitJ. Speidel 1994,
no. 75 (Rome,3'd c. AD):
[--Jmo centuroni ex[ercitaiori (" ---j I
!-
pro re pJublica
tc. Cf. also ILS 140 (Decretum Pisanum aherum) : (...) oolneribus pro re I
(...).AE 1984,508
= AE 1999, B9l (Tabula Siarensis): (...) ob rem
m obisset (.. .) .
'u
E..Judee (1974). F. Millar (2002: p.263-270).8. Levick (2010: p.76). Cf. also the
3'd and 4'h c. imperial epithet bono rei publicae natus, ot the inscripton on the arch of
Septimius Severus in Rom (lLS 425): (For septimius Severus, caracalla and Geta ...)
ob rem publicam resttutam imperiumque populi'Romani propagatum I insignibus airtutibus
!er!etuo !raestaturos, cum scirent salutem imperi nostri in eius domu<s) custodia
!osita<m>
esse{t} ... Early days: ILS 140. Hor., Carm.4, 14,4lf. 4,15,17f. Epist. l, L6,27. 2, L,
2ff. Cf. also Chr. Schuler (2007). M.A. Speidel (2009: p.47f. and 20tO p. L45).
.-
Ambivalence: cf e.g. Dio 46,34,5 (echoeing Thuc., 3, 82, 3) and App. BC 5, 17.
'n
V"g., 2r5 : Iurant autem milites omnia si strenue
facturoi,
quo, praeceperit irnperator,
numquam deserturos militiam nec mortem recusaturos pro Romana re publica. Cf. Sew., Ad
Aen., 8,1 : ... qui singul iurabant pro re publica se esse
facturos ... Zach., Hist. eccl. , 7 ,B.
181
BEING A SoLDIER IN THE ROMAN IMPERIAL ARMY
_
EXPECTATIONS AND RESPONSES
the army was, in principle, the army of the Roman people.5o If so, it was a
powerful fltction, upheld and believed by many, as it would appear, for centuries.
There is no need, therefore, to generally deny the Roman soldiers a sense of
imperial patriotism, and to characterize them merely as mercenaries loyal to the
Emperor alone, as, implicitly or explicitly, has so often been done.5r
Yet, what if doubt arose, what if an emperor was seen or said to
consistently be acting to the detriment of the State? Would such a doctrine not
justifu mutiny? Perhaps even call for an uprising against the tyrant? \e might
recall that civil wars were also fought pro re publica.tt Of course, no one would
have doubted that the soldiers' political loyalty was to the emperor first. But
accepting that the Roman soldier was conscious of his obligation towards the
Romana res publica might add to our understanding of the collective behaviour of
soldiers during civil wars and usurpations:53 more often than has so far been
admitted, soldiers may have been led to truly believe that their actions (however
cruel) were justified and, perhaps, necessary. To some extent, therefore, this
notion might include a balancing aspect to the grim image Tacitus, for instance,
propagated of the selfish, bloodthirsty and ruthless military men from the
uncivilized frontiers. At the same time it may lend credence to reports of soldiers
who were unwilling or hesitant to engage in civil war, such as those in Dalmatia
in 42, or those in the armies of Otho and Vitellius in 69,54 or to the story of those
two legions on the Rhine which, after their mutiny against Galba in 69 AD (i.e.
after one century of monarchic rule), swore an oath to the Senate and the People
of Rome.55 If so, we must also re-examine their relations with their commanders
(cf. below).
Yet under normal circumstances, such political matters were hardly
foremost on a Roman soldier's mind. Particularly during the long periods of the
f,rrst two centuries AD in which the army's loyalty was undisputed, soldiers will
have been preoccupied with other outlooks. Perhaps the most explicit
formulation by a Roman soldier of what he expected from service in the army can
be found in a well-known inscription from Aquae Flavianae in North African
Numidia.56
'o .8. Campbell (1984: p.25).
5'
On the subject cf. M.A. Speidel (2010: p.l4ltr).
"
App., BC 5,L7.ILGR 158. IRT 537. Cf. also zuC II'z Ll53ff.
5'
For a valuable overview see now A.R. Birley (2007 a). Cf. also K. Ruffing (20 10).
54
42 AD: Dio 60,15,3. Stet., Claud. 13,2. 69 AD: Tac., Hist. 2,37 (Tacitus simply
disbelieved the authenticity of the occurrences).
55
Tac., Hist. 1156.
56
BCTH, 1928129, p. 94, n" 2
=
AE 1928,37
= IDRE II 456 (El Flammam / Aquae
Flavianae, Numidia). Cf. J.'. Zarker (1958: no. 25). A. Balland (1976). M. I-e Glay
(1983: p.47). K. Dunbabin (1989: p.l6). D. Pikhaus (1993: p.l36ff.). F. Diez de
Velasco (1998: p.85f.). St. Busch (1999: p.284f.).
J.N. Adams (1999: p.127). Y. Le
Bohec (20023: p.256).
182
MICHAELA. SPEIDEL
[OJptavi
Dacos tenere caesos, tenui.
[OptJaai
in sella pacis residere, sedi.
[OJptaai
clros sequi triumphos,
factum.
Optaai pnmi commoda plena pili, hab[uiJ
Optaui nudas aidere nymphas, aidi.
The five lines of the text might be translated as follows
I wanted to hold slain Daci, I held them.
I wanted to reside on a magistrate's chair of peace, I sat there.
I wanted to march along in glorious Triumphs, I did.
I wanted to receive the full financial rewards of a primus pilus,Ihave
I wanted to see the naked Nymphs, I saw them.
No need to say that this soldier was proud of his accomplishments. He
apparently also expected the reader to admire his success in life (as well as his
education which allowed him to compose a text of such rhetorical structure and
rhythmical alignment). Translated into abstract categories, the text covers a wide
range of expectations and experiences related to a successful military service. The
author was clearly pleased to have had the opportunity to partake in a major war
and to contribute to a victory over Rome's enemies on a far-away frontier. He
was proud to tell of his professional skills as a warrior,5T and he rejoiced in having
received public recognition of his brave deeds through the rare honour of
marching along in 'glorious triumphs'.58 His military career took him to the
pinnacle of the legionary hierarchy. This was the fulfilment of every soldier's
dream
-
and of his mother's, if we are to believe Artemidoros, not least because
it would make a soldier very wealthy.5q The author of the inscription nicely
conhrms the point. The term he used to describe his financial rewards is
commoda, which appears to specifically relate to the cash rewards that were
handed out upon honourable discharge.60 Perhaps none of these aspects is
particularly surprising, but the reference to the chair of peace, the sella pacis, is
indeed remarkable. Its position in the second line of the text clearly identifies it
as a part of the author's military service. Most likely, therefore, the
responsibilities of, perhaps, a iudex datus were meant, or of a centurio regionarius
or of some other important administrative activity. If so, this text reveals more
explicitly than others that such administrative appointments were seen by soldiers
tt
For images on soldiers' gravestones expressing the same notion cf. e.g.
M. Schleiermacher (1984: nos. 83 and 98). F.IB 522.3185. M.P. Speidel (1984:
l49ff.). M.P. Speidel (1994: no. 540). For the meaning and modest diffusion of such
images see M.A. Speidel (2009: p.236).
tt
The number of soldiers known by their inscriptions to have taken part in a Triumph in
Rome is exceedingly small, evidently because only very few ever had the opportunity to
qualifu. That gives particular weight to the plural triumphos in the inscription from
Aquae FlavianaeJ as it may indicate that the author had indeed participated in more
than one Triumph. For a similar case see ILS 2665.
t'
Artem. Dald., On.2,20.
uo
M.P. Speidel (1992: p.363-368). For the amounts M.A. Speidel (2009: p.373f. 408f.
4t5f.).
183
BEING A SOLDIER IN THE ROMAN IMPERIAL AR-VIY
_
EXPECTATIONS AND RESP0NSES
as a source of great pride, evidently worth mentioning in the same breath as
achievements on the battle field.6r
The last line may relate to a specific event from after the author's
honourable discharge. His reference to naked nymphs has caused much
excitement among the modern commentators of this inscription. It is plain that
our soldier was delighted at the sight. But it also raises another point: the role of
women in Roman military society. Libanios deplored that Roman soldiers of the
later fourth century were preoccupied only with money and with their desire to
marry and to raise children. This, he declared, had led ro a loss of military
efficiency, whereas in the good old days officers and soldiers strived for glory, not
cash, were brave specialists in warfare and remained unmarried.2 In the
aftermath of Adrianopolis, Libanios evidently glorihed an ideal image of the
Roman soldier of the past. But not only had money always been a very important
attraction of professional service in the Roman army. Libanios' verdict on the
soldiers' desire to marry and to have children as typical of his own time is also
wrong.
\Women
and children followed the Roman imperial armies since the days
of Augustus, and soldiers, throughout the first three centuries, very often formed
family unions.63
Legitimate Roman marriage, matrimonium iustum, was) as is well-known, a
different matter. It was a characteristic trit of Roman professional military
service that soldiers were prohibited legitimate marriage.6a Because of the serious
legal consequences this entailed, it was obviously a very unpopular restriction.
This is not the occasion to explore this complex issue in detail.65 Nevertheless, a
new diploma from 206 AD deserves to be mentioned, for this document quite
clearly disproves the generally held belief that Septimius Severus granted all
soldiers the right to contract legal marriages.66 Frence, we will need to rethink the
scope and the consequences both of the Claudian and of the Severan decrees on
soldiers' marriages. In particular, it seems, we may have to take Herodian's
statement literally that Severus allowed the soldiers 'to live together with their
wives'.67 The emperor may simply have allowed his'married'soldiers to live
outside the fortresses. If so, this may have contributed to a number of
phenomena that are generally associared with a decline of military discipline.6s
Fear for their endangered families) for instance, is repeatedly reported to have
ur
Cf. also, although for lower-ranking
fficiales, R. Haensch (2010a).
ut
Lib., or.2,39-40.
u'
Cf. e.g. M.A. Speidel (2009:p.526ff.).
ua
Most clearly expressed in M.Chr.372
= BGU I ll4, recro col. I9
-
13 (cf. BLVIII
226). Cf. S.E. Phang (2001: l3ff.).I7eiss (2008: p.30-37).
ut
I hope to return to the matter soon elsewhere.
uu 'w.
Eck (2ol l).
u7
Herod. 3,8,5. Not a permission for legal marriage: Mommsen, CIL III 2}llff.
P. Garnsey (1970). Cf. the discussions by S.E. Phang (2001:p.l7ff.) and M. Handy
(2009: p.2l2ff.) with further literature.
u8
Thus Herod. 3,8,5.
184
MICHAELA. SPEIDEL
caused 3'd c. soldiers to mutiny.6e Another possibly related phenomenon may be
the popular choice by third century soldiers of images for their gravestones that
showed them, wearing only belted tunics and cloaks, in the company of their
wives and children.To But were these truly signs of a changing attitude towards
military service? Perhaps. But we should also remember that Tacitus already
deplored the attachment of first century soldiers to their garrison places, as well
as their peaceful and unarmed appearance in the provinces, declaring this to be a
sign of shameful indiscipline.tl FIe may have been repeating a topos rather than
describing reality, as Everett Wheeler has convincingly argued,t2 but it was
probably also an expression of this Roman senator's personal disapproval of
soldiers appearing to much like civilians. Inter
!aganos
miles conuptior fhe
historian exclaimed.T3 Yet what is more, in Tacitus' eyes the soldiers of the
Roman imperial army were an undisciplined lot even as warriors. "In an army",
he wrote, "which included such varieties of language and customs, an army
comprising Roman citizens, allies, and foreigners, there was every kind of lust,
each man had a law of his own, and nothing was forbidden".Ta These armies, he
adds, had a 'passion for war' (belli amor), and were easily driven even to civil war
by a 'wrath from heaven' (deum ira), 'human madness' (hominum rabies), and
'incentives to crime' (scelerum causae).'5
Throughout t}l'e Histories and the Annals, Tacitus describes the soldiers of
the Roman army as a sorry species, with no regard for men of honour and age.
Of course, such statements were part of a political discourse in a world, in which
soldiers often competed with Senators for real political power (or rather:
influence over the emperor). Only when exposed to the stern leadership of high-
ranking aristocratic generals who embodied traditional moral values, such as
Germanicus, Agricola or Domitius Corbulo, would, in Tacitus' judgement,
discipline and glory return to the Roman soldier. But one might wonder how
such aristocratic attitudes shaped the relationship between soldiers and their
senatorial commanders in the provinces. Tacitus almost certainly held such a
command at some stage in his career.76 Did he let the soldiers know how much
he despised their sort? Cassius Dio, another historian with little regard for the
soldiers' hopes, expectations and wishes made himself extremely unpopular with
the army, because he had 'ruled the soldiers in Pannonia with a hrm hand'.7? The
issue originated, on the evidence, not frm battle but from routine dealings.?8
6e
M.A. Speidel (2009: p.544).
7o
M.A. Speidel (2009:p237). Cf. alsoJ. Edmondson (2008).
tt
Tac., Ann. 13135.
'"
E.L.
\Wheeler
(1996:p.229ff.).
" Tac., Hist. 1,53.
'n
Tac., Hist. 3,3315: utque exercitu aario knguis moibus, cui cioes soc externi interessent,
diuersae cupidines et aliud cuique fas nec quicquam inlicitum.
tt
Tac., Hist. 2,37-38. For a very different view of the Roman army see Ael. Arist., Or.
Rom.74-78.
76
See A.R. Birley (2000: p.237f.).
"
Dio 80,4,2. Cf. also 49,36,2-4.
"
Cf. e.g. F. Miltar (L964:p.26). A. Mcsy (1962:p.564f.).
185
BEING A SOLDIER IN THE ROMAN IMPERIAL ARMY
_
EXPECTATIONS AND RESPONSES
The result is well-known: Dio had to hold his second consulship in 229 outside
Rome, because he feared the praetorians might otherwise kill him. other
governors, of course, were so popular with the army that their soldiers made
them emperors. Such events) as well as a fair number of other indications in our
sources, suggest on the one hand that Roman provincial governors were
submitted to a considerably higher degree of routine personal exposure to their
armies than is usually expressed in modern accounts (which tend to reduce their
tasks to jurisdiction
and administration), and, on the other hand, that the
significant impact of the governors' decisions on the soldiers' daily lives, made
their relationship with the army under their command a very personal affair.?e
Moreover, a Roman aristocrat's popularity with his soldiers, his success in
'restoring' discipline and his battlefietd achievemenrs would also determine how
his peers and the emperor thought about his airtus and his abilities as a military
commander. All this would necessarily influence the portrayal of 'the Roman
soldier' within the historical works composed by such senatorial or equestrian
aristocrats. A comprehensive account of all relevant preconceptions, as well as of
wartime and routine dealings of soldiers and their commanders, provincial
governors in particular, would therefore add considerably to a better
understanding of our narrative sources and of what it meant to be a Roman
soldier
-
and a Roman governor for that matter.
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