Decimation

  • Decimation was a punishment for soldiers in the Roman Legion, where one in ten soldiers were ordered to be killed by their own men.
  • There are nine known occasions on record in the Roman Army when the order for Decimation was given.

Method

  • The Roman Legion punished its soldiers for cowardice by ordering 1 in 10 legionaries to be killed by their own men.
  • The Legionaries were divided into groups of ten. All ten had to draw lots to decide which one would die, once selected he was clubbed or stoned to death by his fellow nine legionaries.
  • Sometimes Decimation was applied to one Cohort (50 dead), or to one Legion (500 dead), or to ten Legions (5000 dead).
  • The first recorded case of Decimation was by Appius Claudius in 471 BCE, it was then copied by the Ancient Greeks under Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) who is recorded using this practice on a unit of 6,000 soldiers. The last recorded case in the Roman Army was under Maximian in 286 CE.

Known Decimations in the Roman Army

  1. Appius Claudius
    • In 471 BCE, ordered Decimation as a punishment for desertion during the war against the Volsci.
  2. Crassus
    • Between 73-71 BCE, gave the order for Decimation of a Legion that refused to fight the Slave army, during the Slave Rebellion of Spartacus.
  3. Julius Caesar
    • In 48 BCE, threatened Decimation against the Legio IX Hispana during the Civil War against Pompey. However, according to Appian, only 12 men were selected and executed, for the role in a potential mutiny.
  4. Mark Anthony
    • Between 40-33 BCE, according to Plutarch gave the order for Decimation during a Campaign in the East against the Persian Empire which ended badly.
  5. Augustus
    • In 17 BCE, gave the order for Decimation, according to Suetonius
  6. Lucius Apronius, Consul
  7. Galba
    • In 69 CE, ordered the Decimation of the Legio I Adiutrix which Nero had formed from the sailors of the Classis Misenensis. They were overwhelmed without a battle, at the Milvian bridge and the survivors decimated.
  8. Macrinus
    • In 218 CE, gave the order for Decimation and Vicensimation (one in every hundred)
  9. Maximian
    • In 286 CE, gave the order for Decimation of the legendary Theban Legion in Egypt, for refusing to take the Oath to the Emperor.
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