ROMAN MILITAIRY PUNISHMENTS
Roman military discipline was notoriously harsh, and the punishments meted out reflected that.
For minor infractions, soldiers might face fines, where deductions were taken from their pay. They could also be assigned extra, often unpleasant, duties.
Demotion was another form of punishment, particularly humiliating for experienced soldiers, as it involved a reduction in rank.
Physical punishments were common, including whipping or flogging, often carried out publicly to serve as a deterrent.
For more serious offenses, the consequences were far more severe. A dishonorable discharge meant expulsion from the army, with the loss of any benefits.
The death penalty was reserved for the gravest crimes, such as desertion or treason. Executions could take various forms, including brutal beatings. Perhaps the most feared punishment was decimation, used against entire units that had shown mass insubordination. This involved the random selection of one in ten soldiers, who would then be executed by their own comrades. This practice highlighted the extreme emphasis the Roman military placed on obedience and order.
THE SIEGE OF ATHENS
“If anyone regards this period of rebellion, during which Athens suffered siege at the hands of Sulla, as a breach of good faith on the part of the Athenians, he shows a strange ignorance of the facts of history; for so constant was the loyalty of the Athenians towards the Romans that always and invariably, whenever the Romans referred to any act of unqualified loyalty, they called it an example of "Attic faith." But at this time, overwhelmed as they were by the arms of Mithridates, the Athenians were in a most unhappy plight. Held in subjection by their enemies and besieged by their friends, although in obedience to necessity they kept their bodies within the walls, their hearts were outside their fortifications.”
Velleius Paterculus, Roman History
FELIX
“And now that the Marsic war was coming to an end, another great civil war arose in Rome, stirred up by Sulla and the young Gaius Marius, son of that Marius who had been seven times consul. In this strife many tens of thousands of men perished, until at length Sulla prevailed; and being created dictator, he called himself Epaphroditus {Felix}. This boastful title was not wholly inappropriate, because he prospered in all his wars, and died a natural death after his victories. But Marius, although he behaved with great gallantry in the war against Sulla, was at length routed, and fled with fifteen thousand men to Praeneste, where he was besieged for a long time. At length, being totally deserted, and seeing no way of escape, he earnestly entreated one of his faithful slaves to help him put an end to the misfortunes that surrounded him. After much persuasion, the slave at one stroke put an end to his master's life, and then immediately killed himself. And so at length ended this civil war. However, some remnants of Marius' party continued to give Sulla trouble for a while longer, until they too were suppressed, like the others.”
Diodorus Siculus
So Medusa does exist after all?
CARTHAGO
“Carthage, also, is situated on a kind of peninsula, which comprises a circuit of three hundred and sixty stadia; and this circuit has a wall; and sixty stadia of the length of this circuit are occupied by the neck itself, which extendº from sea to sea; and this, a spacious place, is where the Carthaginians had their elephant-stalls. Near the middle of the city was the acropolis, which they called Byrsa; it was a fairly steep height and inhabited on all sides, and at the top it had a temple of Asclepius, which, at the time of the capture of the city, the wife of Asdrubal burnt along with herself. Below the acropolis lie the harbours, as also Cothon, a circular isle surrounded by a strait, which latter has ship-houses all round on either side.”
Strabo
THE PRODUCTS OF DA QIN
“This country produces plenty of gold, silver, and precious jewels, luminous jade, - 'bright moon pearls, fighting cocks,? rhinoceroses, coral, yellow amber,- opaque glass, whitish chalcedony,& red cinnabar,? green gemstones, drawn gold-threaded and multi-coloured embroideries, woven gold-threaded net, delicate polychrome silks painted with gold, and asbestos cloth.
They also have a fine cloth which some people say is made from the down of 'water sheep,' but which is made, in fact, from the cocoons of wild silkworms. They blend all sorts of fragrances, and by boiling the juice, make storax. [They have] all the precious and rare things that come from the various foreign kingdoms. They make gold and silver coins. Ten silver coins are worth one gold coin. They trade with Anxi (Parthia) and Tianzhu (Northwestern India) by sea. The profit margin is ten to one.
The people of this country are honest in business; they don't have two prices. Grain and foodstuffs are always in good supply. The resources of the state are abundant. When envoys from a neighbouring kingdom arrive at their border, they use the courier stations to get to the royal capital, and when they arrive, they give them gold coins.
The king of this country always wanted to send envoys to the Han, but Anxi (Parthia), wishing to control the trade in multi-coloured Chinese silks, blocked the route to prevent [the Romans] getting through [to China].
In the ninth yanxi year [166 CE], during the reign of Emperor Huan, the king of Da Qin (the Roman Empire), Andun (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus), sent envoys from beyond the frontiers through Rinan (Commandery on the central Vietnamese coast),& to offer elephant tusks, rhinoceros horn, and turtle shell. This was the very first time there was [direct] communication [between the two countries]. The tribute brought was neither precious nor rare, raising suspicion that the accounts [of the 'envoys'] might be exaggerated.
It is said that to the west of this kingdom is Ruoshui (the 'Weak River') and Liusha (the
'Shifting Sands') which are close to the place where Xiwangmu ('Spirit-Mother of the West') lives, and which go almost as far as the place where the sun sets.
The Hanshu says: "Leaving Tiaozhi (Characene and Susiana), if you head west for more than two hundred days, you approach the place where the sun sets." This does not agree with the books of today. [The reason is that] the Han envoys under the first [Han] dynasty all returned after reaching Wuyi (Arachosia and Drangiana), and none of them went as far as Tiaozhi (Characene and Susiana).
It is said, leaving Anxi (Parthia) by the land route, you circle through Haibei (North of the Sea'), and come into Haixi (Egypt), to reach Da Qin (Roman territory). The population there is dense. Each ten li (4.2 km) there is a postal stage, and each thirty li (12.5 km) a postal station. Finally, there is no trouble with bandits, but there are many ferocious tigers and lions on the road that obstruct and kill travellers. If the caravans don't have more than a hundred men carrying arms, they will be devoured.
Also, it is said that there is a raised bridge, several hundred li long, which crosses over to Haibei ('North of the Sea'). They [the vassal kingdoms of Da Qin] produce curious gems and so many other peculiar and bizarre things that I will not record what is reported.”
Book of the later Han
Any comments on general feelings of fear and unsettledness? Not to be confused with being afraid of something specific. Tnx
TEMPLES
“If there be nothing to prevent it, and the use of the edifice allow it, the temples of the immortal gods should have such an aspect, that the statue in the cell may have its face towards the west, so that those who enter to sacrifice, or to make offerings, may have their faces to the east as well as to the statue in the temple. Thus suppliants, and those performing their vows, seem to have the temple, the east, and the deity, as it were, looking on them at the same moment. Hence all altars of the gods should be placed towards the east.”
“But if the nature of the place do not permit this, the temple is to be turned as much as possible, so that the greater part of the city may be seen from it. moreover, if temples be built on the banks of a river, as those in Egypt on the Nile, they should face the river. So, also, if temples of the gods be erected on the road side, they should be placed in such a manner that those passing by may look towards them, and make their obeisance.”
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, de Architectura
HANNIBAL CONTACTS THE CELTS
“Though Hannibal had taken every precaution for the security of Libya and Iberia, he yet waited for the messengers whom he expected to arrive from the Celts. He had thoroughly acquainted himself with the fertility and populousness of the districts at the foot of the Alps and in the valley of the Padus, as well as with the warlike courage of the men; but most important of all, with their hostile feelings to Rome derived from the previous war, which I described in my last book, with the express purpose of enabling my readers to follow my narrative.
He therefore reckoned very much on the chance of their co-operation; and was careful to send messages to the chiefs of the Celts, whether dwelling actually on the Alps or on the Italian side of them, with unlimited promises; because he believed that he would be able to confine the war against Rome to Italy, if he could make his way through the intervening difficulties to these parts, and avail himself of the active alliance of the Celts.
When his messengers returned with a report that the Celts were ready to help him and all eagerness for his approach; and that the passage of the Alps, though laborious and difficult, was not, however, impossible, he collected his forces from their winter quarters at the approach of spring. Just before receiving this report he had learnt the circumstances attending the Roman embassy at Carthage. Encouraged by the assurance thus given him, that he would be supported by the' popular sentiment at home, he no longer disguised from his army that the object of the forthcoming campaign was Rome; and tried to inspire them with courage for the undertaking.
He explained to them how the Romans had demanded the surrender of himself and all the officers of the army: and pointed out the fertility of the country to which they were going, and the good-will and active alliance which the Celts were prepared to offer them. When the crowd of soldiers showed an enthusiastic readiness to accompany him, he dismissed the assembly, after thanking them, and naming the day on which he intended to march.”
Polybius, histories
THE SIEGE OF ATHENS
“Two Athenian slaves in the Piræus -- either because they favored the Romans or were looking out for their own safety in an emergency -- wrote down everything that took place there, enclosed their writing in leaden balls, and threw them over to the Romans with slings.
As this was done continually it came to the knowledge of Sulla, who gave his attention to the missives and found one which said, "To-morrow the infantry will make a sally in front upon your workers, and the cavalry will attack the Roman army on both flanks."
Sulla placed an adequate force in ambush and when the enemy dashed out with the thought that their movement would completely surprise him he gave them a greater surprise with his concealed force, killing many and driving the rest into the sea. This was the end of that enterprise.
When the mounds began to rise Archelaus erected opposing towers and placed the greatest quantity of missiles on them. He sent for reënforcements from Chalcis and the other islands and armed his oarsmen, for he considered himself in extreme danger.
As his army was superior in number to that of Sulla before, it now became much more so by these reënforcements.
He then darted out in the middle of the night with torches and burned one of the tortoises and the machines alongside of it; but Sulla made new ones in ten days' time and put them in the places of the former ones. Against these Archelaus established a tower on that part of the wall.”
Appian, the foreign wars
EDICTUM DE PRETIIS 301 AD
Although incomplete, enough of the text is preserved to make the general structure and contents of the edict clear.
All coins in the Decrees and the Edict were valued according to the denarius, which Diocletian hoped to replace with a new system based on the silver argenteus and its fractions The argenteus seems to have been set at 100 denarii, the silver-washed nummus at 25 denarii, and the bronze radiate at 4 or 5 denarii. The copper laureate was raised from 1 denarius to 2 denarii. The gold aureus was revalued at at least 1,200 denarii (although one document calls it a "solidus" it was still heavier than the solidus introduced by Constantine a few years later).
During the previous decades the decreasing amount of silver in the billon coins had fuelled inflation. This inflation is understood to be the reason the decree was issued. Issues of economic system feedback were not well understood at the time.
The first two-thirds of the Edict doubled the value of the copper and billon coins, and set the death penalty for profiteers and speculators, who were blamed for the inflation and who were compared to the barbariantribes attacking the empire. Merchants were forbidden to take their goods elsewhere and charge a higher price, and transport costs could not be used as an excuse to raise prices.
The last third of the Edict, divided into 32 sections, imposed a price ceiling – a list of maxima – for well over a thousand products. These products included various food items (beef, grain, wine, beer, sausages, etc.), clothing (shoes, cloaks, etc.), freight charges for sea travel, and weekly wages. The highest limit was on one pound of purple-dyed silk, which was set at 150,000 denarii (the price of a lion was set at the same price).
Holding dollars or euro’s isn’t neutral, its a trade. Many normies don’t get this.
GM.
I like to sit next to a person and ask: i heard you are interested in this and that, Tell me everything about it, and then sit there and listen for 2 hours.
It’s free, usually interesting, and shows interest in what the other person has to say. You also learn about who they are in between the lines.
The wife in the middle probably apologising for not hitting the gym in the past year 😩
Works of art.
OLD ENEMIES MEET AGAIN
“A rope was cast about his neck and he was led to the prison of Minturnae on the order of its duumvir. A public slave of German nationality was sent with a sword to put him to death. It happened that this man had been taken a prisoner by Marius when he was commander in the war against the Cimbri; when he recognized Marius, giving utterance with loud outcry to his indignation at the plight of this great man, he threw away his sword and fled from the prison.”
Velleius Paterculus, Roman History
They are loud and obnoxious,
They like music that rhimes.
They are a fraction of the population,
And they commit half the crimes.
Who are they 🤔
How is New York?