This article reconsiders negative scholarly evaluations of the offices of rex sacrorum and flamen... more This article reconsiders negative scholarly evaluations of the offices of rex sacrorum and flamen Dialis in the middle republic, emphasizing these priesthoods’ social prominence in an era of heightened electoral competition. It then argues that the flaminate aided the Cornelii Scipiones in strategies for public distinction in the 170s BCE.
Decimatio, or executing a portion, usually a tenth, of a Roman legionary unit, is regarded as a q... more Decimatio, or executing a portion, usually a tenth, of a Roman legionary unit, is regarded as a quintessential example of old-fashioned military discipline. It is nonetheless poorly attested in the earlier Republic, though in the first century we find more instances. This paper examines its literary manifestations and scrutinizes its historicity. By considering soldiers’ access to provocatio, cultural and legal prescripts on subjecting citizens to corporal punishment, military demography, and civil war crises, it argues that decimation went into disuse in the wake of legislation de provocatione by the 130s BCE, and was used again in the Late Republic.
This article reconsiders negative scholarly evaluations of the offices of rex sacrorum and flamen... more This article reconsiders negative scholarly evaluations of the offices of rex sacrorum and flamen Dialis in the middle republic, emphasizing these priesthoods’ social prominence in an era of heightened electoral competition. It then argues that the flaminate aided the Cornelii Scipiones in strategies for public distinction in the 170s BCE.
Decimatio, or executing a portion, usually a tenth, of a Roman legionary unit, is regarded as a q... more Decimatio, or executing a portion, usually a tenth, of a Roman legionary unit, is regarded as a quintessential example of old-fashioned military discipline. It is nonetheless poorly attested in the earlier Republic, though in the first century we find more instances. This paper examines its literary manifestations and scrutinizes its historicity. By considering soldiers’ access to provocatio, cultural and legal prescripts on subjecting citizens to corporal punishment, military demography, and civil war crises, it argues that decimation went into disuse in the wake of legislation de provocatione by the 130s BCE, and was used again in the Late Republic.
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