Complete Works of Frontinus

by Frontinus

  [19] The consul Otacilius Crassus ordered those who had been •sent under the yoke by Hannibal and had then returned, to camp outside the entrenchments, in order that they might become used to dangers while without defences, and so grow more daring against the enemy.

  [20] P. Cornelio Nasica Decimo Iunio consulibus, qui exercitum deseruerant, damnati virgis caesi publice venierunt.

  [20] In the consulship of Publius Cornelius Nasica and Decimus Junius those who had deserted from the army were condemned to be scourged publicly with rods and then to be sold into slavery.

  [21] Domitius Corbulo in Armenia duas alas et tres cohortes, quae ad castellum Initia hostibus cesserant, extra vallum iussit tendere, donec adsiduo labore et prosperis excursionibus redimerent ignominiam.

  [21] Domitius Corbulo, when in Armenia, ordered two squadrons and three cohorts, which had given way before the enemy near the fortress of Initia, to camp outside the entrenchments, until by steady work and successful raids they should atone for their disgrace.

  [22] Aurelius Cotta consul, cum ad opus equites necessitate cogente iussisset accedere eorumque pars detractasset imperium, questus apud censores effecit, ut notarentur; a patribus deinde obtinuit, ne eis praeterita aera procederent; tribuni quoque plebis de eadem re ad populum pertulerunt omniumque consensu stabilita disciplina est.

  [22] When the consul Aurelius Cotta under pressing necessity ordered the knights to participate in a certain work and a part of them renounced his authority, he made complaint before the censors and had the mutineers degraded. Then from the senators he secured an enactment that arrears of their wages should not be paid. The tribunes of the plebs also carried through a bill with the people on the same matter, so that discipline was maintained by the joint action of all.

  [23] Q. Metellus Macedonicus in Hispania quinque cohortes, quae hostibus cesserant, testamentum facere iussas ad locum reciperandum remisit, minatus non nisi post victoriam receptum iri.

  [23] When Quintus Metellus Macedonicus was campaigning in Spain, and five cohorts on one occasion had given way before the enemy, he commanded the soldiers to make their wills, and then sent them back to recover the lost ground, threatening that they should not be received in camp except after victory.

  [24] P. Valerio consuli senatus praecepit, exercitum ad Sirim victum ducere Saepinum ibique castra munire et hiemem sub tentoriis exigere.

  24a Senatus, cum turpiter fugati eius milites essent, decrevit, ne auxilia eis summitterentur, nisi captis eius . . .

  [24] The Senate ordered the consul Publius Valerius to lead the army, which had been defeated near the river Siris, to Saepinum, to construct a camp there, and to spend the winter under canvas. [24]a When his soldiers had been disgracefully routed the Senate ordered that no reinforcements should be sent them, unless . . .

  [25] Legionibus, quae Punico bello militiam detractaverant, in Siciliam velut relegatis per septem annos hordeum ex senatus consulto datum est.

  [25] The legions which had refused to serve in the Punic War were sent into a kind of banishment in Sicily, and by vote of the Senate were put on barley rations for seven years.

  [26] L. Piso C. Titium praefectum cohortis, quod loco fugitivis cesserat, cinctu togae praeciso, soluta tunica, nudis pedibus in principiis cotidie stare, dum vigiles venirent, iussit, conviviis et balneo abstinere.

  [26] Because Gaius Titius, commander of a cohort, had given way before some runaway slaves, Lucius Piso ordered him to stand daily in the headquarters of the camp, barefooted, with the belt of his toga cut and his tunic ungirt, and wait till the night-watchmen came. He also commanded that the culprit should forgo banquets and baths.

  [27] Sulla cohortem et centuriones, quorum stationem hostis perruperat, galeatos et discinctos perstare in principiis iussit.

  [27] Sulla ordered a cohort and its centurions, though whose defences the enemy had broken, to stand continuously at headquarters, wearing helmets and without uniforms.

  [28] Domitius Corbulo in Armenia Aemilio Rufo praefecto equitum, quia hostibus cesserat et parum instructam armis alam habebat, vestimenta per lictorem scidit eidemque ut erat foedato habitu perstare in principiis, donec mitterentur, imperavit.

  [28] When Domitius Corbulo was campaigning in Armenia, a certain Aemilius Rufus, a praefect of cavalry, gave way before the enemy. On discovering that Rufus had kept his squadron inadequately equipped with weapons, Corbulo directed the lictors to strip the clothes from his back, and ordered the culprit to stand at headquarters in this unseemly plight until he should be released.

  [29] Atilius Regulus, cum ex Samnio in Luceriam transgrederetur exercitusque eius obviis hostibus aversus esset, opposita cohorte iussit fugientes pro desertoribus caedi.

  [29] When Atilius Regulus was crossing from Samnium to Luceria and his troops turned away from the enemy whom they had encountered, Regulus blocked their retreat with a cohort, as they fled, and ordered them to be cut to pieces as deserters.

  [30] Cotta consul in Sicilia in Valerium, nobilem tribunum militum ex gente Valeria, virgis animadvertit.

  [30] The consul Cotta, when in Sicily, flogged a certain Valerius, a noble military tribune belonging to the Valerian gens.

  [31] Idem P. Aurelium sanguine sibi iunctum, quem obsidioni Lipararum, ipse ad auspicia repetenda Messanam transiturus, praefecerat, cum agger incensus et capta castra essent, virgis caesum in numerum gregalium peditum referri et muneribus fungi iussit.

  [31] The same Cotta, when about to cross over to Messana to take the auspices afresh, placed in charge of the blockade of the Liparian Islands a ceremony Publius Aurelius, who was connected with him by ties of blood. But when Aurelius’s line of works was burned and his camp captured, Cotta had him scourged with rods and ordered him to be reduced to the ranks and to perform the tasks of a common soldier.

  [32] Fulvius Flaccus censor Fulvium fratrem suum, quia legionem, in qua tribunus militum erat, iniussu consulis dimiserat, senatu movit.

  [32] The censor Fulvius Flaccus removed from the Senate his own brother Fulvius, because the latter without the command of the consul had disbanded the legion in which he was tribune of the soldiers.

  [33] M. Cato ab hostili litore, in quo per aliquot dies manserat, cum ter dato profectionis signo classem solvisset et relictus e militibus quidam a terra voce et gestu expostularet, uti tolleretur, circumacta ad litus universa classe, comprehensum supplicio affici iussit et, quem occisuri per ignominiam hostes fuerant, exemplo potius impendit.

  [33] On one occasion when Marcus Cato, who had lingered for several days on a hostile shore, had at length set sail, after three times giving the signal for departure, and a certain soldier, who had been left behind, with cries and gestures from the land, begged to be picked up, Cato turned his whole fleet back to the shore, arrested the man, and commanded him to be put to death, thus preferring to make an example of the fellow than to have him ignominiously put to death by the enemy.

  [34] Appius Claudius ex his, qui loco cesserant, decimum quemque militem sorte ductum fusti percussit.

  [34] In the case of those who quitted their places in the line, Appius Claudius picked out every tenth man by lot and had him clubbed to death.

  [35] Fabius Rullus consul ex duabus legionibus, quae loco cesserant, sorte ductos in conspectu militum securi percussit.

  [35] In the case of two legions which had given way before the foe, the consul Fabius Rullus chose men by lot and beheaded them in the sight of their comrades.

  [36] Aquilius ternos ex centuriis, quarum statio ab hoste perrupta erat, securi percussit.

  [36] Aquilius beheaded three men from each of the centuries whose position had been broken through by the enemy.

  [37] M. Antonius, cum agger ab hostibus incensus esset, ex his, qui in opere fuerant, duarum cohortium militem decimavit et in singulos ex his centuriones animadvertit, legatum cum ignominia dimisit, reliquis ex legione hordeum dari iussit.

  [37] Marcus Antonius, when fire had been set to his line of works by the enemy, decimated the soldiers o
f two cohorts of those who were on the works, and punished the centurions of each cohort. Besides this, he dismissed the commanding officer in disgrace, and ordered the rest of the legion to be put on barley rations.

  [38] In legionem, quae Regium oppidum iniussu ducis diripuerat, animadversum est ita, ut quattuor milia tradita custodiae necarentur; praeterea senatus consulto cautum est, ne quem ex eis sepelire vel lugere fas esset.

  [38] The legion which had plundered the city of Rhegium without the orders of its commander was punished as follows: four thousand men were put under guard and executed. Moreover the Senate by decree made it a crime to bury any one of these or indulge in mourning for them.

  [39] L. Papirius Cursor dictator Fabium Rutilium magistrum equitum, quod adversum edictum eius quamvis prospere pugnaverat, ad virgas poposcit, caesum securi percussurus; nec contentioni aut precibus militum concessit animadversionem eumque profugientem Romam persecutus est, ne ibi quidem remisso prius supplicii metu, quam ad genua eius et Fabius cum patre provolveretur et pariter senatus ac populus rogarent.

  [39] The dictator Lucius Papirius Cursor demanded that Fabius Rullus, his master of the horse, be scourged, and was on the point of beheading him, because he had engaged in battle against orders — successfully withal. Even in the face of the efforts and please of the soldiers, Papirius refused to renounce his purpose of punishment, actually following Rullus, when he fled for refuge to Rome, and not even there abandoning his threats of execution until Fabius and his father fell at the knees of Papirius, and the Senate and people alike joined in their petition.

  [40] Manlius, cui Imperioso postea cognomen fuit, filium, quod is contra edictum patris cum hoste pugnaverat, quamvis victorem in conspectu exercitus virgis caesum securi percussit.

  [40] Manlius, to whom the name “The Masterful” was afterwards given, had his own son scourged and beheaded in the sight of the army, because, even though he came out victorious, he had engaged in battle with the enemy contrary to the orders of his father.

  [41] Manlius filius, exercitu pro se adversus patrem seditionem parante, negavit tanti esse quemquam, ut propter illum disciplina corrumperetur, et obtinuit, ut ipsum puniri paterentur.

  [41] The younger Manlius, when the army was preparing to mutiny in his behalf against his father, said that no one was of such importance that discipline will be destroyed on his account, and so induced his comrades to suffer him to be punished.

  [42] Q. Fabius Maximus transfugarum dextras praecidit.

  [42] Quintus Fabius Maximus cut off the right hands of deserters.

  [43] C. Curio consul bello Dardanico circa Dyrrachium, cum ex quinque legionibus una seditione facta militiam detractasset securturamque se temeritatem ducis in expeditionem asperam et insidiosam negasset, quattuor legiones eduxit armatas et consistere ordinibus detectis armis velut in acie iussit. Post hoc seditiosam legionem inermem procedere discinctamque in conspectu armati exercitus stramenta coegit secare, postero autem die similiter fossam discinctos milites facere, nullisque precibus legionis impetrari ab eo potuit, ne signa eius summitteret nomenque aboleret, milites autem in supplementum ceterarum legionum distribueret.

  [43] When the consul Gaius Curio was campaigning near Dyrrhachium in the war against the Dardani, and one of the five legions, having mutinied, had refused service and declared it would not follow his rash leadership on a difficult and dangerous enterprise, he led out four legions in arms and ordered them to take their stand in the ranks with weapons drawn, as if in battle. Then he commanded the mutinous legion to advance without arms, and forced its members to strip for work and cut straw under the eyes of armed guards. The following day, in like manner, he compelled them to strip and dig ditches, and by no entreaties of the legion could he be induced to renounce his purpose of withdrawing its standards, abolishing its name, and distributing its members to fill out other legions.

  [44] Q. Fulvio Appio Claudio consulibus milites ex pugna Cannensi in Siciliam a senatu relegati postulaverunt a consule M. Marcello, ut in proelium ducerentur. Ille senatum consuluit; senatus negavit sibi placere committi his rempublicam, qui eam deseruissent; Marcello tamen permisit facere, quod videretur, dum ne quis eorum munere vacaret neve donaretur neve quod praemium ferret aut in Italiam reportaretur, dum Poeni in ea fuissent.

  [44] In the consulship of Quintus Fulvius and Appius Claudius, the soldiers, who after the battle of Cannae had been banished to Sicily by the Senate, petitioned the consul Marcellus to be led to battle. Marcellus consulted the Senate, who declared it was not their pleasure that the public welfare should be trusted to those who had proved disloyal. Yet they empowered Marcellus to do what seemed best to him, provided none of the soldiers should be relieved of duty, honoured with a gift or reward, or conveyed back to Italy, so long as there were any Carthaginians in the country.

  [45] M. Salinator consularis damnatus est a populo, quod praedam non aequaliter diviserat militibus.

  [45] Marcus Salinator, when ex-consul, was condemned by the people because he had not divided the booty equally among his soldiers.

  [46] Cum ab Liguribus in proelio Q. Petilius consul interfectus esset, decrevit senatus, uti ea legio, in cuius acie consul erat occisus, tota infrequens referretur, stipendium ei annuum non daretur, aera reciderentur.

  [46] When the consul Quintus Petilius had been killed in battle by the Ligurians, the Senate decreed that that legion in whose ranks the consul had been slain should, as a whole, be reported “deficient”; that its year’s pay should be withheld, and its wages reduced.

  II. De Effectu Disciplinae

  II. On the Effect of Discipline

  [1] Bruti et Cassi exercitus, memoriae proditum est, bello civili cum una per Macedoniam iter facerent priorque Brutus ad fluvium, in quo pontem iungi oportebat, pervenisset, Cassi tamen exercitum et in efficiendo ponte et in maturando transitu praecessisse; qui vigor disciplinae effecit, ne solum in operibus, verum et in summa belli praestarent Cassiani Brutianos.

  [1] When, during the Civil War, the armies of Brutus and Cassius were marching together through Macedonia, the story goes that the army of Brutus arrived first at a stream which had to be bridged, but that the troops of Cassius were the first in constructing the bridge and in effecting a passage. This rigorous discipline made Cassius’s men superior to those of Brutus not only in constructing military works, but also in the general conduct of the war.

  [2] C. Marius, cum facultatem eligendi exercitus haberet ex duobus, qui sub Rutilio et qui sub Metello ac postea sub se ipso meruerant, Rutilianum quamquam minorem, quia certioris disciplinae arbitrabatur, praeoptavit.

  [2] When Gaius Marius had the option of choosing a force from two armies, one of which had served under Rutilius, the other under Metellus and later under himself, he preferred the troops of Rutilius, though fewer in number, because he deemed them of trustier discipline.

  [3] Domitius Corbulo duabus legionibus et paucissimis auxiliis disciplina correcta Parthos sustinuit.

  [3] By improving discipline, Domitius Corbulo withstood the Parthians with a force of only two legions and a very few auxiliaries.

  [4] Alexander Macedo XL milibus hominum iam inde a Philippo patre disciplinae assuefactis orbem terrarum adgressus innumerabiles hostium copias vicit.

  [4] Alexander of Macedon conquered the world, in the face of innumerable forces of enemies, by means of forty thousand men long accustomed to discipline under his father Philip.

  [5] Cyrus bello adversus Persas quattuordecim milibus armatorum immensas difficultates superavit.

  [5] Cyrus in his war against the Persians overcame incalculable difficulties with a force of only fourteen thousand armed men.

  [6] Epaminondas, dux Thebanorum, quattuor milibus hominum, ex quibus CCCC tantum equites erant, Lacedaemoniorum exercitum viginti quattuor milium peditum, equitum mille sescentorum vicit.

  [6] With four thousand men, of whom only four hundred were cavalry, Epaminondas, the Theban leader, conquered a Spartan army of twenty-four thousand infantry and sixteen hundred c
avalry.

  [7] A quattuordecim milibus Graecorum, qui numerus in auxiliis Cyri adversus Artaxerxen fuit, centum milia barbarorum proelio superata sunt.

  [7] A hundred thousand barbarians were defeated in battle by fourteen thousand Greeks, the number assisting Cyrus against Artaxerxes.

  [8] Eadem Graecorum [proelio] quattuordecim milia amissis ducibus, reditus sui cura uni ex corpore suo Xenophonti Atheniensi demandata, per iniqua et ignota loca incolumia reversa sunt.

  [8] The same fourteen thousand Greeks, having lost their generals in battle, returned unharmed through difficult and unknown places, having committed the management of their retreat to one of their number, Xenophon, the Athenian.

  [9] Xerxes a trecentis Lacedaemoniorum ad Thermopylas vexatus, cum vix eos confecisset, hoc se deceptum aiebat, quod multos quidem homines haberet, viros autem disciplinae tenaces nullos.