The Roman line waited for the arrow storm to spend itself. A bow could keep its distance, but a quiver was finite. Once the riders had emptied theirs, Marcus Licinius Crassus expected a different battle: withdrawal, confusion or the close combat in which heavily armed infantry could finally impose its strength. Then men rode back … Read more
Publius Decius Mus did not begin his last charge by lowering a spear. He first covered his head, pressed a toga-wrapped hand against his chin and stood upon a spear while a pontiff supplied the words. Only after the formula had been spoken and his colleague had been notified did the consul tighten his clothing, … Read more
Horatius Cocles stood at the Sublician Bridge while Romans hacked and burned the crossing behind him. The enemy could reach the city if the timber remained intact. Rome’s defence therefore depended on destroying its own route across the Tiber. When the bridge crashed down, Horatius prayed to Father Tiber and jumped fully armed into the … Read more
A boat at Alexandria filled with men as enemy troops surged toward a bridge. Julius Caesar chose the water. He swam toward another ship roughly two hundred paces away, but he did not enter the sea empty-handed. Suetonius says Caesar held papers above the surface with his left hand. He dragged his commander’s cloak behind … Read more
Before the Roman fleet attacked near Drepana, sacred chickens were offered grain. They would not eat. The consul Publius Claudius Pulcher had received a bad omen at the moment he wanted speed. Later Roman writers gave him a line designed never to be forgotten. If the birds would not eat, he said, let them drink—and … Read more
The Gauls climbed toward Rome’s Capitoline in darkness. They found a route so steep that the defenders had left it unguarded. Livy says the first man reached the summit without waking a sentry or even disturbing the dogs. Then Juno’s geese began to call and beat their wings. Hunger had not persuaded the besieged Romans … Read more
Pompey wanted four elephants to pull his triumphal chariot into Rome. He had brought the animals from Africa, and their size made the claim unmistakable: the young commander was returning with victory, kings and the living scale of another continent behind him. The city answered with masonry. The gate was too narrow. Pompey abandoned the … Read more
Before darkness settled over a Roman camp, a small wooden tablet had to complete a journey. It began with the tribunes and moved through a chain of maniples. At each handover, witnesses marked that the message had passed. The tablet eventually came back to the officers who had issued it. If every tablet returned before … Read more
Titus Pullo shouted his challenge where the whole camp could hear it. “Why hesitate, Vorenus?” Caesar has him ask. If Lucius Vorenus wanted to prove his courage, the day had arrived. Pullo then stepped beyond the fortifications and charged the densest part of the Nervian line. The two centurions were rivals for promotion. Each year, … Read more
The tribune did not deliver the killing blow. According to Polybius, he touched the condemned soldier with a cudgel. The rest of the camp then closed in with clubs and stones. A small official gesture transferred a judicial decision into collective violence. This punishment, usually called the fustuarium, appears in Book 6 of Polybius’s Histories … Read more
