Decimation

[Captian Marcus Cornelius]

was reading about this roman milltay punisment , but was unable to find any examples of it being used

also for those who don't konw Decimation is

"Decimation - Perhaps the most gruesome punishment of all known to the Roman army was that of decimation. It generally was applied to entire cohorts and meant that every tenth man, randomly chosen by a draw of lots, was killed by being clubbed or stoned to death by his own comrades. This form of punishment of the troops was however extremely rare"

source http://www.roman-empire.net/army/army.html#discipline

[Alexander Beats Hannibal]

It was used by Crassus after his army disobeyed his orders against Spartacus. I think it was more or less a punishment used in the earlier history of Rome, though. Of course, I could be wrong.

[SigniferOne]

Good source:

http://www.livius.org/de-dh/decimation/decimation.html

[Gelatinous Cube]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimation

The earliest documented decimation occurred in 471 B.C. during the Roman Republic's early wars against the Volsci and is recorded by Livy (Ab urbe condita, ii.59). The practice was revived by Crassus in 71 B.C. in the Third Servile War against Sparticus. It remained popular during the Roman Empire, and Suetonius records that it was used by Augustus in 17 B.C. (Augustus, 24).

[Pompeius Minus]

Decimation did happen on some occasions, but it was far more common for a commander to threaten units with decimation than to actually carry it out. There are quite a few examples of individual legionaries as well as entire units being treated very mildly after even serious offences, like desertion and cowardice. There are also cases of units refusing to obey or even lynching their commanders, and often getting away with it.

Another interesting fact is that corruption was widespread, with centurions forcing soldiers to pay them money to avoid extra duties (like digging trenches or whatever). This kind of corruption was a major factor in some of the mutinies that occurred.

[Captian Marcus Cornelius]

thanks alot guys
it is a gruesome punishment thought...

[Bovril]

There was an echo of it during the Indian mutiny when rebels were stood in front of cannons, some of which were loaded, some of which weren't. I'm not sure whether this story is apocraphal, however.

[Iaius Statius Laurentius]

Pompeius Magnus and Julius Cæsar decimated their legions in a battle against Spartacus, which is why Julius Cæsar eventually renamed his legion the Tenth Legion.

[Zuwxiv]

I'm not sure if this is right, but I heard it in Latin class:

At some time, a commander decided that decimation would be the penalty for falling asleep on gaurd duty. In a way, it makes sense... it is incredibly important to know if anything is going on around you. I'm not sure if it was ever actually done as a penalty for it, though...

And the word decimation comes from the latin decem, meaning 10. The -ation probably means something too, but I don't know enough vocab.

[Iaius Statius Laurentius]

Decimation is an Anglicized version of the word decemum. The spurious 'i' gives that away. The suffix -tion is common enough in English for most people to readily understand.

[The-Great-Dane]

Pompeius Magnus and Julius Cæsar decimated their legions in a battle against Spartacus, which is why Julius Cæsar eventually renamed his legion the Tenth Legion.

Sounds to me like you have read Conn Iguldens book, about Cæsar.

[Iaius Statius Laurentius]

Actually, I found that information in a text at the university library.