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Military Defeats, Casualties of War and the Success of Rome

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Military Defeats, Casualties of War and the Success of Rome MILITARY DEFEATS, CASUALTIES OF WAR AND THE SUCCESS OF ROME Brian David Turner A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2010 Approved By: Advisor: Prof. R. J. A. Talbert Prof. F. Naiden Prof. D. M. Reid Prof. J. Rives Prof. W. Riess Prof. M. T. Boatwright © 2010 Brian David Turner ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT BRIAN DAVID TURNER: Military Defeats, Casualties of War and the Success of Rome (Under the direction of Richard J. A. Talbert) This dissertation examines how ancient Romans dealt with the innumerable military losses that the expansion and maintenance of their empire demanded. It considers the prose writers from Polybius (c. 150 B.C.E.) through Dio Cassius (c. 230 C.E.), as well as many items from the material record, including triumphal arches, the columns of Trajan and Marcus, and other epigraphic and material evidence from Rome and throughout the empire. By analyzing just how much (or how little) the Romans focused on their military defeats and casualties of war in their cultural record, I argue that the various and specific ways that the Romans dealt with these losses form a necessary part of any attempt to explain the military success of Rome. The discussion is organized into five chapters. The first chapter describes the treatment and burial of the war dead. Chapter two considers the effect war losses had on the morale of Roman soldiers and generals. The third chapter compares the response at Rome to news of a defeat in both the republican and imperial periods. Chapter four examines the memory and commemoration of Roman war losses. Finally, the fifth chapter analyzes the inclusion of casualty figures in the sources, and pays particular attention to the Roman idea of winning a bloodless victory. iii Underpinning the analysis is the explanatory model developed by military historian John Lynn in his book, Battle: A History of Combat and Culture (2003). The model argues that the discourse of war, which encompasses all the cultural depictions of war (including monuments, texts, and ideologies), necessarily influences the reality of battle. While this discourse can never perfectly match that reality, it is, nevertheless, constantly evolving to mirror better how war was actually fought. This model helps explain why the Romans responded to military losses the way that they did, and why these responses were so fundamental to the success of Rome. iv For Kathryn v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish I could better express how thankful I am to so many people for all their help with this long endeavor. My advisor Richard Talbert could not have been more supportive. I am, and will continue to be, ever grateful for his advice and infectious passion for history. The rest of my committee, Tolly Boatwright, Fred Naiden, Don Reid, James Rives, and Werner Riess, all offered helpful criticism and support for which I am thankful. Bernard Kavanagh, my M.A. advisor at Queen's University, introduced me to Roman history, and continues to be a valued source of advice and friendship. A number of other professors, in one way or another - often without knowing - helped me complete this dissertation and therefore deserve my thanks. Wayne Lee and Joseph Glatthaar at UNC and Alex Roland at Duke University introduced me to military history. Peter Smith (UNC) and Michael Cummings (Queen's) improved my Greek beyond measure. Ross Kilpatrick and Caroline Falkner (both of Queen's) fostered my love of the ancient world. The University of North Carolina Graduate School and Department of History, the Weiss Urban Livability Fellowship, the Mowry Dissertation Fellowship, the subvention fund of the Association of Ancient Historians, and the Ancient World Mapping Center, all provided funds or employment which allowed me to focus on the completion of this degree. I am ever thankful of the so many unknown donors who have helped fund my education. Likewise, though I know very few of them personally, the vi staff of Davis Library, and indeed the library itself, have my greatest thanks. I can only hope – though I fear in vain – that I will ever again have such easy access to such a breadth of resources. The faculty and graduate students in both the departments of History and Classics at both UNC and Queen's, especially my fellow graduate student cohort of so-called ancients, have improved this experience beyond measure. I am lucky to be part of such an institution. All of my friends and family (in both Canada and the United States) deserve my thanks. I tell my nieces and nephews that I'm in grade twenty-four, a fact that always results in wide-eyes and questions like "what did you do in gym today?" Despite the long process, the support of my entire family has never wavered. My parents, Marg and Dave, are a constant source of encouragement. Neither of them have ever questioned my desire to study ancient history and I can’t thank them enough for all their love and support. Finally, the dedication of this work to my wife Kathryn is not nearly enough thanks for all the love, and inspiration she provides. I could not ask for more. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... xii Introduction .........................................................................................................................1 The Problem ..............................................................................................................4 Historiography ..........................................................................................................5 Sources, Method and Limitations ...........................................................................10 Organization ............................................................................................................13 Chapter 1: The War Dead .................................................................................................15 1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................15 1.2 The Fate of the Dead during Battle ...................................................................17 1.2.1 A Wall of Corpses ................................................................................17 1.2.2 Heaps of Men and Weapons ................................................................24 1.3 Burial .................................................................................................................30 1.3.1 Expectations of Burial ..........................................................................31 1.3.2 The Collection of the War Dead ..........................................................41 1.3.3 The Identification of the War Dead .....................................................46 1.3.4 The Repatriation of the War Dead .......................................................52 1.3.5 The Burial of the War Dead .................................................................55 1.4 Ceremonies for the War Dead ...........................................................................60 1.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................61 viii Chapter 2: Wounded Bodies and Minds: The Survivors of Battle ...................................63 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................63 2.2 The Wounded ....................................................................................................64 2.2.1 The Severity of Wounds and the Likelihood of Survival ....................65 2.2.2 Recovery of the Wounded from the Battlefield ...................................71 2.2.3 Abandonment of the Wounded ............................................................76 2.2.4 Treatment .............................................................................................79 2.3 The Traumatized ...............................................................................................84 2.3.1 Soldiers’ Morale ...................................................................................85 2.3.2 Generals’ Morale .................................................................................90 2.3.3 Treating the Demoralized: Restoring Morale ......................................96 2.4 Conclusion ......................................................................................................103 Chapter 3: The Immediate Aftermath of Defeat in the City of Rome ............................106 3.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................106 3.2 The Republican Period ....................................................................................107 3.2.1 Discovering the Costs of Empire .......................................................108 3.2.2 Terror ac Tumultus: The Initial Reaction to Defeat ..........................114 3.2.3 Declaring a Tumultus .........................................................................121 3.2.4 The Civil Response ............................................................................123 3.2.5 The Military Response .......................................................................127 3.2.6 The Religious Response .....................................................................130
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