VIRTUS ET DISCIPLINA: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF THE ROMAN MARTIAL VALUES OF COURAGE AND DISCIPLINE _______________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________________________ By JUSTIN RYAN JAMES Dr. Dennis Trout, Dissertation Supervisor May 2019 Copyright by Justin R. James 2019 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled VIRTUS ET DISCIPLINA: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF THE ROMAN MARTIAL VALUES OF COURAGE AND DISCIPLINE Presented by Justin Ryan James, a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and hereby certify, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. _______________________________________________________ Professor Dennis Trout _______________________________________________________ Professor Anatole Mori _______________________________________________________ Professor Raymond Marks _______________________________________________________ Professor Marcello Mogetta ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Profs. Jordan B. Peterson, Stephen Hicks, and Bret Weinstein for their generous publishing of free online lectures, which ultimately changed and dramatically improved my thesis in a relatively short time, and at no cost. I thank philosopher Stefan Molyneux for his philosophical principles of peaceful parenting and universally preferable behavior, which in their own way also improved my thesis. I thank Michael Howlett for his lengthy discussions of Roman military topics, and Talia Ting Gong for her conversations as well, on Chinese history and mythology. Lastly, I thank Prof. Dennis Trout for generously and carefully proofreading the manuscript. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ ii Abstract ...........................................................................................................................v I. Roman Martial Values: An Interdisciplinary Approach .............................................1 1. Key Terms: Culture, Ideology, Hierarchy, and Military Doctrine .........................3 2. Idealized Characteristics of Roman Warfare ....................................................... 16 3. Primary Sources ................................................................................................. 18 4. Literature Review............................................................................................... 24 5. Methodologies ................................................................................................... 31 6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 43 II. Virtus .................................................................................................................... 45 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 45 2. First Principles ................................................................................................... 47 3. Virtus in Action .................................................................................................. 61 A. Commanders ..................................................................................................... 61 B. Junior Officers................................................................................................... 72 C. Enlisted Ranks................................................................................................... 86 4. Conclusion: Virtus and Manliness ...................................................................... 96 III. Disciplina .......................................................................................................... 104 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 104 2. First Principles ................................................................................................. 109 iii 3. Mechanics of Disciplina ................................................................................... 121 4. Origins of Disciplina: Experience and Wisdom ................................................ 131 5. The Cycle of Disciplina: Great-Father, Child-Hero .......................................... 139 6. Comparanda ..................................................................................................... 154 7. Conclusion: Disciplina and Conscientiousness ................................................. 164 IV. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 170 Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 175 Vita ............................................................................................................................. 194 iv VIRTUS ET DISCIPLINA: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF THE ROMAN MARTIAL VALUES OF COURAGE AND DISCIPLINE Justin James Dr. Dennis Trout, Dissertation Supervisor ABSTRACT This thesis discusses Roman martial values, principally virtus and disciplina, and their literary characterization. This is an interdisciplinary study that employs data and methodologies from anthropology, evolutionary biology, moral philosophy, military history, and analytical psychology to supplement scholarship from classical studies. My aim is to analyze and interpret, as deeply and profoundly as possible, the values that the Romans regarded as essential to their military success. I argue that Greek and Roman authors depict nuanced but relatively consistent representations of Roman martial values, which both derive from actual Roman military practice and project an important component of Roman cultural identity. Virtus was a virtue that primarily denoted martial courage, an ethical quality, while disciplina functioned as a means to virtus, but it was not necessarily a virtue itself. The premises of my argument are as follows: 1) military doctrine reflects culture, which manifests in the projection of Roman values through military narratives; 2) there is significant agreement among classical authors discussing Roman warfare in the abstract; 3) historiography distorts to some extent but is not deliberately mendacious, which derives from the relatively meritocratic hierarchies cultivated by the Roman army; 4) an appreciation of archetypal imagery has utility in interpreting Roman v values, given that the primary evidence for these qualities derive from stories imbued with moral instruction. vi I. Roman Martial Values: An Interdisciplinary Approach The subjects of this thesis are Roman military values and their literary characterisation. War is a frequent and important theme in classical literature, and the Romans themselves believed that they surpassed all others in its practice. Questions may be raised about both the reality and the representation of Roman warfare: What martial values do classical authors convey that, in their view, contributed to Roman military success? To what degree are these characteristics socially constructed and, by extension, the hierarchies that they generated? How rational and ethical are Roman martial values, that is in comparison with contemporary cultures and as universal principles? Lastly, how much do classical authors distort Roman martial values, or even employ them for political or social commentary? I argue that Greek and Roman authors depict nuanced but relatively consistent representations of Roman martial values, which both derive from actual Roman military practice and project an important component of Roman cultural identity. The first premise is that military doctrine reflects culture, regardless of a state’s proclivity toward war-making. Roman military doctrine, in accord with the significance of war in Roman society, is both preserved and formulated by the literary tradition and projects important Roman values. The second premise is that idealized characteristics of Roman warfare, which include but are not limited to those identified in this thesis, reveal the agreement of literary discourse and the capacity for classical authors to discuss Roman warfare in the abstract.1 While the depictions and terms for Roman martial values are relatively 1 Andrew M. Riggsby, Caesar in Gaul and Rome; War in Words (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006), 3. Intersubjectivity is jargon for the agreement that speakers of a common language have on a subjective definition(s) or meaning(s) for something in a discourse. Individuals, however, will have slightly different 1 consistent, individual authors do provide nuanced representations that are influenced by historical context but, importantly, grounded in reality. The third premise is that the reality of Roman warfare can elucidate the literary representation of Roman warfare, since the values themselves, especially virtus, manifest a hierarchy predicated on competence. Classical military narratives are distortions of reality to a degree but they are not false, which would only be the case if they included details that they knew to be untrue, whether literally or metaphorically. It is still possible to distinguish