2023-08-14 04:38:45
The barbarian’s cry echoed throughout the Anio River, on the outskirts of the Eternal City. “Let the bravest man Rome has come fight with me and we will both decide which people is superior in war!” It was the fourth century BC and, in the words of Titus Livio, no legionary dared to answer. The tense tranquility was broken by a soldier named Tito Manila. The soldier grabbed a sword and prepared to kill or be killed. “One was a creature of enormous size, resplendent in a cloak of many colors, and in armor painted and gilt; the other was a man of average height, and his weapons, more useful than ornate, gave him a rather ordinary appearance,” the author explains.
The combat did not last more than a breath. Effortlessly, the barbarian unleashed a blow that must have made the wind whistle. But our wiry soldier dodged, knocked his enemy’s shield away, and “did two quick thrusts into his belly and groin.” The Frenchman’s bulk shuddered and fell on the ground. At the time, his companions burst into cheers. Manlius was rewarded with a golden crown, his enemy’s torqués (necklaces) and, ultimately, the knowledge that his victory made the invaders withdraw. Like him, so many soldiers of the Roman legions were recorded in the pages of history thanks to their courage and their awards.
The names of the great soldiers of Rome are countless. AND Federico Romero Diaz —historian, president of Divulgadores de la Historia, co-founder of Día de la Romanidad, co-author of the choral work ‘City. La Roma de la gens Valeria’ and coordinator of the History and Ancient Rome website—he knows an endless number of them. As he reveals to ABC, some are as remarkable as Lucius Sicius Dentatus or Capitolinus. His exploits, in fact, earned them dozens of military awards before falling out of favor. Many more than other characters known today through the network such as Spurius Ligustinus; a well-versed combatant to whom Tito Livio dedicated several paragraphs of his ‘History of Rome since its foundation’ for having obtained six civic crowns, but by no means the most successful of the Roman legions.
The question is forced: who was the most successful soldier in the history of the Roman legions? And the answer, although it stings, is that unveiling this mystery is as difficult a task as moving the rock of Sisyphus to the top. But Romero Díaz does have a crystal clear idea that, currently, more than a millennium and a half after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, there are only two ways of knowing and classifying the deeds of these soldiers: through classical texts (through sometimes exaggerated by the authors) and through the decorations they obtained throughout their lives. Many, still present in the tombs and statues raised to pay homage to them.
honors in rome
According to Romero Díaz, who has given a conference together with the doctor in History and member of the Royal Madrid Academy of Heraldry and Genealogy David Ramirez Jimenez Regarding the awards that the military could receive in Ancient Rome, there were two types of military awards. «The first were material and translated into promotions, financial rewards or certain tax exemptions. Others were honorary and implied social privileges, victory titles, social recognition…”, he affirms to this newspaper. The second group, the lady of the army, are the most popular thanks to their recurring appearance in classical texts and, therefore, allow us to recompose —even partially— the service record of some of the most outstanding Roman legionaries in history. Crowns were one of the decorations we know best.
The most important crown was the graminea in obsidional. «It was awarded to an officer who had freed an entire army from a siege, or great danger. In the most ancient times of the Republic it was delivered at the initiative of the troops. It was made with flowers, grass or wheat collected from the same battlefield. Barely nine cases are known, “says the expert. Among them stand out Publius Decius Mus —whose courage in the first Samnite war was also rewarded with a hundred oxen and a magnificent bull with golden horns— and Sulla. This was attested by the classical writer Pliny: «The dictator Sulla has also recounted in his memoirs that, when he was legate during the Marsic War, he was rewarded with this crown by the army, in Nola; an event that caused it to be commemorated in a painting in his Tusculan villa, which, curiously, later became the property of Cicero ».
Next was the civic crownto. «Made with oak branches, it was given to the legionnaire who saved the life of a comrade in combat. It was very difficult to achieve because it was necessary for the rescued person to recognize it. And that implied a series of legal obligations because the rescuer became a kind of legal guardian of his; a ‘pater familias’ », he reveals. Although it was more than difficult to get one, Lucio Sicio Dentato (who is credited with more than a hundred battles and three hundred casualties in the 5th century BC) obtained a total of 14. «Pliny corroborates that he suffered 45 scars, and all of them on the front of his body. That was important, because having them on his back implied that he had turned around to run away », completes Romero Díaz. Capitolino was not far behind and followed with 6.
In the sea one could also obtain the naval crown o rostrata. «It was given to the first combatant who jumped onto an enemy ship and survived. Few cases are known. One of the most famous is that of Agrippa, Augustus’s right hand. But also Marco Terencio Varrón, a legacy of Pompey who stood out in the campaigns against piracy. She was very curious, she had the shape of small ship prows », complete. The former, who is famous, among many other things, for his naval victory at Actium in 31 BC against Mark Antony and Cleopatra, achieved the coveted naval crown a few years earlier for his victory against Sextus Pompey’s pirate fleet at Nauloco, Sicily in 36 BC
Another of the most curious prizes was the corona mural. “The soldier who climbed the enemy walls first and survived the combat was her defender,” explains the historian. As an example, Romero Díaz recalls a case in which it almost came to blows after the capture of Cartagena, in the year 209 BC. Once the victory was achieved, two candidates presented themselves to obtain this award: Quinto Trebelio, centurion of the fourth legion, and Sexto Digicio, of the navy. The tension to know who would be the winner increased and Scipio, in command, organized a court to resolve the situation. But it was no use. Seeing that there was no solution, and according to Tito Livio, the following solution was proposed: «Scipio stated that he was convinced that […] they had scaled the wall at the same time»
minor prizes
These are just a few examples of the crowns that could be obtained within the Roman legions. But there were many others like the aurea, which was granted to the legionnaire who finished off an enemy in single combat and without retreating. Tito Manlio, the winner of the bridge over the Anio, obtained one of them. However, according to ABC, the co-author of ‘Ab urbe condita. The Rome of the Valeria’ gens, the requirements to obtain it were so complex that some soldiers did not obtain it despite its value. The most famous and unfair case was that of Marco Sergio Catilina. Plinio, who remembers the feats that he undertook in his works, cannot help but be surprised because he did not receive any award:
«In his second military campaign he lost his right hand; he was wounded twenty three times […]was captured twice by Anibal […]he fought four times with only his left hand […] he made himself a right hand of iron and […] with her bound he freed Cremona from its siege […] and took twelve enemy camps in Gaul. […] What civic crowns did Trebia, Ticino or Trasimeno give? What crown did he deserve in Cannae, where the greatest act of courage was to have escaped from there? The others were winners of men, Sergio even defeated fortune.
But the crowns were not the only prizes. Among the most outstanding decorations were also the twisted. “They were necklaces made of noble materials, bronze or iron that were worn around the neck and that, originally, the legionnaires snatched from the Celts defeated in combat,” explains Romero Díaz. Once again, Tito Manlio is the example of his existence, since he took one from the Gaul that he had just defeated, still full of blood, earning him the nickname of Torcuato. That there are an infinity of unknown heroes within the Roman legions is demonstrated by the fact that, in the words of this Spanish expert, “Dionisio de Halicarnaso told us that Sicio Dentato reached eighty-three torqués taken from his adversaries.”
It was also popular vest, «just like the torques, but on a bracelet, and curiously considered not very masculine during the early days of the Republic». His goal: to declare that a warrior had proven his worth. To finish this first large group were the ‘phalerae’. «They were metallic discs made of noble materials. They were placed on the chest with leather straps. The centurions wore it a lot because it was one of the most exposed positions in combat », she completes.
Less popular then, although just as valid, were the plate or vial, el standard and el pure spear. The first was a “cup or flat plate made of a noble metal that was delivered for fighting single combat and winning when in danger.” The second consisted of a “small silver banner”, it was any cavalryman who killed an enemy in a single fight. The last was “a wooden spear without the iron point, awarded to any officer retiring from service or to the first centurion of a legion who saved a wounded comrade or citizen.”
The deadliest legionnaire
In any case, what is clear to Romero Díaz is that Ligustinus is by no means the most successful legionnaire in Rome. “Despite what we can read on the networks, it is very possible that the most awarded soldier in Roman history was Lucio Sicio Dentato, followed closely by Capitolinus,” he points out. The decorations won by Dentato, who received that nickname due to his ferocity, said that he was born with teeth, were collected by Pliny: «He won twenty-six crowns, including fourteen civic ones, eight gold, three murals and one obsidional, 160 bracelets of gold, 18 pure spears and 25 garlands”.
The historian also dedicated a few sentences to Capitolino: «He was the first knight to receive a mural crown, six civics, thirty-seven offerings, he had twenty-three scars, all in front, and he had saved Publius Servilio, master of cavalry, while he himself was wounded in a shoulder and a thigh. Above all, he alone had saved the Capitol and incidentally the State from the Gauls ». Ligustinus, for his part, obtained 6 civic crowns and as many minor awards.
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