A very remarkable part of the Roman military system
consisted in the use of fortified camps. Every time the army halted, if only
for a single night, the legionaries intrenched themselves within a square
inclosure. It was protected by a ditch, an earthen mound, and a palisade of
stakes. This camp formed a little city with its streets, its four gates, a
forum, and the headquarters of the general. Behind the walls of such a fortress
an army was always at liberty to accept or decline a battle. As a proverb said,
the Romans often conquered by "sitting still."
DISCIPLINE: REWARDS AND HONORS
Roman soldiers lived under the strictest discipline. To
their general they owed absolute, unquestioning obedience. He could condemn
them to death without trial. The sentinel who slept on his watch, the legionary
who disobeyed an order or threw away his arms on the field of battle, might be
scourged with rods and then beheaded. The men were encouraged to deeds of valor
by various marks of distinction, which the general presented to them in the
presence of the entire army. The highest reward was the civic crown of oak
leaves, granted to one who had saved the life of a fellow-soldier on the battle
field.
