02-10-2008, 08:04 AM
Virtus (courage, valor, bravery, gallantry, fortitude) also went hand in hand with disciplina (education and training, self-control and determination, knowledge in a field of study, and an orderly way of life) IIRC.
The accounts of soldiers lacking both virtus and disciplina may well be true off the battlefield, but we have many accounts of them displaying virtus on the battlefield (one centurion may defile a noblewoman, but another will defend a camp with so many arrows sticking out of him he looked like a porcupine). From what I've gathered so far, it's when the men are idle that any semblance of disciplina goes out the window. The theory that Hadrian ordered the Wall built purely to keep the men occupied might have been to avoid them doing those things Alexander pointed out.
The accounts of soldiers lacking both virtus and disciplina may well be true off the battlefield, but we have many accounts of them displaying virtus on the battlefield (one centurion may defile a noblewoman, but another will defend a camp with so many arrows sticking out of him he looked like a porcupine). From what I've gathered so far, it's when the men are idle that any semblance of disciplina goes out the window. The theory that Hadrian ordered the Wall built purely to keep the men occupied might have been to avoid them doing those things Alexander pointed out.
TARBICvS/Jim Bowers
A A A DESEDO DESEDO!
A A A DESEDO DESEDO!
