02-26-2005, 07:10 AM
<em>Cohors, cohortis</em> comes from an Indo-European root <em>*gher-</em> meaning "to bind" or "enclose". This particular form means in the primary sense an enclosure (Incidentally this same root gives us English "yard"). It also means more generally a throng of people, from which it comes to mean the attendants of a provincial governor - e.g. Catullus uses it in this sense rather than a strictly military one.<br>
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But as for the origin of the military sense, we can look in two ways: a <em>cohors</em> could just be a group bound together. But we would also do well to look to Livy's account of the Samnite military practice (Liv. 10.38):<br>
Quote:</em></strong><hr>The whole of the army was summoned to Aquilonia, and 40,000 men, the full strength of Samnium, were concentrated there. A space, about 200 feet square, almost in the centre of their camp, was boarded off and covered all over with linen cloth. In this enclosure a sacrificial service was conducted, the words being read from an old linen book by an aged priest, Ovius Paccius, who announced that he was taking that form of service from the old ritual of the Samnite religion. It was the form which their ancestors used when they formed their secret design of wresting Capua from the Etruscans. When the sacrifice was completed the captain-general sent a messenger to summon all those who were of noble birth or who were distinguished for their military achievements. They were admitted into the enclosure one by one. As each was admitted he was led up to the altar, more like a victim than like one who was taking part in the service, and he was bound on oath not to divulge what he saw and heard in that place. Then they compelled him to take an oath couched in the most terrible language, imprecating a curse on himself, his family, and his race if he did not go into battle where the commanders should lead him or if he either himself fled from battle or did not at once slay any one whom he saw fleeing. At first there were some who refused to take this oath; they were massacred beside the altar, and their dead bodies lying amongst the scattered remains of the victims were a plain hint to the rest not to refuse. After the foremost men among the Samnites had been bound by this dread formula, ten were especially named by the captain-general and told each to choose a comrade-in-arms, and these again to choose others until they had made up the number of 16,000.<hr><br>
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If you don't want to bother reading that, basically they enclosed a certain area with rope and mustered the army inside it. The Samnites were related linguistically and culturally to the Romans, so this practice of mustering may be an old Italic one. Livy does call it an "old ritural", and although he's not always the most reliable authority, this would seem an unusual tale to invent from whole cloth, as it were.<br>
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As for "cohesion" and the like: they are etymologically related to <em>cohors</em> but not descendants of it. <p></p><i></i>
<br>
But as for the origin of the military sense, we can look in two ways: a <em>cohors</em> could just be a group bound together. But we would also do well to look to Livy's account of the Samnite military practice (Liv. 10.38):<br>
Quote:</em></strong><hr>The whole of the army was summoned to Aquilonia, and 40,000 men, the full strength of Samnium, were concentrated there. A space, about 200 feet square, almost in the centre of their camp, was boarded off and covered all over with linen cloth. In this enclosure a sacrificial service was conducted, the words being read from an old linen book by an aged priest, Ovius Paccius, who announced that he was taking that form of service from the old ritual of the Samnite religion. It was the form which their ancestors used when they formed their secret design of wresting Capua from the Etruscans. When the sacrifice was completed the captain-general sent a messenger to summon all those who were of noble birth or who were distinguished for their military achievements. They were admitted into the enclosure one by one. As each was admitted he was led up to the altar, more like a victim than like one who was taking part in the service, and he was bound on oath not to divulge what he saw and heard in that place. Then they compelled him to take an oath couched in the most terrible language, imprecating a curse on himself, his family, and his race if he did not go into battle where the commanders should lead him or if he either himself fled from battle or did not at once slay any one whom he saw fleeing. At first there were some who refused to take this oath; they were massacred beside the altar, and their dead bodies lying amongst the scattered remains of the victims were a plain hint to the rest not to refuse. After the foremost men among the Samnites had been bound by this dread formula, ten were especially named by the captain-general and told each to choose a comrade-in-arms, and these again to choose others until they had made up the number of 16,000.<hr><br>
<br>
If you don't want to bother reading that, basically they enclosed a certain area with rope and mustered the army inside it. The Samnites were related linguistically and culturally to the Romans, so this practice of mustering may be an old Italic one. Livy does call it an "old ritural", and although he's not always the most reliable authority, this would seem an unusual tale to invent from whole cloth, as it were.<br>
<br>
As for "cohesion" and the like: they are etymologically related to <em>cohors</em> but not descendants of it. <p></p><i></i>
Dan Diffendale
Ph.D. candidate, University of Michigan
Ph.D. candidate, University of Michigan
