08-27-2015, 02:19 PM
On the topic of initiative by Roman officers, tribunes and centurions, I think the answer is that the Roman military system gave subaltern officers tremendous initiative, and this at least was part of the secret for Roman military success. It is notable that the Macedonian military system produced ferocious officer who were able to execute offices, but not generate them (John Ma pointed this out in an excellent REMA article on Alexander the Great's leadership). Roman officers, meanwhile, again and again take action on their own initiative: the anonymous military tribune at Cynoscephalae is perhaps here the exemplar.
I am in fact hoping to public soon on the topic, and I recently linked a "working paper" on this forum (Bryan has kindly made some comments; please pardon a number of typographic infelicities in the draft). The main gist of the paper is that because tribunes, and also centurions, were elected, the former in the comitia, and the latter during the levy itself. Whether or not the people or soldiers made good choices, the very act of election empowered those subaltern officers to make independent decisions when necessary, because their authority came from a source outside from the patronage of the general himself.
https://www.academia.edu/14864179/suffra...n_Republic
I am in fact hoping to public soon on the topic, and I recently linked a "working paper" on this forum (Bryan has kindly made some comments; please pardon a number of typographic infelicities in the draft). The main gist of the paper is that because tribunes, and also centurions, were elected, the former in the comitia, and the latter during the levy itself. Whether or not the people or soldiers made good choices, the very act of election empowered those subaltern officers to make independent decisions when necessary, because their authority came from a source outside from the patronage of the general himself.
https://www.academia.edu/14864179/suffra...n_Republic
