Legionnaires in one-on-one combat

[Jeroen Pelgrom]

This "Germanic-who-wasn´t-afraid-of-death" theory is, by my opinion, more myth then reality. Although you would have had some soldiers who weren´t afraid of dying, i doubt if this goes for the whole army. Saying that you aren´t afraid of dying is also a means of preparing yourself for battle. All people are afraid of dying, but if you know that you had a good training, weapons etc., you´ll feel more confident.<br>
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If you put a Legionnaire vs a half naked German/ Celt (one-on-one), I really doubt if that German or Celt stood a chance.<br>
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Also, history is told by the victors and i suspect that the Romans themselves were glorifying their enemies so that Roman victories sounded a whole lot better. Saying that you won a battle vs a brave enemy who was fighting really hard etc. sounds a whole lot better then winning battle vs an enemy who runs away when you come close to them.<br>
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A lot of these stories where also invented in the 19th century to picture the idea of the "noble savage", i.o.w. to glorify one´s past. Again, you would have had some people who were more zealous then others. But this doesn´t mean that the entire army (be it Romans or Germans/ Celts/ Parthians etc.) were "Death-or-Glory" guys. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=pelgr003>pelgr003</A> at: 8/5/03 10:19 am<br></i>