11-07-2015, 11:05 PM
(08-13-2004, 09:37 AM)Nathan Ross Wrote: Two questions about the 'military oath'...
From Webster's 'Imperial Roman Army':
Quote: Before the recruit was officially enrolled... he had to take the oath (sacramentum). The recruit was then officially a legionary serving his emperor and could now receive his viaticum, literally travelling money, to take him to the unit to which he was posted.
Webster then goes on to discuss training. However, this seems to imply that the oath was taken before training commenced, immediately after the first muster. Vegetius, meanwhile, has this to say:
Quote:The recruits having thus been carefully chosen with proper attention to their persons and dispositions, and having been daily exercised for the space of four months at least, the legion is formed by the command and under the auspices of the Emperor... (A)s their names are inserted in the roll of the legions they take the usual oath, called the military oath.
Which clearly means that four months of training elapsed between probatio and sacramentum. So, when exactly was the oath taken - after four months of training, or straight after the levy?
Second question - can anyone suggest what form the oath might have taken? Vegetius gives a general summary of the sacramentum in the late imperial, Christian era, but how about under the republic or principiate? Have any reenactment groups come up with a suitably worded 'military oath'?
Nathan - I've done a bucketload of work on this (I have a book chapter coming out next year on this subject) - drop me a PM and I'll hook you up with it...
