07-26-2009, 07:51 AM
Hi Sean ! 
Well, I wouldn't disagree that when it came to the 'call-up' they almost certainly started with the youngest, and worked up, and that only rarely were over 45's ever used...but as can be seen from the Spurius anecdote, on occasion even 50 year olds ( technically 'seniores') might not be exempt. ("The Senate decreed that no exemption should be given to anyone under the age of 51."Livy XLII.34)
hock:
...And sure, the anecdote of Spurius Ligustinus shaming others into accepting the senior 'call-up' is exceptional, but it also demonstrates the fallacy of assuming that the over-30's were at home farming and breeding, for Spurius, despite his constant campaigning and twenty-two years service in the Army, managed to have no less than six sons and two daughters who made it to adulthood ! :wink:
Well, I wouldn't disagree that when it came to the 'call-up' they almost certainly started with the youngest, and worked up, and that only rarely were over 45's ever used...but as can be seen from the Spurius anecdote, on occasion even 50 year olds ( technically 'seniores') might not be exempt. ("The Senate decreed that no exemption should be given to anyone under the age of 51."Livy XLII.34)
hock: ...And sure, the anecdote of Spurius Ligustinus shaming others into accepting the senior 'call-up' is exceptional, but it also demonstrates the fallacy of assuming that the over-30's were at home farming and breeding, for Spurius, despite his constant campaigning and twenty-two years service in the Army, managed to have no less than six sons and two daughters who made it to adulthood ! :wink:
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
