04-27-2013, 11:37 PM
At the risk of becoming boring ...
Duncan's Proposal: They did not need to fight in battle to receive such decorations.
Evidence: Claudius' British expedition, when the Praetorians arrived with the emperor after all the fighting was done, yet some were decorated.
Nathan's Proposal: They needed to fight in battle to receive such decorations.
Evidence: Other soldiers had to fight to get their decorations, didn't they?
Two proposals. You pays your money and you takes your choice. ;-)
Quote:you seem eager, Duncan, to dismiss the inscriptions I cited earlier, which appear at least plausibly to connect praetorian soldiers with the Dacian wars of Domitian and Trajan. Is this not a case of circular reasoning? After all, dona awarded to praetorians cannot possibly have been won in battle, since clearly praetorians did not fight in battle, as we have no evidence of their doing so... ;-)Fact: We know that individual Praetorians received military decorations from emperors whom they had accompanied.
Duncan's Proposal: They did not need to fight in battle to receive such decorations.
Evidence: Claudius' British expedition, when the Praetorians arrived with the emperor after all the fighting was done, yet some were decorated.
Nathan's Proposal: They needed to fight in battle to receive such decorations.
Evidence: Other soldiers had to fight to get their decorations, didn't they?
Two proposals. You pays your money and you takes your choice. ;-)
