02-25-2015, 01:36 PM
Hmm.... interesting topic and I have to say that I do not have many quotes on that matter for that period. There is a certain gap there that has formed in my research of Greek sources as the bulk of relevant information stops in the 1st century AD and starts again in the mid 6th.
This is what I got :
After his victory against the Alamanni at the battle of Argentoratum (Strasburg), emperor Julian did not punish the men of a certain cavalry ile (squadron) that had fled according to the law but instead, he dressed them in women’s clothes and paraded them through the rest of the army, deeming such punishment worse than death for men. Zosimus, Historia nova, B.3, ch.3, s.5, l.4
When, during emperor Julian’s campaign against the Persians, a scouting contingent fled and lost its military standard to the enemy, the emperor removed the girdle of its commander for putting his safety before Roman honor, and the rest of the men who fled with him he held in contempt. Zosimus, Historia nova, B.3, ch.19, s.2, l.8
After his defeat by the Germans, emperor Valentinian I learned after meticulous inquiries that the Batavian legion was the first to flee and thus responsible for the general flight. Ordering the whole army to assemble in arms in order to hear things of common interest to all, he spoke of the shame of those who commenced the flight and commanded the Batavians to lay down their arms, condemning them to be sold as slaves. At that moment, the Batavians all fell to the ground and begged him to allow them to free the army of the dishonor they had brought upon it, promising to prove worthy of the Roman name. When he accepted their promises, they immediately leapt up, took up their arms, marched out of the camp and renewed the fight, showing in this war such willingness, that from an immense number of enemies, only a few were able to escape back to their homelands Zosimus, Historia nova, B.4, ch.9, s.3, l.2
This is what I got :
After his victory against the Alamanni at the battle of Argentoratum (Strasburg), emperor Julian did not punish the men of a certain cavalry ile (squadron) that had fled according to the law but instead, he dressed them in women’s clothes and paraded them through the rest of the army, deeming such punishment worse than death for men. Zosimus, Historia nova, B.3, ch.3, s.5, l.4
When, during emperor Julian’s campaign against the Persians, a scouting contingent fled and lost its military standard to the enemy, the emperor removed the girdle of its commander for putting his safety before Roman honor, and the rest of the men who fled with him he held in contempt. Zosimus, Historia nova, B.3, ch.19, s.2, l.8
After his defeat by the Germans, emperor Valentinian I learned after meticulous inquiries that the Batavian legion was the first to flee and thus responsible for the general flight. Ordering the whole army to assemble in arms in order to hear things of common interest to all, he spoke of the shame of those who commenced the flight and commanded the Batavians to lay down their arms, condemning them to be sold as slaves. At that moment, the Batavians all fell to the ground and begged him to allow them to free the army of the dishonor they had brought upon it, promising to prove worthy of the Roman name. When he accepted their promises, they immediately leapt up, took up their arms, marched out of the camp and renewed the fight, showing in this war such willingness, that from an immense number of enemies, only a few were able to escape back to their homelands Zosimus, Historia nova, B.4, ch.9, s.3, l.2
