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Transcript
0:00 Welcome to toldinstone.
0:02 Check out my two new channels, Scenic Routes to the Past and Toldinstone Footnotes.
0:09 This video is sponsored by Wondrium.
0:11 Beneath an orchard in southern Wales, not far from the legionary fortress at Caerleon,
0:18 a Roman tomb was discovered.
0:21 Among the roots and ruins were charred bones, broken urns, a coin from the reign of Trajan,
0:27 and eight inscriptions set up by the families that had built and shared the tomb.
0:33 One of these, incised on a rough limestone slab, commemorated Julius Valens, a veteran
0:40 of Legio II Augusta who had died at the age of 100.
0:45 Although there is no way of knowing whether Julius Valens was actually a centenarian,
0:50 there is no reason to doubt that, like Tiberius Julius Xanthus – a naval officer who reached
0:56 the age of 90 – or Lucius Tonneius Martialis, a legionary scribe who died at 93, he had
1:03 lived for decades after his retirement from the Roman military.
1:08 The professional Roman army of the imperial era demanded lengthy periods of service from
1:13 recruits.
1:14 By the second century AD, most legionaries, auxiliaries, and sailors served between 23
1:21 and 28 years.
1:23 Some men – like the standard-bearer who died, apparently still on active duty, at
1:29 the age of 72 – remained in the ranks considerably longer.
1:33 These years of service were dangerous.
1:36 Even during the comparatively peaceful early imperial era, death in battle was always a
1:41 possibility.
1:43 Although disasters on the scale of the Teutoburg Forest – where three legions were lost – or
1:48 the mauling of Legio XII Fulminata during the Jewish War were rare, any skirmish could
1:54 be fatal: a tombstone found near Hadrian’s Wall commemorates a centurion and his son,
2:00 killed by raiders who had infiltrated their fort.
2:04 The hazards of campaigning were not confined to battle.
2:08 A strength report for a cohort stationed in the Balkans during the reign of Trajan, for
2:13 example, records losses from bandit ambushes and drownings at river crossings.
2:19 Even the weather could be deadly.
2:21 During the reign of Nero, when a Roman army was forced to winter in the frigid Armenian
2:26 highlands, some soldiers died of hypothermia, and many more lost limbs to frostbite.
2:32 A few years later, another army, camped just outside Rome at the height of an Italian summer,
2:38 was laid low by heat exhaustion and fever.
2:41 Before we continue enumerating the many hazards of a Roman soldier’s life, I’d like to
2:48 talk briefly about this video’s sponsor.
2:51 Wondrium, formerly known as the Great Courses Plus, is a subscription video service.
2:58 In addition to the Great Courses – a series of lectures by professors and professionals
3:03 on hundreds of topics – Wondrium gives you access to a huge range of well-researched
3:08 and engaging educational content, from tutorials to documentaries.
3:13 I’ve been a fan of the Great Courses for years, and Wondrium adds new courses each
3:19 month, including some on topics that your professors almost certainly never mentioned.
3:24 Recently, for example, I’ve been enjoying a fantastic course on Greek and Roman technology.
3:31 Among many other things, I learned how the Romans used human-powered treadwheel cranes
3:36 to lift enormous blocks.
3:39 Wondrium makes a great gift, whether for yourself or for someone you care about.
3:44 So visit wondrium.com slash toldinstone or click on the link in the description below
3:50 to sign up for a free trial, and start learning today.
3:54 Returning to the hazards of life in the Roman army.
3:59 Discipline was brutal.
4:01 Minor infractions were punished with beatings.
4:05 For a more serious offense, a soldier might have his hands hacked off or his legs broken.
4:10 The death penalty was decreed for anyone who slept through their watch or deserted in battle.
4:16 The most infamous of all military punishments was decimation, the execution of every tenth
4:22 man in a unit deemed guilty of cowardice.
4:26 Though rare, it was far from unheard-of: in one notorious instance, Octavian – the future
4:32 Augustus – decimated a cohort that fled from a band of Illyrian rebels, and had two
4:38 of its centurions executed for good measure.
4:41 The greatest threat to a Roman soldier’s survival, however, was disease.
4:47 Despite considerable investment in medical personnel and infrastructure – medics followed
4:52 the troops to battle, and many camps were equipped with hospitals – the absence of
4:57 anything resembling germ theory left Roman soldiers vulnerable to a wide range of maladies.
5:04 A probably typical strength report from an auxiliary cohort stationed along Hadrian’s
5:09 Wall lists more than 10% of the men there as unfit for duty on account of wounds, illness,
5:16 or inflammation of the eyes.
5:18 On the other side of the empire, an Egyptian legionary’s letters to his father describe
5:23 how – in addition to being injured while policing a riot at Alexandria – he had been
5:28 laid low by a nasty case of food poisoning from bad fish.
5:33 If a soldier survived to the end of his enlistment, he was formally discharged.
5:39 Every other year, on January 7, men whose terms had expired were mustered out and granted
5:44 the rewards of their service to the state.
5:46 If they did not already possess it, auxiliaries received Roman citizenship.
5:52 Legionaries were given a massive bonus – equivalent to more than a decade of pay – either in
5:57 cash or in land.
6:00 What were the odds of a Roman soldier surviving to enjoy his retirement benefits?
6:05 We have, of course, no way of calculating a precise average for any given region or
6:11 period.
6:12 But thanks to the thousands of tombstones set up for soldiers and veterans across the
6:17 empire, we can at least paint an impressionistic picture.
6:21 To gain some sense of the evidence, I downloaded the first volume of Inscriptiones Latinae
6:27 Selectae, a century-old collection of about 10,000 Latin inscriptions.
6:32 Turning to the section on legionaries, I read through a hundred or so epitaphs.
6:38 Most of the men in this meager sample set had joined the legions in their late teens
6:42 or early twenties.
6:44 And many of them had died in their 30s and 40s, often while still serving in the ranks.
6:50 A survey of the tombstones belonging to soldiers of Legio III Augusta, stationed in North Africa,
6:56 gives an average age at death of about 47.
7:00 Since most legionaries served about 25 years, and since here – as throughout the empire
7:05 – the average age of enlistment was around 20, most men were thus approaching their life
7:10 expectancy by the time they were discharged.
7:13 In the demographic regime of the ancient Mediterranean, we would expect roughly 78% of men who enlisted
7:20 in the legions at age 20 to still be alive at age 35.
7:25 About 69% would be expected to reach 40, and 60% would attain the age of 45, roughly when
7:32 most would be discharged.
7:35 The actual survival rate would have been lower than this, thanks to violent death, disease,
7:40 and early discharge.
7:41 In the light of these facts, it would be reasonable to estimate that about half of the soldiers
7:47 who enlisted in the imperial Roman army survived to retirement.
7:54 If you're interested in learning more about the lives of Roman soldiers, click the link
7:59 in the upper right corner to watch the new video on my travel channel.
8:01 You can follow this link to the Toldinstone Footnotes page, where you'll find additional
8:07 content, including my podcast.
8:10 Please consider supporting toldinstone on Patreon.
8:14 You might also enjoy my book, Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants.
8:20 Thanks for watching.

Transcript
0:00	Welcome to toldinstone.
0:02	Check out my two new channels, Scenic Routes to the Past and Toldinstone Footnotes.
0:09	This video is sponsored by Wondrium.
0:11	Beneath an orchard in southern Wales, not far from the legionary fortress at Caerleon,
0:18	a Roman tomb was discovered.
0:21	Among the roots and ruins were charred bones, broken urns, a coin from the reign of Trajan,
0:27	and eight inscriptions set up by the families that had built and shared the tomb.
0:33	One of these, incised on a rough limestone slab, commemorated Julius Valens, a veteran
0:40	of Legio II Augusta who had died at the age of 100.
0:45	Although there is no way of knowing whether Julius Valens was actually a centenarian,
0:50	there is no reason to doubt that, like Tiberius Julius Xanthus – a naval officer who reached
0:56	the age of 90 – or Lucius Tonneius Martialis, a legionary scribe who died at 93, he had
1:03	lived for decades after his retirement from the Roman military.
1:08	The professional Roman army of the imperial era demanded lengthy periods of service from
1:13	recruits.
1:14	By the second century AD, most legionaries, auxiliaries, and sailors served between 23
1:21	and 28 years.
1:23	Some men – like the standard-bearer who died, apparently still on active duty, at
1:29	the age of 72 – remained in the ranks considerably longer.
1:33	These years of service were dangerous.
1:36	Even during the comparatively peaceful early imperial era, death in battle was always a
1:41	possibility.
1:43	Although disasters on the scale of the Teutoburg Forest – where three legions were lost – or
1:48	the mauling of Legio XII Fulminata during the Jewish War were rare, any skirmish could
1:54	be fatal: a tombstone found near Hadrian’s Wall commemorates a centurion and his son,
2:00	killed by raiders who had infiltrated their fort.
2:04	The hazards of campaigning were not confined to battle.
2:08	A strength report for a cohort stationed in the Balkans during the reign of Trajan, for
2:13	example, records losses from bandit ambushes and drownings at river crossings.
2:19	Even the weather could be deadly.
2:21	During the reign of Nero, when a Roman army was forced to winter in the frigid Armenian
2:26	highlands, some soldiers died of hypothermia, and many more lost limbs to frostbite.
2:32	A few years later, another army, camped just outside Rome at the height of an Italian summer,
2:38	was laid low by heat exhaustion and fever.
2:41	Before we continue enumerating the many hazards of a Roman soldier’s life, I’d like to
2:48	talk briefly about this video’s sponsor.
2:51	Wondrium, formerly known as the Great Courses Plus, is a subscription video service.
2:58	In addition to the Great Courses – a series of lectures by professors and professionals
3:03	on hundreds of topics – Wondrium gives you access to a huge range of well-researched
3:08	and engaging educational content, from tutorials to documentaries.
3:13	I’ve been a fan of the Great Courses for years, and Wondrium adds new courses each
3:19	month, including some on topics that your professors almost certainly never mentioned.
3:24	Recently, for example, I’ve been enjoying a fantastic course on Greek and Roman technology.
3:31	Among many other things, I learned how the Romans used human-powered treadwheel cranes
3:36	to lift enormous blocks.
3:39	Wondrium makes a great gift, whether for yourself or for someone you care about.
3:44	So visit wondrium.com slash toldinstone or click on the link in the description below
3:50	to sign up for a free trial, and start learning today.
3:54	Returning to the hazards of life in the Roman army.
3:59	Discipline was brutal.
4:01	Minor infractions were punished with beatings.
4:05	For a more serious offense, a soldier might have his hands hacked off or his legs broken.
4:10	The death penalty was decreed for anyone who slept through their watch or deserted in battle.
4:16	The most infamous of all military punishments was decimation, the execution of every tenth
4:22	man in a unit deemed guilty of cowardice.
4:26	Though rare, it was far from unheard-of: in one notorious instance, Octavian – the future
4:32	Augustus – decimated a cohort that fled from a band of Illyrian rebels, and had two
4:38	of its centurions executed for good measure.
4:41	The greatest threat to a Roman soldier’s survival, however, was disease.
4:47	Despite considerable investment in medical personnel and infrastructure – medics followed
4:52	the troops to battle, and many camps were equipped with hospitals – the absence of
4:57	anything resembling germ theory left Roman soldiers vulnerable to a wide range of maladies.
5:04	A probably typical strength report from an auxiliary cohort stationed along Hadrian’s
5:09	Wall lists more than 10% of the men there as unfit for duty on account of wounds, illness,
5:16	or inflammation of the eyes.
5:18	On the other side of the empire, an Egyptian legionary’s letters to his father describe
5:23	how – in addition to being injured while policing a riot at Alexandria – he had been
5:28	laid low by a nasty case of food poisoning from bad fish.
5:33	If a soldier survived to the end of his enlistment, he was formally discharged.
5:39	Every other year, on January 7, men whose terms had expired were mustered out and granted
5:44	the rewards of their service to the state.
5:46	If they did not already possess it, auxiliaries received Roman citizenship.
5:52	Legionaries were given a massive bonus – equivalent to more than a decade of pay – either in
5:57	cash or in land.
6:00	What were the odds of a Roman soldier surviving to enjoy his retirement benefits?
6:05	We have, of course, no way of calculating a precise average for any given region or
6:11	period.
6:12	But thanks to the thousands of tombstones set up for soldiers and veterans across the
6:17	empire, we can at least paint an impressionistic picture.
6:21	To gain some sense of the evidence, I downloaded the first volume of Inscriptiones Latinae
6:27	Selectae, a century-old collection of about 10,000 Latin inscriptions.
6:32	Turning to the section on legionaries, I read through a hundred or so epitaphs.
6:38	Most of the men in this meager sample set had joined the legions in their late teens
6:42	or early twenties.
6:44	And many of them had died in their 30s and 40s, often while still serving in the ranks.
6:50	A survey of the tombstones belonging to soldiers of Legio III Augusta, stationed in North Africa,
6:56	gives an average age at death of about 47.
7:00	Since most legionaries served about 25 years, and since here – as throughout the empire
7:05	– the average age of enlistment was around 20, most men were thus approaching their life
7:10	expectancy by the time they were discharged.
7:13	In the demographic regime of the ancient Mediterranean, we would expect roughly 78% of men who enlisted
7:20	in the legions at age 20 to still be alive at age 35.
7:25	About 69% would be expected to reach 40, and 60% would attain the age of 45, roughly when
7:32	most would be discharged.
7:35	The actual survival rate would have been lower than this, thanks to violent death, disease,
7:40	and early discharge.
7:41	In the light of these facts, it would be reasonable to estimate that about half of the soldiers
7:47	who enlisted in the imperial Roman army survived to retirement.
7:54	If you're interested in learning more about the lives of Roman soldiers, click the link
7:59	in the upper right corner to watch the new video on my travel channel.
8:01	You can follow this link to the Toldinstone Footnotes page, where you'll find additional
8:07	content, including my podcast.
8:10	Please consider supporting toldinstone on Patreon.
8:14	You might also enjoy my book, Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants.
8:20	Thanks for watching.