Editing Decimation (punishment) (section)

=== Questionable historicity ===

There is a single instance recorded in Livy that predates the middle republic, that of [[Appius Claudius Crassus Inregillensis Sabinus]] in 471&nbsp;BC, but anachronistic elements of the narrative there suggest ahistoricity.<ref>{{harvnb|Goldberg|2015|p=143}}, citing {{harvnb|Livy|loc=2.58–59}} among others, though the specific Appius Claudius named appears inconsistent with that named in {{harvnb|Broughton|1951|p=30}}. Similar judgement of ahistoricity at {{harvnb|Pearson|2019|pp=666–67}}.</ref> The middle republican writer [[Polybius]], however, in a detailed narrative, suggests that by the middle republic it was established, if not in practice at least otherwise, as a rhetorical construct.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|2022|pp=108–9}}, as rhetorical construct contra {{harvnb|Goldberg|2015|pp=143–4}}; Goldberg believes that Polybius' familiarity suggests actual practice.</ref> Two other instances are reported in [[Frontinus]] but are undated. Associated with the careers of [[Fabius Rullianus]] and an unknown Aquilius, these events (if historical) could not have taken place after 259&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Taylor|2022|pp=107–8}}

Literary evidence relating to punishment for military offences in the middle republic generally indulges in rhetorical exaggerations. If any instances of ''decimatio'' occurred between {{circa|315&nbsp;BC}} and the historical instance under Crassus in 72, they were likely small enough not to be recorded. Indeed, the Polybian narrative suggests counts of victims fewer than twenty.{{sfn|Taylor|2022|pp=108–9}} If expanded by a factor of ten, the units involved were small and did not exceed {{circa|200}} men.<!-- WP:CALC --> The presence of other non-lethal punishments meted for cowardice and lapses of military discipline – eg demotion, exile of Sicily, subsistence on barley rations, pay deductions, etc – that are well documented in the sources of the period also suggest that ''decimatio'' was essentially a rhetorical myth.{{sfn|Taylor|2022|pp=109–10, 115 ("a mirage of aristocratic supremacy")}} 

By the early second century&nbsp;BC, the extension of ''[[provocatio]]'' rights to the military also made it illegal for magistrates to kill or scourge their citizen soldiers, with similar rights also extended late in the second century to allied soldiers under Roman command.{{sfnm|Taylor|2022|1p=113|Faszcza|2018|2p=87, noting passage of the laws extending ''provocatio'' rights to citizens on campaign, the ''leges Porciae'', between 199 and 193&nbsp;BC|Goldberg|2015|3p=154}} Cases of soldiers collectively resisting mass punishments and the necessity of their active participation also suggest that decimation was not at all commonly practicable.{{sfnm|Taylor|2022|1pp=115–16|Pearson|2019|2p=667, 675 ("decimation seems to be a punishment that would only work to enforce cohesion in a legion which was already cohesive")}} Moreover, actual practice of decimation would have alienated Roman citizen voters from the presiding general, who was accountable before both the law courts and the voters.{{sfn|Taylor|2022|pp=113–14, noting cases where unpopular commanders were defeated at the polls and the possibility of damage to a family's political prospects}}<ref>Noting an instance of ''provocatio'' rights exercised on campaign in 89&nbsp;BC, {{harvnb|Faszcza|2018|p=87}}, citing {{harvnb|Dio|loc=fr. 30–35, 100.1–3}}.</ref>