Decimation was one of the most brutal punishments in the Roman army. The Roman historian Titus Livius Livy records the first instance of decimation: In 471 BC, the Italic tribe of the Volscians invaded Roman territory. The Romans set out to confront the invaders. When they faced them, the Roman soldiers refused to attack because they despised their own general, Appius Claudius Sabinus. Then, when the Volscians attacked in their turn, the Roman army was thrown into turmoil and fled, leaving behind their weapons and, even worse, their standards. Appius Claudius was far from amused by this and ordered all officers who had abandoned their posts to be flogged and beheaded. The rest of his army he punished with a disciplinary measure: the decimation. This means that one out of every ten men in the entire army, cohort, or legion was executed - by his own comrades.
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Primary Sources:
Polybius, The Histories
Plutarch, Life of Antony
Suetonius, Augstus
Dion Cassius, Roman History
Literature:
Fiebiger, Otto, s.v. Decimatio, in: Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, Bd. 4,2, Sp. 2272.
Watson, G. R., The Roman Soldier, 1981.
Le Bohec, Y., s.v. decimatio, in: Der Neue Pauly: Enzyklopädie der Antike.
Salazar, C. F., s.v. decimation, in: Der Neue Pauly: Enzyklopädie der Antike.
