Single Combat in the Roman Republic

Abstract

In his discussion of Roman military institutions Polybius described how the desire for fame might inspire Roman soldiers to heroic feats of bravery, including single combat: (6.54.3–4)τ⋯ δ⋯ μέγιστον, οἱ νέοι παρορμ⋯νται πρ⋯ς τ⋯ π⋯ν ὑπομένειν ὑπ⋯ρ τ⋯ν κοιν⋯ν πραγμάτων χάριν το⋯ τυχεῖν τ⋯ς συνακολουθούσης τοῖς ⋯γαθοῖς τ⋯ν ⋯νδρ⋯ν εὐκλείας. πίστιν δ' ἔχει τ⋯ λεγόμενον ⋯κ τούτων. πολλο⋯ μ⋯ν γ⋯ρ ⋯μονο-μάχησαν ⋯κουσίως Ῥωμαίων ὑπ⋯ρ τ⋯ς τ⋯ν ὅλων κρίσεως κτλ. Modern scholars, however, have taken little notice of this remark and some have tried to belittle the importance of single combat at Rome. Thus G. Dumézil alleged that the Romans fought few single combats and that this was significant for their outlook upon war, while R. Bloch described the duels in the seventh book of Livy as ‘un mode de combat absolument étranger à la tradition romaine, mail auquel les Romains ont été contraints par les habitudes et par les défis des Celtes’. W. V. Harris is the only scholar to have understood the importance of monomachy in the Roman Republic, but even he has not assembled all the evidence necessary for an accurate assessment of the phenomenon. This essay is intended to provide a full treatment and thus to make some contribution in a limited but interesting area to our understanding of Roman attitudes to warfare. I have included a list and discussion of all instances of single combat from the Roman Republic which I have discovered and have argued that the custom continued from prehistoric times at least to 45 b.c.

Circum Mare: Themes in Ancient Warfare

“…For general information on exempla see also Price (1975) and Kornhardt (1936). See also Oakley (1997) 114-116 on exempla and moralising. 3 See Moles (1993) for an overall examination of Livy's preface.…”

“…Wiseman (1979) 37 notes that Cicero regarded exempla as the main value of history in guiding individual conduct. 4 As Oakley (1997) 115-116 states, several episodes are shaped so as to reveal particular moral qualities. For example Manlius Torquatus is revealed to have pietas, clementia and disciplina at Livy 7.9.6-7.10.14.…”

“…Oakley notes that Manlius even calls himself an exempla self-consciously to his son at Livy 8.7.17. 5 See also Oakley (1997) boastfulness, and lack of self-control .6 According to Livy's account, these attributes were directly associated with the result of the battle, so that the vignette of the duel has direct connection with victory.7 While the emphasis in this use of exempla is on the moral dimension, it is important to note that these figures have a causal relationship to their battle narrative, as they can be linked with the result or be expected to influence events. More particularly, exempla had a role in oratory and it is as part of supporting an overall statement about a battle or a related issue that the figures in Caesar's commentaria should primarily be considered.…”

“…The exempla as they appear in the Bellum Gallicum may therefore be regarded as serving as a literary method of conveying and supporting the objectives of the author.10 The flexibility of the figures in their rhetorical context also 6 See Oakley (1997) 116 who examines national characteristics as an aspect of battle in Livy. Walsh (1963) 200 also notes that the duel between champions motif demonstrates "which race is superior in war."…”

BETWEEN WARRIORS AND CHAMPIONS: WARFARE AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE LATER PREHISTORY OF THE NORTH‐WESTERN IBERIAN PENINSULA1

“…In the north‐western Iberian Peninsula, we find types of combat that were typical of the Indo‐European cultural sphere: on the one hand, types of communal combat, such as the razzia , aimed at obtaining booty, mainly livestock, and which is referred to extensively in the Indo‐European myths concerning the raid in search of livestock (Lincoln 1991, 117–56); on the other, the appearance of warrior elites and the subsequent development of the ideological importance of warfare (Dumézil 1990), with the appearance of individual combat, as duels between champions. This type of combat is seen in mythical epic traditions and historical sources (Blaive 1991; 1993) in many Indo‐European populations, such as the Greeks (in Homer: Van Wees 1988; 1992; 1994; Archaic Period: Fernández Nieto 1975), the Romans (Oakley 1985; Lendon 2006, 231–2), the Celts (Brunaux 2004, 63–4; Rawlings 1996, 86–9) or the Germans (Osgood 1998, 82–3; Kristiansen 2002, 329).…”