Lost in Translation - How Rome's Multi-Ethnic Army Communicated

looking at the vast expanse of the roman empire on a map is quite impressive especially when you peel off the red layer to reveal the mind-boggling number of groups which resided within its borders to make things even more impressive consider the vast numbers of communities beyond the borders who were connected by trade and diplomacy taken together this drives home the point that rome was amongst one of the most diverse empires in history to a large degree it was held together by military might but that same force was not some centralized army of italians policing the whole realm of others rather the roman army was pulled from the ranks of virtually every province and deployed as needed across the world this is how you get elephants and cataphracts from the east serving in britain in the west this fact poses an interesting question how on earth did they turn such diverse polyglot group into an effective unified force and more fundamentally how on earth did they communicate without everything being lost in translation this topic is the butt of the joke from one of my favorite aesthetics comic books but one which certainly deserves a more serious academic look so today let's dive into the fascinating topic of language in the roman army this video was sponsored by surfsharkvpn they've got your back when it comes to the dangers of the internet like surveillance data mining theft and lock content in addition to top of the line industry offerings surfshark vpn's awesome features also include multihop which lets you connect using two different servers for increased security whitelister which allows apps or sites of your choosing to bypass the vpn for things like banking clean web which blocks malware trackers phishing and ads kill switch which protects against accidental exposure if the server connection gets interrupted and no borders mode which maximizes your access in the most restrictive of regions in addition surf shark vpn has very generous terms of use with unlimited devices 24 7 customer support and a 30 day money back guarantee try it today by clicking the link in the description below and using the promo code invicta to get 83 off plus three extra months for free one of the major problems that historians have when discussing language from this period is that well we simply have no audio recordings though perhaps these were lost alongside proof of ancient aliens when the library of alexandria burned we are therefore left with just written records only a mini-school amount of which offer insight into actual oral discussions for example in one of the two surviving latin novels a roman soldier deployed in greece attempts to seize a donkey from a local but can only communicate with broken greek and violence other snippets commentating on language include plays where foreigners are often depicted speaking heavy accents with scenes mocking the misunderstandings which arise from trying to understand different cultures suffice to say the specifics of communication within the roman army itself is not very well documented that being said we can still give a high level response to our initial question the answer the diverse roman army communicated using an official primary language latin we know that this was certainly the case among the legions of rome in the early days of the republic and would continue to be so as the empire expanded after all the romans took great pride in their traditions and used them as points of contrast with the others around them speaking latin marked the in versus the out group the civilized versus the uncivilized the recent netflix series barbarians does a great job of highlighting this dynamic at play in case you didn't know the romans in the show all speak actual latin to much acclaim from the historical community similarly the ancient germans speak in their own foreign tongue leaving modern audiences to read subtitles as true outsiders it's a great way to experience the stark differences in language we're talking about here for instance you'll see how the latin-speaking legendaries stick out like sore thumbs among the locals not just for their distinctly roman habits but their absolute refusal and scorn for the locals and their inferior language bravado and xenophobia are on full display as a way to maintain the image of roman superiority this would certainly serve as a comforting psychological boost to the troops who in the back of their mind harbored a deep-seated fear of the barbarians they deemed inferior so how would rome and these others talk to one another well if the legions wouldn't stoop so low as to learn the local language then they would instead rely on interpreters these would be rather easy to come by as there was always some pre-existing economic exchange taking place ahead of the armies with profits on the line pickiness over tongues often took a backseat in discussions thus merchants were often the first to bridge the language barrier the longer the army stayed in place however the more they would interact with the communities around them this was especially true near garrisons where both sides likely learn some common phrases and may have even been able to speak conversationally in each other's language as a matter of practical necessity yet from an official standpoint the roman legions maintained latin as the primary language within its own ranks there was to be none of that uncivilized talk in camp however while it would be easy enough to dismiss barbarian languages the same could not be said of more enlightened forms of speech for instance as the empire expanded latin would have a hard time competing with greek which had already become the established lingua franca in much of the east for centuries therefore rather than seeking to replace this existing custom rome instead chose to adopt it such a tactic of co-option would prove to be one of their greatest keys to success in running a massive diverse empire as a prime example of just how accepted greek was we know that when legionary recruits swore their oath to the emperor they could do so in latin or in greek but nothing else for many this was no big deal as they were often brought up speaking greek as a primary language or secondary language anyways and quickly became bilingual through interactions with the roman administration it appears that this was particularly true of soldiers who were recruited from veteran colonies or thereabouts for instance most written communication from the army in the east is preserved in greek this manifests in everything from official troop records to run-of-the-mill graffiti thus we see that the roman legions achieved uniformity of communication by sticking exclusively to the civilized languages of either latin or greek however this standard would not necessarily hold true for the non-legionary units of the army namely the auxiliaries let's now talk about these the auxiliaries of the roman army were one of the most diverse military forces ever created they hailed from across the lands as a part of the obligation communities owed to the roman government sort of like taxation but with soldiers instead of money these troops came in all kinds of flavors from light to heavy infantry cavalry skirmishers and other specialists they were deployed in huge numbers equaling or exceeding the total number of legionaries in the land army when it came time for recruitment it was usually the duty of each community to figure out who would be sent to fight for instance the chiefs of a tribe might work with their villages to raise the required number of men these mostly non-citizen groups would usually speak their local tongue and have little familiarity with the preferred languages of the roman army those with the most knowledge would have grown up near a roman garrison or veteran colony or hailed from the east such candidates were often sought out for duty but there were simply not enough of them rome was quite wary of allowing these foreign-speaking troops to act on their own they would be barred from selecting their own commanders and would instead be appointed a roman one as an extra precaution the auxiliaries would be dispatched to far-away lands lest there be any conflicts of interest in serving locally one of the best examples of this is claudius's invasion of britain where eastern cataphracts and elephant auxiliaries were deployed while on duty auxiliaries were attached to a roman legion but would have been held apart and separated within the army camp among themselves therefore they would have continued to speak their own languages when interacting with the rest of the army though they would have to at least learn the basics of military talk in latin so basically commands and insults however the continued use of uncivilized talk among the auxiliaries could lead to tension especially between the troops and their commanders for example it seems that roman officers often order their subordinates to change their names if they were deemed too difficult to pronounce such an order would obviously be met by resentment this is evidenced by the many letters and tombstones which have been found that bear the auxiliary's original name indicating that they wish to maintain their true identity no matter what a roman overlord decreed yet some auxiliary units were allowed to maintain their own identity one infamous example is the batavians hailing from a germanic tribe along the dutch rhine they were considered among the fiercest and most loyal men of the roman empire batavian auxiliaries provided everything from frontline infantry units to the bodyguard of the emperor himself they were so honored that they were exempted from taxation and were even allowed to be commanded by their own officers however such preferential treatment did have its drawbacks apparently the batavians thought of themselves as above the rest of the auxiliaries and even the roman infantrymen for instance they seemed to have developed such a deep rivalry with the 14th legion that it threatened to erupt into open violence here's a revealing account from tacitus quote scattered about italy and mingling with the victorious troops their talk was constantly hostile the soldiers of the 14th legion were particularly bold declaring that they had never been defeated from the battle at bedriakum it was only some veterans who had been beaten and not the full strength of the legion that had been there vitelius decided to send them back to britain from which nero had drawn them and in the meantime two of the batavian cohorts camp with them because the patavians had had a difference of long standing with the peace did not last long amongst armed men who had hated one another so violently at turin a batavian charged a workman with being a thief while a legionary defended the workmen as his host thereupon their fellow soldiers rallied to the support of each other and matters soon passed from words to blows in fact there would have been a bloody battle if two praetorian cohorts had not taken the side of the soldiers of the 14th and inspired them with courage while they frightened the batavians let's now circle back to the subject of the netflix show barbarians it tells the tale of the battle of todeberg and its chief architect the traitor arminius as someone with a leg on both sides of the border his story offers a window into how language worked in the roman army let's now explore it arminius was the son of a prominent germanic chief whose tribe had allied with rome as such the youth was educated by latin tutors and ended up joining the auxiliaries in this capacity he served with distinction alongside his brother flavus both were highly decorated with armanius receiving not just roman citizenship but the honor title of equestrian in this way he was able to mingle with the higher ranks of the legions for instance we are told that he shared meals with the governor of germania carrying on conversations late into the night perhaps it's through this use of latin that arminius may have convinced the romans that he was one of the good ones whilst at the same time plotting their demise with the battle of toideberg several years after the ambush we hear again of arminius's latin fluency when he confronts the forces of rome who had come for revenge according to tacitus quote the river wesser ran between the roman and jerusalem forces arminius came to the bank and halted his fellow chieftains saying had the caesar come he inquired on receiving the reply that he was in presence he asked to be allowed to speak with his brother that brother flavis by name was serving in the army a conspicuous figure both from his loyalty and from the loss of an eye through a wound received some few years before during tiberius's term of command leave was granted and startinus took him down to the river walking forward he was greeted by arminius who dismissing his own escort demanded that the archers posted along our side of the stream should be also withdrawn when these had withdrawn he asked his brother once the disfigurement on his face on being told the place and battle he inquired what reward he had received flavis mentioned his increased pay the chain the crown and other military decorations arminius scoffed at the cheap rewards of servitude they now began to argue from their opposite points of view flavus insisted on quote roman greatness the power of the caesar the heavy penalties for the vanquished the mercy always awaiting for him who submitted himself even arminius's wife and child were not treated as enemies his brother urged quote the sacred call of their country their ancestral liberty the gods of their german hearts and their mother who prayed with himself that he would not choose the title of renegade and traitor to his kindred to the kindred of his wife to the whole of his race in fact before that of their liberator from this point they drifted little by little into recriminations and not even the intervening river would have prevented a duel had not stratenous run up and laid a restraining hand on flavus who in the fullness of his anger was calling for his weapons and his horse on the other side arminius was visible shouting threats and challenging to battle for he kept interjecting much in latin as he had service in the roman camp as captain of native auxiliaries after this heated discussion with his brother armenia's tried another tactic sending a german with extensive latin knowledge to the roman camp this man called out as he rode along the wall that arminius would offer vast sums of money to any who would desert the romans in the coming battle though the literal message was communicated clearly it did not have the intended effect it seems that the roman soldiers were incensed by the heavily accented latin calling on them to forfeit their oath he not only sullied their honor but their very language justice would be dealt on the battlefield i hope you've appreciated this look into the language of the roman army and a few of the anecdotes we shared for me it's not just an inconsequential bit of trivia to know but rather an important reminder of just how nuanced the past truly was it's for this reason that i can't recommend the netflix series barbarians enough for taking the time to faithfully depict the language in all its gritty detail rather than slapping together a homogenous cast of british accented clones anyways a huge thanks to our patrons and sponsors for supporting this episode let me know if there's anything else you'd like to know about the language in the roman world what do you think of the roman expectations that their auxiliaries be at least somewhat bilingual and why do you think that language itself was such a point of contention between the romans and their allies leave your comments below and be sure to like and subscribe for more videos see you in the next one

Channel: Invicta

Views: 328,991

Rating: 4.9368477 out of 5

Keywords: language of the roman army, latin, roman army chant, roman army march, roman army documentary, roman language, roman language spoken, battle of teutoburg, battle of teutoburg forest, arminius, arminius documentary, rome documentary, military history, roman auxiliary, roman legion

Id: WIfUeKsJGAE

Length: 14min 31sec (871 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 24 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/jasc92]

How "The Empire" in your world would deal with the many languages and ethnic groups in their armies.

[u/morgisboard]

Building on that, how would you deal with the logistics and accommodations for multiple species in your army?