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Re-enactors in full kit showing use of a 1st-2nd century AD Roman Testudo formation to allow troops to mount a wall
(lemmy.world)
this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2024
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Historical Artifacts
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Just a community for everyone to share artifacts, reconstructions, or replicas for the historically-inclined to admire!
Generally, an artifact should be 100+ years old, but this is a flexible requirement if you find something rare and suitably linked to an era of history, not a strict rule. Anything over 100 is fair game regardless of rarity.
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Bravery in battle could get you military awards and bonuses - or even better, promoted. Under the Imperial Roman military, a legionary made about as much as a well-paid-but-unskilled urban laborer did per year. A centurion made 16x that. And centurions were promoted from the ranks - primarily for bravery, skill, and good conduct. See where this going?
Someone tells me that hopping up and soloing a bunch of barbarians for a minute or two until backup climbs up the testudo after me could net 16x pay (and 16x the retirement bonus, and 16x the share of the plunder) for the next ~20 years of my career, you bet your ass I'd at least consider it!
That's a neat piece of information, I didn't know it was like that. Still, you need to still be alive in order to collect that wage. I guess that I will be one of the fellas under the shields.
Eh, life's cheap - just go for it