12-09-2011, 04:48 PM
A while ago I came across a passage in an ancient Roman source which for the life of me I can't relocate, it's basically along the lines of the following:
A retired veteran soldier hears that a Roman army is marching towards his town, he flips, saying things like 'I know what soldiers do to towns', sets his house alight and jumps into the flames.
I think it happened during the civil wars, but which ones I don't know. For some reason I also think it's in a work by a historian such as Livy or Tacitus, but that could be wrong. I was so focused on continuing my research elsewhere that I didn't get around to bookmarking it.
So, has anybody else come across it...?
Thanks
Joe
A retired veteran soldier hears that a Roman army is marching towards his town, he flips, saying things like 'I know what soldiers do to towns', sets his house alight and jumps into the flames.
I think it happened during the civil wars, but which ones I don't know. For some reason I also think it's in a work by a historian such as Livy or Tacitus, but that could be wrong. I was so focused on continuing my research elsewhere that I didn't get around to bookmarking it.
So, has anybody else come across it...?
Thanks
Joe
Arma virumque cano