Vine staff
The vine staff, vine-staff, or centurion's staff[1] (Latin: vitis)[2] was a vinewood rod of about 3 feet (1 m) in length used in the ancient Roman Army[3][4] and Navy.[5] It was the mark and tool of the centurion:[6] both as an implement in the direction of drill and maneuvers; and to beat wayward or laggard soldiers or sailors under his command.[7] It was also borne by evocati who held an equivalent rank.[8]
Origin
The vine staff may have derived from the Etruscan lituus and was certainly in use by the Punic Wars.[4] Following the enactment of the Porcian Laws in the early 2nd century BC, it was the only manner by which Roman citizens could be beaten[7] and is mentioned by various classical authors. A line in Ovid notes that "the good general commits the vitis to one to command one hundred."[9] Pliny: "The centurion's vine staff is an excellent medicine for sluggish troops who don't want to advance..."[11] "and when used to chastise offenses makes even the punishment respectable."[13] It carried none of the stigma of the whipping (by virgae) suffered by criminals prior to execution or the cudgeling (by fustuaria) endured for severe military offenses.[14]
Tacitus mentions Lucilius, a centurion known as "Gimme Another" (Cedo Alterum or Alteram) for his tendency to break his vine staffs during beatings;[15] he was one of the first killed during the Pannonian Mutiny.[14]
Generally, however, soldiers were expected to endure their punishments; seizing the vine staff was cause for demotion and breaking it or harming the centurion were offenses punishable by death.[14] Some scholars state the vine staff was the instrument used to beat the Iceni queen Boadicca.[16] St Marcellus the Centurion was martyred following a scene where he cast away his vine staff and repudiated his rank.[17]
Description
The vine staff is often featured on Roman tombs of the 1st through 4th century as a symbol of a centurion's status. These monuments show a variety of forms. During the early Principate, it was usually straight with a rounded top; it later acquired a mushroom-shaped head, which was continued under the Byzantines.[3] Less often, it appeared in knotted and sinuous forms. One centurion gave his vine staff to the Temple of Jupiter at Heliopolis (modern Baalbek) as a votive offering. It was broken and given to the emperor Trajan when he inquired of the oracle of the Heliopolitan Jupiter whether he would survive his upcoming invasion of Parthia.[18]
See also
- Pace stick, a similar long stick used in the British and Commonwealth armed forces as a symbol of authority and as an aid to military drill
- Swagger stick, a similar rod or crop used in the British and American armed services[6]
References
Citations
- Robinson (1975), p. 157.
- Brand (1968), p. 83.
- D'Amato & Rava (2012), pp. 38–39.
- D'Amato & Rava (2013), p. 38–39.
- D'Amato & Sumner (2009), p. 20.
- Webster 1979, p. 132.
- Walters (1997), p. 40.
- Lewis 1890, p. 206.
- Ovid, Art of Love, III, 527.
- Mannix (1964), p. 33.
- Cited in Mannix.[10]
- Gallonio (2013), p. 51.
- Cited in Gallonio.[12]
- Brand (1968), p. 84.
- Tacitus., Annals, Bk. I, Ch. 23, §4.
- Williams (2009), p. 109.
- Gallonio (2013), pp. 49–50.
- Cook (1914), p. 553.
Bibliography
- Brand, C.E. (1968), Roman Military Law, Austin: University of Texas Press, ISBN 978-0-292-74224-6.
- Cook, Arthur Bernard (1914), Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion, Vol. I: Zeus God of the Bright Sky, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- D'Amato, Raffaele; Sumner, Graham, Illustrator (2009), Imperial Roman Naval Forces 31 BC–AD 500, Men-at-Arms, Vol. 479, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, ISBN 978-1-84603-317-9.
- D'Amato, Raffaele; Rava, Giuseppe, Illustrator (2012), Roman Centurions 31 BC–AD 500: The Classical and Late Empire, Men-at-Arms, Vol. 479, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, ISBN 1849087954.
- D'Amato, Raffaele; Rava, Giuseppe, Illustrator (2013), Roman Centurions 753–31 BC: The Kingdom and the Age of Consuls, Men-at-Arms, Vol. 470, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, ISBN 9781849089371.
- Gallonio, Rev. Antonio (2013), De SS. Martyrum Cruciatibus (PDF), translated from the Latin by Geoffrey K. Mondello as The Tortures and Torments of the Christian Martyrs for the Boston Catholic Journal.
- Lewis, Bunnell (1890), "Roman Antiquities of the Middle Rhine", The Archaeological Journal, London: British Archaeological Association, 47, pp. 193–378CS1 maint: ref=harv (link).
- Mannix, Daniel Pratt IV (1964), The History of Torture, New York, Lake Oswego, Oregon: Dorset, eNet Press, ISBN 978-1-61886-751-3.
- Robinson, H. Russell (1975), The Armour of Imperial Rome, Charles Scribner's Sons, ISBN 9780684139562.
- Walters, Jonathan (1997), "Invading the Roman Body: Manliness and Impenetrability in Roman Thought", Roman Sexualities, Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 29–44, ISBN 0-691-01179-6.
- Webster, Graham (1979). The Roman Imperial Army of the first and second centuries A.D. London: Constable and Company. p. 132. ISBN 0-09-475660-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Williams, Carolyn D. (2009), Boudica and Her Stories: Narrative Transformations of a Warrior Queen, Cranbury: Associated University Presses, ISBN 978-0-87413-079-9.