Did the Roman Republic commit any atrocities? Where to begin?

  

The reality is that, as impressive as Roman civilisation was, it existed around 2 millennia before the first Geneva Convention.

The Ancient World was not all that friendly a place, the image of all humans prior to the Modern Age as savages is, of course, absurd but international law and the very concept of an atrocity barely existed back in the times of the Republic.

As a result, there were a hell of a lot of them.

Here are just a few…

• Utterly brutal punishments

When it came to punishing criminals, enemies and, anyone else they didn’t like, the Romans were brutal and cruel.

Here are but a few of the most violent punishments they used:

—Mass Crucifixion

In situations such as slave revolts, the Romans would often mass-crucify thousands and thousands together.

—Decimation

Decimation was a punishment given to legionaries for severe breaches of discipline, the most common cause being if they fled the field of battle.

Each cohort would be split into groups of 10, each drawing straws. Whoever drew the short straw would then be beaten to death by the other 9. Just imagine the brutality to being forced to beat to the death your closest friends and colleagues, not to even consider being the one that drew the short straw.

—Buried Alive

The Vestal Virgins were a group of virgins who had an oath of chastity to the Goddess Vesta. These oaths were taken incredibly seriously, so much so that, if you were so foolish as to break it, you would be buried alive. To go into a little more detail, they were locked in pits underground and left to starve to death.

—Poena Cullei (Penalty of the Sack)

Poena Cullie (Latin for “Penalty of the Sack”) was the legal punishment for patricide (murdering one’s father) and consisted of being sewn up in a leather sack with live dogs, snakes, monkeys, chickens or roosters, and then being tossed into water (the River Tiber most often when the punishment was carried out in Rome itself) to drown.

• Slavery

This one probably goes without saying, but still needs mentioning. The Roman economy was completely reliant on slavery and, hence, there were millions of them.

A rich man could have in the thousands of slaves while most families had some. They were considered property and often treated incredibly harshly by their masters. It should be mentioned this was not at all unique to Rome, but still an atrocity by most definitions.

• Brutal Conquests

Roman conquest was brutal. Utterly brutal. The Roman economy was, for much of its history, fueled by conquest. Where did this money come from? Brutally looting and plundering any regions that resisted occupation.

Entire cities were often razed to the ground, Carthage being the most famous example where, not content with just victory, they destroyed totally the entire city with some anecdotes saying they sowed salt in the fields to stop anything from growing again (although this is most likely not true).

You likely will all have heard of the Gallic Wars when Julius Caesar invaded Gaul (very roughly modern-day France), what you may not know is that, in the process, he killed 1.000.000 people while enslaving a further 1.000.000. Combined, probably around 2 in 5 people were killed or enslaved including the often wholesale massacre of entire tribes. I think it goes without saying the region never resisted again.

The Roman Republic achieved many great things, but it was not without its atrocities.