Why Roman Soldiers Fought Each Other to Be First Over the Enemy Wall

The siege ladder was one of the deadliest places in the ancient world, and Roman soldiers fought each other for the right to climb it first. This is why the Roman army paid its bravest men in crowns of gold, oak leaves and grass instead of money. Follow an ordinary legionary at the foot of an enemy wall and discover the reward system that made him climb. The Greek historian Polybius describes how a Roman general praised brave men by name in front of the whole army and handed them spears, cups and crowns, objects worth almost nothing that men would die for. At New Carthage in 209 BC, one golden crown pushed two parts of Scipio's army so close to violence that his victory almost turned into a riot. Stay to the end to see how he solved it, and why one crown made a man honor a stranger like his own father for life. Chapters: 0:00 The deadliest place in ancient warfare 0:51 Paid in crowns, not coins 2:09 Why the siege ladder was so feared 2:54 The myth of an army run on fear 3:21 Polybius and the reward ceremony 4:40 The prize was the audience 5:18 The ladder of crowns 6:03 The grass crown and the centurion who killed his tribune 7:38 Decorations at home and on tombstones 9:12 Why Rome paid in honor instead of wages 9:58 New Carthage, 209 BC 10:59 Two men, one mural crown 12:08 Scipio's solution 13:00 The civic crown and a lifelong debt 14:34 The tombstone of Marcus Caelius 15:16 What was brutal, and what is still debated 15:58 What the crowns left behind 16:58 The whole system, put back together In this video: The mural crown, the camp crown and the naval crown, and what each one rewarded Polybius on the reward ceremony and why Rome paid for courage nobody required The grass crown and Gnaeus Petreius, the only centurion on Pliny's list Torques, armillae and phalerae, from the Lauersfort phalerae to the tombstone of Gnaeus Musius Quintus Trebellius and Sextus Digitius at New Carthage, as told by Livy The civic crown of oak leaves and the tombstone of Marcus Caelius, who fell in the Teutoburg Forest This channel exists to dig up the overlooked details of the ancient world, the ordinary lives behind the empire. If that's the kind of history you want more of, subscribe so you don't miss the next one. #AncientRome #RomanHistory #RomanArmy #RomanLegion #MilitaryHistory