Sacramentum (Oath) Information
The Sacramentum was a military oath taken by all Roman legionaries on entering the Roman army, part of the state ritual created by Augustus during his military reforms in the early 1st century CE. By the 3rd century it was administered annually, on 3 January, as attested by the calendar of state ritual discovered at Dura-Europos, the so-called Feriale Duranum, which dates to the reign of Severus Alexander (222-235 CE).[1] At the same time a new altar to Jupiter Optimus Maximus was erected.
In the rare case of punishment by decimation, the surviving legionaries were often required to renew this military oath which was part of the state religio at the foundation of Roman military discipline.
At the start of the 3rd century Tertullian, in De corona, condemned any Christian soldier's willingness to swear the sacramentum, since baptism was the only sacrament a Christian should observe.[2]
notes
- ^ A.D. Nock, "The roman army and the Roman religious year", Harvard Theological Review 45 (1952:187-252).
- ^ Noted by Paul Stephenson, Constantine, Roman Emperor, Christian Victor, 2010:58.
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