• PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    edit-2
    2 months ago

    Bravery in battle could get you military awards and bonuses - or even better, promoted. Under the Imperial Roman military, a legionary made about as much as a well-paid-but-unskilled urban laborer did per year. A centurion made 16x that. And centurions were promoted from the ranks - primarily for bravery, skill, and good conduct. See where this going?

    Someone tells me that hopping up and soloing a bunch of barbarians for a minute or two until backup climbs up the testudo after me could net 16x pay (and 16x the retirement bonus, and 16x the share of the plunder) for the next ~20 years of my career, you bet your ass I’d at least consider it!

    • mrfriki@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      2 months ago

      That’s a neat piece of information, I didn’t know it was like that. Still, you need to still be alive in order to collect that wage. I guess that I will be one of the fellas under the shields.