The Romans Invented a Plethora of Awards

The romans invented a plether of fancy medals and awards given out to soldiers who distinguished themselves in battle. For example, an award was given to the first man over a wall when the army was assaulting an enemy camp or city. Anything a soldier valued would be metred out for instances of selfless bravery, which the roman commanders were always promoting. There was a darkly humorous case during the second punic war of a commander promising extra rations for every enemy head brought back to camp. But the soldiers became so burdened by the work of beheading and carrying heads that they began to actually lose the fight. The most common rewards ranged from double rations, a huge motiv