Decimation: Rome’s Harshest Military Discipline In the Roman Republic and early Empire, commanders occasionally relied on a drastic disciplinary method known as decimatio. When a unit was judged to have shown severe misconduct, such as abandoning its position, soldiers were divided into groups of ten and through a selection process, one individual from each group was chosen to meet a violent end at the hands of their comrades. This practice was intended not only as a penalty, but as a symbolic r