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A little over 1900 years ago, there was a Roman century (unit of 80 soldiers) deployed to fight against the Persian army. The Roman tactic was highly offensive and straightforward, as they planned to directly take the fight to the Persians and raid their camp. Upon doing a short survey, the Romans deemed it appropriate to attack the camp. Now here’s the problem, the Roman century was not very large.
Since a century has only 80 men, they weren’t expecting to outnumber the Persians. However, they were expecting to outmaneuver them. They brought their ranged weapons with them, and as soon as the centurion gave the order, they began firing at the Persians. After a barrage of constant firing, the centurion ordered 20 of his soldiers to sneak into the Persian camp and slaughter the remaining enemies as quietly as possible.
The reason for this stealthy approach was that another Roman century was stationed nearby, and they didn’t want to alert their own allies. In ancient Roman military culture, it was deemed offensive to Mars, the war god, to undertake a campaign without any kind of offering to him beforehand. The centurion in charge of this unit was a pragmatic one, and he believed that he could solve the Persian problem without having to undergo any formalities.
Unfortunately for him, this strategy would backfire as the Persian camp was only a distraction. Soon, the covert attack alerted a much larger Persian legion who marched towards the heavily outnumbered Roman warriors who realized that it was too late. Some soldiers cursed their leader, thinking that an offering to Mars would have prevented this travesty. However, as it turned out, the centurion had an offering, just not to Mars.
He, along with 5 of his most trusted men ran off into the distance, seemingly abandoning his men. The remaining soldiers were distraught, but their desperation soon turned to an unceasing rush of bravery and hope when they realized that their commander had rushed off to bring help from the other Roman soldiers stationed nearby. Soon, the coordinated Persian army had to fight the tactical, yet unorganized Roman army in intense guerrilla warfare, a tactic that Persians weren’t used to.
The centurion perished in the battle, but the survivors would continue to tell his tales of bravery for as long as they lived. They realized, that taking an unsupervised action against an overwhelming assignment is not a wise decision, but seeking help when you know you need it is the wisest decision you could ever make. So what do you think?
