this post was submitted on 05 Feb 2025
192 points (99.5% liked)
A Comm for Historymemes
1768 readers
106 users here now
A place to share history memes!
Rules:
-
No sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, assorted bigotry, etc.
-
No fascism, atrocity denial, etc.
-
Tag NSFW pics as NSFW.
-
Follow all Lemmy.world rules.
Banner courtesy of @[email protected]
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Yes, interestingly enough! During the Punic Wars of the Mid-Republic, wars had to be presented to the citizenry and voted on in the assemblies before there could be a declaration of war. While not every citizen-soldier would have been present and voting, a sizable percentage would have been there and passed on the justifications when the call for conscription came up - the plebs of this era still regarded refusal of military service as a political tool, so it was important for the Republic to justify their wars in terms that the common free citizen-farmers of Rome (who made up its armies) would accept.