Lernen aus Niederlagen‘ und ‚Schwächediskurse‘? Oder doch nur „aut vincere aut emori“?. Bemerkungen zum komplexen Umgang Roms mit militärischen Niederlagen

This article examines defeats and losses as phenomena of an ‘expanded military history’ of Roman History from the Republic to the Principate. It adopts a cultural historical perspective of the military historical phenomenon. “Patterns” and “strategies” are defined, that appear in the sources when dealing with Roman defeats, losses and losers (in particular the commanders or even the emperor himself). Above, the historiography of the Roman imperial period is exemplary examined to see what reasons, interpretations or explanations are given there for suffering a defeat and whether and how these are part of narrative strategies. Sometimes military catastrophes simply were concealed, belittled or reinterpreted. How Rome dealt with defeat tells something about Rome’s society and especially the elite: “Roman culture” or “Rome’s political culture” shaped the way how the military phenomenon of defeat was dealt with. Defeats could also be seen as chances for future victories, they were good for learning and examples for withstanding with the help of morale and disciplina. In the end Rome’s strategies in dealing with such catastrophic events of ‘military history’ overall seem to paint the picture of Rome as a resilient socio-political and military system!