It just occurred to me to wonder, would the average Roman soldier have more than a vague idea of who they were fighting and why? I can imagine a version of this that’s more “Punic war? What the hell are you talking about, I’m just here to kill as many of those guys as possible.”
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.
It just occurred to me to wonder, would the average Roman soldier have more than a vague idea of who they were fighting and why? I can imagine a version of this that’s more “Punic war? What the hell are you talking about, I’m just here to kill as many of those guys as possible.”
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.
They knew what they were fighting for. Denarii 💰