dehinc quia duritia caeli militiaeque multi abnuebant deserebantque, remedium severitate quaesitum est. nec enim, ut in aliis exercitibus, primum alterumque delictum venia prosequebatur, sed qui signa reliquerat, statim capite poenas luebat.
Translation :
And then as many shrank from the rigour of the climate and of the service, and deserted, he sought a remedy in strictness of discipline. Not, as in other armies, was a first or second offense condoned, but the soldier, who had quitted his colours, instantly paid the penalty with his life.
Edition :
Annales ab excessu divi Augusti. Cornelius Tacitus. Charles Dennis Fisher. Clarendon Press. Oxford. 1906.
Complete Works of Tacitus. Tacitus. Alfred John Church. William Jackson Brodribb. Sara Bryant. edited for Perseus. New York. : Random House, Inc. Random House, Inc. reprinted 1942.
Remark :
long-term consequence: The quick and harsh punishment is judged as improving discipline by Tacitus: "This was shown by experience to be a wholesome measure, better than mercy; for there were fewer desertions in that camp than in those in which leniency was habitual." (Tac.Ann.35)
Notes :
This is mentioned as a general statement by Tacitus, in reference to the strictness of Corbulos methods.
