Qiuie sit conceptio sacramenti mUltaris, et quod
The Sacred Nature of the Military Oath
The military oath is a solemn religious obligation that binds the soldier to both God and the prince.
Without it, military service isn't permitted. Nevertheless, under ancient law, no one was granted the military belt without the religious obligation of an oath. For, as we read in Julius Frontinus, in the consulship of Lucius Flaccus and Gaius Varro, soldiers were first made by oath; before that, they were merely asked by the tribunes to take the oath, while they themselves swore among one another that they would not desert because of flight or fear, nor would they leave their ranks except to seek a weapon, strike an enemy, or save a fellow citizen. And this was called the military oath; it is confirmed by the authority and custom of the most Christian princes. According to Vegetius, the nature of this oath is as follows. Soldiers swear by God, by His Christ, and by the Holy Spirit, and by the majesty of the prince, which, next to God, is to be loved and honored by the human race. For when someone receives legitimate authority, he is to be shown devotion and constant service, as if he were a present and bodily God. For a person, whether private or a soldier, serves God when he faithfully loves the one who reigns by God's authority.
The Necessity of Legal Consecration
Historical examples demonstrate that without the formal oath, one lacks the legal and moral standing to engage in battle.
They swear, I say, that they will vigorously perform all things—the Britons were finished, M—nevertheless, A Flaccus, whatever the prince commands, they will never desert their service or refuse to die for the sake of the republic for which they were enlisted. Once they've taken this oath, they're granted the military belt and its privileges. It prevailed to such an extent that the selection and the oath made the soldier, so that without selection no one was enlisted, and without the oath no one could claim the name or office of a soldier. In his book On Duties, Marcus Tullius reports that the commander Pompilius was holding a province where Cato's son was serving as a recruit. But when it seemed best to Pompilius to dismiss one legion, he also dismissed the son of Cato, who was serving in that same legion. But because he had remained in the army out of a love for fighting, Cato wrote to Pompilius that if he allowed him to remain in the army, he should bind him with a second oath, because, having lost the first, he could not lawfully fight against the enemy. There is actually a letter from the elder Marcus Cato to his son Marcus, in which he writes that he had heard he was dismissed by the consul while serving in Macedonia during the Persian war. He warns him, therefore, to be careful not to enter into battle; for he denies that it is lawful to fight against an enemy if one is not a soldier. That is why the wisest of men didn't consider anyone a soldier unless he had been consecrated to military service by a solemn oath.
Read the original Latin
fdne eo militare non licet. Verumtamen citra religionem sacramenti ex antiqua lege nemo militiae cingulo donabatur. Nam, sicut apud lulium Frontinum legitur, Lucio Flaco et Gaio Varrone consulibus milites primo iureiurando facti sunt; antea enim sacramento tantummodo a tribunis rogabantur, ceterum ipsi inter se coniurabant se fugae atque formidinis causa non abituros neque ex ordine recessuros nisi teli petendi hostisue feriendi causa aut ciuis seruandi. Et hoc dicebatur militiae sacramentum; quod et Christianissimorum principum auctoritate firmatur et usu. Conceptio uero iuramenti teste Vegetio huiusmodi est. lurant equidem milites per Deum et Christum eius et Spiritum sanctum et per maiestatem principis quae secundum Deum humano generi diligenda est et colenda. Nam cum quis legitimum accipit principatum, tamquam praesenti et corporali Deo fidelis ei est praestanda deuotio, impendendus peruigil famulatus. Deo enim uel priuatus uel militans seruit, cum fideliter eum diligit, qui Deo regnat auctore.
lurant, inquam, se strenue facturos omnia I, britones confecti sunt M Verumptamen A flacco quae praeceperit princeps, numquam deserturos militiam uel mortem recusaturos pro re publica cuius sunt conscripti militiae. Gum uero hoc praestiterint iusiurandum, cingulo militari donantur et priuilegiis. Adeoque optinuit ut electio et sacramentum militem facerent, ut sine electione nemo conscriberetur aut iuraret, sine iuramento nemo nomen militis aut officium sortiretur. In libro Officiorum Marcus Tullius refert quod Pompilius imperator tenebat prouinciam in cuius exercitu filius Catonis tiro militabat. Cum autem Pompilio uideretur unam dimittere legionem, Catonis quoque filium, qui in eadem legione militabat, dimisit. Sed cum amore pugnandi in exercitu remansisset, Cato ad Pompilium scripait ut, si pateretur in exercitu remanere, eum secundo obliget sacramento quia, priore amisso, iure cum hostibus pugnare non poterat. Marci quidem Catonis senis epistola est ad Marcum filium in qua scribit se audisse eum factum dimissum esse a consule, cum in Macedonia bello Persico miles esset. Monet igitur ut caueat ne praeHum ineat; negat enim ius esse cum hoste pugnare qui miles non sit.
Exice quia uir sapientissimus militem non credebat nisi eum qui sacraa mento ad militiam consecratur.
Policraticus companion
Study the argument weekly; pray the tradition daily
Pair the outline with the Chosen Portion app, which serves short daily portions from the same royal devotional tradition — free on iOS.
John of Salisbury argued that rulers must keep the law of God before their eyes daily; Chosen Portion gives modern readers that same daily discipline in five minutes a morning.
- 8 weeks, one book per week, with the 3-4 key chapters flagged in each
- Discussion questions usable for a reading group from week one
- A daily 5-minute companion portion in the app alongside your weekly study