As with most other military forces the Roman military adopted an extensive list of decorations for military gallantry and likewise a range of punishments for military transgressions.

Qualifications

• Military diploma
  Military diploma
  A Roman military diploma was a document inscribed in bronze certifying that the holder was honourably discharged from the Roman armed forces and/or had received the grant of Roman citizenship from the emperor as reward for service....
  
   - a notarized copy of an original bronze constitution issued by the emperor in Rome, granting Roman citizenship to foreign veterans who had served for 25 years or more in the Roman auxiliary forces or Praetorian Fleets.

Crowns

• Grass Crown
  Grass Crown
  The Grass Crown or Blockade Crown was the highest and rarest of all military decorations in the Roman Republic and early Roman empire. It was presented only to a general, commander, or officer whose actions saved the legion or the entire army...
  
   - (Latin: corona obsidionalis or corona graminea), was the highest and rarest of all military decorations. It was presented only to a general or commander who broke the blockade of a beleaguered Roman Army.
• Civic Crown
  Civic Crown
  The Civic Crown was a chaplet of common oak leaves woven to form a crown. During the Roman Republic, and the subsequent Principate, it was regarded as the second highest military decoration to which a citizen could aspire...
  
   - (Latin: corona civica), was a chaplet of common oak leaves woven to form a crown. During the Roman Republic, and the subsequent Principate, it was regarded as the second highest military decoration a citizen could aspire to (the Grass Crown being held in higher regard).
• Naval crown
  Naval crown
  The Naval Crown was a gold crown surmounted with the prows of ships. It was a Roman military award, given to the first man who boarded an enemy ship during a naval engagement....
  
   - (Latin: corona navalis), was a gold crown awarded to the first man who boarded an enemy ship during a naval engagement. In style, the crown was made of gold and surmounted with the beaks of ships.
• Gold Crown - (Latin: corona aurea), Awarded to both Centurions and apparently some principales, for killing an enemy in single combat and holding the ground to the end of the battle.
• Battlement Crowns - These were made of gold and decorated with the uprights (valli) of an entrenchment or turrets of a city. It was awarded to the first soldier or Centurion to mount the wall or palisade of an enemy town or camp.
  • Mural Crown
    Mural crown
    -Usage in ancient times:In Hellenistic culture, a mural crown identified the goddess Tyche, the embodiment of the fortune of a city, familiar to Romans as Fortuna...
    
     - (Latin: corona muralis), Also referred to as the "walled crown", this was a golden crown, or circle of gold intended to resemble a battlement, bestowed upon the first soldier who climbed the wall of a besieged city and to successfully place the standard of the attacking army upon it.
  • Camp Crown - (Latin: corona vallaris or corona castrensis), A golden crown which was ornamented with the palisades used in forming an entrenchment.
• Crown of the Preserver - awarded to "those who have shielded and saved any of the citizens or allies" - Polybius relates that the crown is presented by those civilians the soldier saved and adds that "the man thus preserved also reverences his preserver as a father all through his life, and must treat him in every way like a parent.".

Synonyms for Emperor

• Augustus
  Augustus
  Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
  
   (also "" or ""), "Majestic" or "Venerable"; an honorific cognomen
  Cognomen
  The cognomen nōmen "name") was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name in order to identify a particular branch within...
  
   exclusive to the emperor

}, (lit. "Self-ruler"); Greek title equivalent to imperator i.e. Commander-in-Chief
} (Basileus) , Greek title meaning sovereign

Monarch

A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

, popularly used in the east to refer to the emperor; a formal title of the Roman emperor beginning with Heraclius

Heraclius

Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...

• Caesar
  Caesar (title)
  Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator...
  
   (also "" or "Nobilissimus Caesar"), "Caesar" or "Most Noble Caesar"; an honorific name later used to identify an Emperor-designate
• Censor
  Censor (ancient Rome)
  The censor was an officer in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances....
  
  , a Republican office with a five year term and one coequal officeholder
• Consul
  Consul
  Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
  
  , the highest magistracy of the Roman republic with a one year term and one coequal officeholder
• Dominus, "Lord" or "Master"; an honorific title popular in the Empire's middle history
• Imperator
  Imperator
  The Latin word Imperator was originally a title roughly equivalent to commander under the Roman Republic. Later it became a part of the titulature of the Roman Emperors as part of their cognomen. The English word emperor derives from imperator via Old French Empreur...
  
  , "Commander" or "Commander-in-Chief"; a victory title taken on accession to the purple and after a major military victory; the praenomen
  Praenomen
  The praenomen was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus , the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy...
  
   of most Roman emperors
• Imperator Destinatus, "Destined to be Emperor"; heir apparent, used by Septimius Severus
  Septimius Severus
  Septimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of...
  
   for Caracalla
  Caracalla
  Caracalla , was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. The eldest son of Septimius Severus, he ruled jointly with his younger brother Geta until he murdered the latter in 211...
  
  .
• Imperium maius
  Imperium
  Imperium is a Latin word which, in a broad sense, translates roughly as 'power to command'. In ancient Rome, different kinds of power or authority were distinguished by different terms. Imperium, referred to the sovereignty of the state over the individual...
  
  , "greater imperium"; absolute power to a degree greater than any other, including power of enacting capital punishment
• Invictus, "Unconquered"; an honorific title
• Pater Patriae
  Pater Patriae
  Pater Patriae , also seen as Parens Patriae, is a Latin honorific meaning "Father of the Country," or more literally, "Father of the Fatherland".- Roman history :...
  
  , "Father of the Fatherland"; an honorific title
• Pius Felix, "Pious and Blessed" (lit. "Dutiful and Happy"); an honorific title
• Pontifex Maximus
  Pontifex Maximus
  The Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post...
  
  , "Supreme Pontiff" or "Chief Priest" (lit. "Greatest Bridgemaker"); a title and office of Republican origin - could not be used by Christian Emperors, while by that time only the pope
  Pope
  The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
  
   had a claim on the title of highest religious authority.
• Princeps
  Princeps
  Princeps is a Latin word meaning "first in time or order; the first, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first man, first person."...
  
  , "First Citizen" or "Leading Citizen"; an honorific title denoting the status of the emperor as first among equals
  Primus inter pares
  Primus inter pares is Latin phrase describing the most senior person of a group sharing the same rank or office.When not used in reference to a specific title, it may indicate that the person so described is formally equal, but looked upon as an authority of special importance by their peers...
  
  
• Princeps Iuventatis, "Prince of Youth"; an honorific title awarded to a presumptive Emperor-designate
• Princeps Senatus
  Princeps senatus
  The princeps senatus was the first member by precedence of the Roman Senate. Although officially out of the cursus honorum and owning no imperium, this office brought enormous prestige to the senator holding it.-Overview:...
  
  , "First Man of the Senate" a Republican office with a five year term
• Tribunicia potestas
  Tribune
  Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...
  
  , "tribunician power"; the powers of a tribune of the people
  Tribune
  Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...
  
   including sacrosanctity and the veto

Victory Titles

Victory titles were treated as Latin cognomina and were usually the name of the enemy defeated by the commander. Hence, names like Africanus ("the African"), Numidicus ("the Numidian"), Isauricus ("the Isaurian"), Creticus ("the Cretan"), Gothicus ("the Goth"), Germanicus ("the German") and Parthicus ("the Parthian"), seemingly out of place for ardently patriotic Romans, are in fact expressions of Roman superiority over these peoples. The most famous grantee of Republican victory title was of course Publius Cornelius Scipio

Scipio Aemilianus Africanus

Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Numantinus , also known as Scipio Aemilianus or Scipio Africanus the Younger, was a leading general and politician of the ancient Roman Republic...

, who for his great victories in the Second Punic War was awarded by the Roman Senate the title "Africanus" and is thus known to history as "Scipio Africanus".

The practice continued in the Roman Empire, although it was subsequently amended by some Roman Emperors who desired to emphasise the totality of their victories by adding Maximus ("the Greatest") to the victory title (e.g., Parthicus Maximus, "the Greatest Parthian").

Decorations (Medal Equivalents)

Polybius writes that "After a battle in which some of them have distinguished themselves, the general calls an assembly of the troops, and bringing forward those whom he considers to have displayed conspicuous valour, first of all speaks in laudatory terms of the courageous deeds of each and of anything else in their previous conduct which deserves commendation". Only after this are the military decorations presented:

• Torc
  Torc
  A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large, usually rigid, neck ring typically made from strands of metal twisted together. The great majority are open-ended at the front, although many seem designed for near-permanent wear and would have been difficult to remove. Smaller torcs worn around...
  
  - gold necklet
• armillae
  Armilla (military decoration)
  An armilla was a gold armband awarded as a military decoration to soldiers of ancient Rome....
  
  - gold armbands
• phalerae
  Phalera (military decoration)
  A phalera was a gold, silver, or bronze sculpted disk worn on the breastplate during parades by Roman soldiers who had been awarded it as a kind of medal. Roman military units could also be awarded phalerae for distinguished conduct in action. These awards were often mounted on the staffs of the...
  
  - gold, silver, or bronze sculpted disks worn on the breastplate during parades
• hasta pura or Arrow without a Head- a ceremonial silver spear awarded to "the man who has wounded an enemy". The use of this decoration is not clear.
• a small silver replica of a standard or flag (the vexillum).
• a cup - presented to an infantryman "who has slain and stripped an enemy" not in the normal melee of battle but voluntarily in single combat after throwing themselves into danger
• "horse trappings" - presented to a cavalryman "who has slain and stripped an enemy" not in the normal melee of battle but voluntarily in single combat after throwing themselves into danger

Financial awards

• monetary bonuses
• part of the booty and spoils after a conquest including slaves

Imperial Parades

• Ovation
  Ovation
  The ovation was a lower form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted, when war was not declared between enemies on the level of states, when an enemy was considered basely inferior or when the general conflict was resolved with little to no bloodshed or danger to the army itself.The general...
  
   - a less-honored form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted, when war was not declared between enemies on the level of states, when an enemy was considered basely inferior (slaves, pirates), and when the general conflict was resolved with little to no bloodshed or danger to the army itself.
• Triumph
  Roman triumph
  The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
  
   - a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly honour the military commander (dux
  Dux
  Dux is Latin for leader and later for Duke and its variant forms ....
  
  ) of a notably successful foreign war or campaign and to display the glories of Roman victory.

Punishments

When the Roman soldier enrolled in service to the state, he swore a military oath known as the sacramentum: originally to the Senate and Roman People, later to the general and the emperor. The sacramentum stated that he would fulfill his conditions of service on pain of punishment up to and inclusive of death. Discipline in the army was extremely rigorous by modern standards, and the general had the power to summarily execute any soldier under his command.

Polybius divides the punishments inflicted by a commander on one or more troops into punishments for military crimes, and punishments for "unmanly acts", although there seems to be little difference in the harsh nature of the punishment between the two classes.

Punishments for crimes

• Fustuarium
  Fustuarium
  In the military of ancient Rome, fustuarium or fustuarium supplicium was a severe form of military discipline in which a soldier was cudgeled to death...
  
  or bastinado — Following a court-martial sentence for desertion or dereliction of duty, the soldier would be stoned, or beaten to death by cudgels, in front of the assembled troops, by his fellow soldiers, whose lives had been put in danger. Soldiers under sentence of fustuarium who escaped were not pursued, but lived under sentence of banishment from Rome. Polybius writes that the fustuarium is "also inflicted on those who steal anything from the camp; on those who give false evidence; on young men who have abused their persons; and finally on anyone who has been punished thrice for the same fault."
• Pecunaria multa - fines or deductions from the pay allowance.
• Flogging in front of the century, cohort or legion.
• "demanding sureties", including the re-taking of the military oath known as the sacramentum.
• For treason or theft, the punishment would most probably be being placed in a sack of snakes and thrown into a nearby river or lake.

Another punishment in the Roman Military only applied to people involved in the prison system; this rule was that if a prisoner died due to the punishment inflicted by Roman legionnaires, unless he was given the death penalty, then the leader of the troops would be given the same punishment.

It would seem that in the later Empire independent commanders were given considerable latitude in the crimes they chose to punish and the penalties they inflicted. According to the Historia Augusta  the future Emperor Aurelian once ordered a man who was convicted of 'seducing' (i.e. raping?) the wife of the man on whom he had been billeted to be attached to two trees drawn together so that when the restraining ropes were cut, they sprang apart and the unfortunate victim was torn asunder. The author of the Vita Aureliani comments that Aurelian rarely punished twice for the same offence. However, even by Roman standards his justice was considered particularly harsh. As always with the Historia Augusta, one takes this story with a pinch of salt and either wanders what fourth century point the author was attempting to make of a third century incident or whether he merely attributed to Aurelian a good story that seemed appropriate to that man's reputation. On the other hand, the imposition of cruel and unusual penalties to maintain discipline among the brutalised soldiery in the chaotic conditions of the north European provinces in the mid-third century was a necessity for the maintenance of effective command.

Punishments for "unmanly acts"

• Decimatio
  Decimation (Roman Army)
  Decimation |ten]]") was a form of military discipline used by officers in the Roman Army to punish mutinous or cowardly soldiers. The word decimation is derived from Latin meaning "removal of a tenth".-Procedure:...
  
  - a form of extreme military discipline used by officers in the Roman Army to punish mutinous or cowardly soldiers in exceptional cases. A cohort selected for punishment by decimation was divided into groups of ten; each group cast lots, and the soldier on whom the lot fell was executed by his nine comrades, often by stoning or clubbing. The remaining soldiers were given rations of barley
  Barley
  Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
  
   instead of wheat
  Wheat
  Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
  
   and forced to sleep outside of the Roman encampment. This punishment was forgotten over time since the early Republic, but the ancient punishment was resurrected by Marcus Crassus during the Spartacus
  Spartacus
  Spartacus was a famous leader of the slaves in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the war, and surviving historical accounts are sometimes contradictory and may not always be reliable...
  
   gladiator rebellion in 72 BC, when two of his legions disobeyed his direct orders not to engage the enemy. As a result they suffered a terrible defeat. Crassus's response to the disobedience was brutal. He assembled the two legions and pulled out every 10th man as he walked across the ranks. Each man who was pulled out was to be beaten to death by his preceding nine comrades. Some scholars say that Julius Caesar joined these two legions to form his legendary "Legio X Equitata"
• Castigatio - being hit by the centurion with his staff or animadversio fustium
• Reduction of rations, or to be forced to eat barley instead of the usual grain ration
• Whipping with the flagrum (flagellum, flagella), or "short whip" — a much more brutal punishment than simple flogging. The "short whip" was used for slave volunteers, volones.
• gradus deiectio - a reduction in rank
  Reduction in rank
  Reduction in rank may refer to two separate concepts:*In military law, a reduction in rank is a demotion in military rank as punishment for a crime or wrongdoing, imposed by a court-martial or other authority...
  
  
• missio ignominiosa - a dishonorable discharge
• Loss of advantages gained from length of service.
• militiae mutatio - relegation to inferior service or duties.
• Summary execution.
• munerum indictio - additional duties