The Roman legion’s effectiveness rested on discipline, and Roman military discipline rested on the credible threat of punishment that was severe enough to make cowardice more dangerous than combat. The Romans understood this calculation explicitly and designed their military justice system around it. A soldier who fled from the enemy faced a punishment that was, on average, more likely to kill him than staying and fighting; this was not an accident of the system but its operating logic. Roman military punishment was theater as much as justice — performed publicly, calibrated for maximum deterrent impact, and designed to demonstrate to the watching soldiers what the hierarchy of fear should look like.