Running the gauntlet: Difference between revisions
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*It was also common practice in the French army, especially for thieves. |
*It was also common practice in the French army, especially for thieves. |
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*Also used in training, notably on military cadets, as in a scene in the movie ''Oberst Redl''. |
*Also used in training, notably on military cadets, as in a scene in the movie ''Oberst Redl''. |
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*There was also a naval version, on deck, stopped from rushing by the master-at-arms with a cutlass and pushed forward by a corporal, notably for minor theft |
*There was also a naval version, on deck, stopped from rushing by the master-at-arms with a cutlass and pushed forward by a corporal, notably for minor theft in the Royal navy, using rope yarns that were plaited into so-called ''knittles'' (a word for a string; possibly associated with nettles), looking like an improvised mini-version of the [[cat o' nine tails]] (of which formal scourger the culprit got an excruciating dozen lashes in advance, guaranteeing any further hit to hurt his lacerated back badly), which was also used –even with knots, worsening the sting- on severe theft charges but then immobilizing them by ropes. |
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* Mild forms, not intended to cause permanent damage, have also been used on or by children. |
* Mild forms, not intended to cause permanent damage, have also been used on or by children. |
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Revision as of 00:51, 11 May 2006
The fustuarium (an abstraction from the Latin fustis, a branch or rod) was a Roman military form of execution by cudgeling, which was copied by later armies.
Roman antiquity
Since laxness on guard duty or desertion could endanger the entire corps and even the Roman state, a slacking soldier was liable to be found as unworthy of the uniform, stripped, and beaten to death with sticks by his comrades, whose trust he had betrayed, as a collective exercise of ultimate discipline against what could be considered as passive equivalents of high treason. The excruciating effects on the condemned are comparable to running the gauntlet (see below); compare also to breaking on the wheel.
It was also applied for disruptive crimes such as theft and sodomy or to certain captured enemies.
It could also be applied to every tenth man of a whole unit as a mode of decimation, though decimation was usually done by sword.
Some sources claim it could also take the form of stoning.
Post-Roman successors
A very similar military punishment found in later armies was known as "running the gauntlet." The condemned soldier was stripped to the waist and had to pass between a double row (hence also known as die Gasse, "the alley") of cudgeling or switching comrades, while stopped from running through by the blade of a subaltern walking in front of him. The condemned might sometimes also be dragged through by a rope around the hands or prodded along by a pursuer. Various rules might apply, such as banning edged weapons, requiring the group to keep one foot in place, or allowing the soldier to attempt to protect his head with his hands. The punishment was not necessarily continued until death (if so, he might be finished off when unable to walk), and actually considered far less dishonoring than a beating with exposure to ridicule on the pillory, pranger, or stocks, since one could 'take it like a man' upright among soldiers.
In some traditions, if the condemned was able to finish the run and exit the gauntlet at the far end, his faults would be deemed paid, and he would rejoin his comrades with a clean slate (and serious injuries), elsewhere he was sent back until death followed.
- A Prussian cavalry variation was to beat the condemned with spurs instead of rods.
- It was also common practice in the French army, especially for thieves.
- Also used in training, notably on military cadets, as in a scene in the movie Oberst Redl.
- There was also a naval version, on deck, stopped from rushing by the master-at-arms with a cutlass and pushed forward by a corporal, notably for minor theft in the Royal navy, using rope yarns that were plaited into so-called knittles (a word for a string; possibly associated with nettles), looking like an improvised mini-version of the cat o' nine tails (of which formal scourger the culprit got an excruciating dozen lashes in advance, guaranteeing any further hit to hurt his lacerated back badly), which was also used –even with knots, worsening the sting- on severe theft charges but then immobilizing them by ropes.
- Mild forms, not intended to cause permanent damage, have also been used on or by children.
The word gauntlet, unrelated to the French-derived word gauntlet meaning a protective glove, was probably transferred from the Swedish gatlopp to British troops in the Thirty Years' War. Variant terms include "gantlet" and the poetic "gantelope".
The practice persisted in parts of Germany (mainly Prussia) and Austria as the Spießrutenlaufen, or pike-run, and also in Russia, until the 19th century.
Independent parallel
The Jesuit Isaac Jogues was subject to a similar treatment while a prisoner of the Iroquois in 1641. He described the ordeal in a letter that appears in the book "The Jesuit Martyrs of North America" (c 1925, The Universal Knowledge Foundation, p. 163): "Before arriving (at the Iroquois Village) we met the young men of the country, in a line armed with sticks..." and that he and his fellow Frenchmen were made to walk slowly past them "for the sake of giving time to anyone who struck us."
Modern use
The expression "(to run) the gauntlet" is now applied to various punishments or tests consisting of consecutive blows or tasks endured sequentially but delivered collectively, especially by colleagues. Even mere humiliation may take such a form, such as the walk of shame as ritual expulsion.
Thus a fraternity paddling during hazing and/or as a punishment by all present brothers can follow this mise-en-scène. Common variants include having to crawl through on all fours, being made to halt in front of every paddle in exposed (bended) position, wearing only undergaments or ridiculous costume, or being smeared and soiled before and/or during.
Similar practices are used in other initiations and rites of passage, as on pollywogs (those passing the equator for the first time; external link : [1] includes a paddling version), in aviation when a new pilot gets his first license, or in mountaineering when reaching a certain summit for the first time. As these do not cause serious injuries, only bearable pain, they are sometimes eagerly anticipated by the initiant as a sign of acceptance into a more prestigious group.
- In team sports such as lacrosse and football, "the gauntlet" is also a common name for a drill, following a similar pattern: players are blocked or checked by the entire team in sequence.