I heard recently that the aftermath of a battle was absolutely atrocious, with dead and dying bodies all over. It's got me curious, so I'd like to ask a few questions if I may. By the way, in this scenario, the Romans have won, the size of armies each side fielded is up to you.
Did the Romans search for their wounded? If so, what injuries could they actually fix? (what kind of wounds usually weren't mortal?)
What state are the bodies in? Movies tend depict battle wounds as simple splashes of blood...Just how gruesome were some of the wounds?
Is it true that the Romans counted the number of kills for the sake of the famed Roman triumph? If so, was there a system to this?
Lastly, if this isn't too broad of a question, would it be possible to get some sort of summary of a general "hear, see & smell?" of the entire thing?
Thanks so much for any replies.
while i can't answer the other questions you asked, i can answer the first one.
The Romans had a very vast knowledge of medicine, they performed arrow removal, to brain surgery.
So in the field of battle which injuries would they be able to fix depends really. it honestly depends on the weapons of the enemy, if it was a slashing weapon it increases your chances to live because slashing weapons are usually superficial wounds. This is why the Romans used stabbing weapons because slashing would do nothing they were trained in a way to learn to stab, because stabbing resulted a higher chance of a kill.
As said in the Chapter 16,1. He goes into detail about stab wounds in the abdomen that they are particularly deadly that if the lower intestine is breached, than there is nothing that can be done. The large intestine tho is able to be sutured, and Celsus goes into detail around pg 388 how to suture these wounds.
Celsus is especially disliking of missiles, or arrows. He really dislikes these because he thinks that they are rather hard to deal with, and especially dangerous. Chapter 5,1
He goes into detail about how Missiles are to be extracted through either their point of entry, or through a exit hole made by a scalpel depending on how deep the missile went, will tell you whether to remove through entry or make and exit.
But special rules apply to arrows depending on the size of the barbs, the depth of the arrows. such if the barbs are small then they are to be cut once they come into view, but if the barbs are too large they are to be covered by reed pens, another thing he mentions that most arrows aren't extracted by the entry hole(for obvious reasons) as they will tear up more flesh than needed.
So as you can tell the Romans have a lot of knowledge on the subject of war injuries, but while maybe you can find a doctor that is as trained and knowledgeable as Celsus your in good luck you'll probably live. That is if infections dont kill you after, but Celsus also has a whole book on cleaning and keeping bandages, and treating post patients also!
So to answer your question, most injuries that aren't stab wounds are fixable, and missile injuries are survivable depending where you were hit. The problem of finding a trained enough doctor is also an issue while many of these wounds might be survivable, the doctor may not have the skill to save them.
All of this information can be found on Celsus On Medicine Book VII also many other medical knowledge can also be found in the other various books Here
PS: I dont know why the links are coming out weird, but if you go to the last link, and go to Book VII you should be able to find the sections i speak about
I do wonder whether recovering wounded soldiers (who had been knocked unconscious) hours after the battle would continue to attack any other recovering enemies they found, or if the battle was considered concluded and everyone concentrated on rejoining their units.
Follow up question what would the romans do to wounded gauls.
Can I ask in this exact scenario too, did the Celts wear their Gold Torcs into battle, and did the Romans collect these from the dead afterward?