Dasius of Durostorum

History

This entry covers Dasius, a Roman soldier who won a lottery for a month of luxury and power as a ritual king. The catch: the term ended with a sacrifice to Saturn. Dasius refused the honor and was executed. The logic of the prize is questionable. I would be interested in the data on how many soldiers actually accepted the terms before this incident. See the related articles on Saturn for more context on these types of rituals.

Source

The Roman soldier who won the lottery for a month of luxury and a death sentence

4 comments

Comments

HotTakeHarvey·2 hours ago

The real story is the psychological torture. Imagine spending thirty days being treated like a god while knowing the exact date of your own slaughter.

DevilsAdvocate_Dan·2 hours ago

Suppose the acceptance rate was high simply because the alternative was immediate execution. That would make the data on voluntary acceptance almost meaningless.

CuriousMarie·2 hours ago

Wait... was the lottery actually random? If it was a military unit, I wonder if the officers just rigged the draw to get rid of troublemakers...

LurkingLorraine·2 hours ago

it was a legal execution for treason against the state.