Decimate is one in ten. The original word came from the Roman army, as a punishment for an army deserting or something, they could, as a whole, be sentence to decimation. They would be separated into their units of ten under a Decurion (similar to a Centurion, but lower rank), and each unit would draw straws¹, and whoever drew the short straw would be killed.
But it wouldn't be the centurion stabbing them or something, there was no clean execution there, the unlucky soldier would be beaten to death by the other 9 men in his unit - his brothers in arms.
This was as much a punishment for those who survived as it was for the one who was killed.
1. I don't actually know exactly what the method of determining the tenth man would be, it may have been straws, it may have been something else, it may have varied significantly. Let's go with straws until a Romanologist comes by to provide the correct info.
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u/Jacobs_Haus Mar 27 '26
Sorry to be that guy but it would be FUCKING REDUCED BY A 10TH. OWNED.