Decimation
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary · Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
The punishing every tenth soldier by lot, for mutiny or other failure of duty, was termed "decimatio legionie" by the Romans. Sometimes only the twentieth man was punished (vicesimatio), or the hundredth ( centesimatio ). Also tithing or tenth part.