to decimate old or to decimate new?

Question

I see written in old Spanish literature “se decimaban”. For example: “Se decimaban los ejércitos romanos”. “The Roman armies were decimated.”

One can not find “decimarse” in any new dictionaries. The modern word of choice is: “diezmarse” with a conjugation totally different than the older version. What gives?

Answer 1

There seems to be "a disturbance in the Force" on this site. But, to quote Tolkien, (paraphrase) "When the great fall, the lesser must lead." Anyhows, my (very) humble opinion is that the older Spanish is closer to Latin than the modern term.

As the languages evolve, they vary. I would use the newer version, as the older one is only of interest to historians. For whatever it is worth, the "decimation" term originated in Roman times to describe that whenever a Roman Legion, or unit, broke and fled, afterwards, the survivors were forced to kill one out of every ten Legioneres "por encourager les autres," if you'll excuse my French.