View source for Vegetius

{{short description|Roman author}}
{{Infobox writer
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| name             = Vegetius
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| image            = Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus - DPLA - acf9274ab8e54ff66a708908b7b969d8.jpg
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| caption          = Fanciful portrait from a 1529 edition
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| birth_date       = 4th century AD<!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year with {{Birth year and age|YYYY}} unless the exact date is already widely published, as per [[WP:DOB]]. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. -->
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| subject          =[[Military]] affairs, [[Veterinary medicine]] <!-- or: | subjects = -->
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| notable_works    = ''[[De re militari]]''
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}}[[File:Toscana, vegezio, mulomedicina, 1250-1375 ca, pluteo 45.19, 01.JPG|thumb|300px|''Mulomedicina'' (1250-1375 ca., [[Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana]], pluteo 45.19)]]
'''Publius''' (or '''Flavius''') '''Vegetius Renatus''',<ref>His name appears both as Publius Vegetius Renatus and Flavius Vegetius Renatus. Milner, ''Vegetius: Epitome of Military Science'' (Liverpool University Press, 1993), pp. xxxi–xxxiii, believes the evidence favors Publius.</ref> known as '''Vegetius''' ({{IPA|la|u̯ɛˈɡɛtiʊs|lang}}), was a writer of the [[Later Roman Empire]] (late [[4th century]]). Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what is contained in his two surviving works: ''Epitoma rei militaris'' (also referred to as ''[[De Re Militari|De re militari]]''), and the lesser-known ''Digesta Artis Mulomedicinae'', a guide to [[veterinary medicine]]. He identifies himself in the opening of his work ''Epitoma rei militaris'' as a [[Christians|Christian]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Lipowsky, Felix Joseph |title=Des Flavius Vegetius Renatus fünf Bücher über Kriegswissenschaft und Kriegskunst der Römer  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cao9AAAAcAAJ&q=Vegetius&pg=PR7 |year=1827 |publisher=Seidel}}</ref>

==Dating of work==
The latest event alluded to in his ''Epitoma rei militaris'' is the death of the Emperor [[Gratian]] (383); the earliest attestation of the work is a ''subscriptio'' by Flavius Eutropius, writing in [[Constantinople]] in 450, which appears in one of two families of manuscripts, suggesting that a division of the manuscript tradition had already occurred. Despite Eutropius' location in Constantinople, the scholarly consensus is that Vegetius wrote in the [[Western Roman Empire]].<ref name="Walter Goffart pp 49-80">Walter Goffart. "The date and purposes of Vegetius' ''De Re Militari''". In ''Rome's Fall and After'', chapter 3, pp. 49–80. Hambledon Press, 1989. {{ISBN|1 85285 001 9}}.</ref>  Vegetius dedicates his work to the reigning emperor, who is identified as Theodosius, ''ad Theodosium imperatorem'', in the manuscript family that was not edited in 450; the identity is disputed: some scholars identify him with [[Theodosius I]] ({{reigned|379|395}},<ref>N. P. Milner sets forth the argument for Theodosius in ''Vegetius: Epitome of Military Science'', second edition (Liverpool: University Press, 1996), pp. xxxvii ff; T. D. Barnes, "The Date of Vegetius" ''Phoenix'' '''33'''.3 (Autumn 1979), pp. 254–257, makes the case for Theodosius.</ref> while others follow [[Otto Seeck]]<ref>Seeck, "Die Zeit des Vegetius", ''Hermes'' '''11''' (1876), 61–83. Seeck's conclusions changed the mind of Karl Lang, who twice edited the Teubner ''De re militaria'', and adopted Seeck's ascription.</ref> and identify him with the later [[Valentinian III]], dating the work to 430–35.<ref>G. R. Watson, ''The Roman Soldier'' (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1969), p. 26.</ref> Goffart agrees that the later date is likely, suggesting that the work may have been intended to support a military revival in the time of [[Flavius Aetius|Aetius]]'s supremacy.<ref name="Walter Goffart pp 49-80"/> Rosenbaum also argues that he wrote in the early 430s; [[Theodosius II]] might then have been the dedicatee. Rosenbaum uses allusions from Vegetius's works and relationships to the work of [[Merobaudes (poet)|Merobaudes]] to suggest that Vegetius was a senior court official, ''primiscrinius'' to the [[praetorian prefect]], who had been an [[agens in rebus]].<ref>Rosenbaum, S; "''Who was Vegetius?''" published on Academia.edu 2015 https://www.academia.edu/5496690/Who_was_Vegetius</ref>

== ''Epitoma rei militaris'' ==
{{main|De re militari}}

Vegetius' [[epitome]] mainly focuses on military organization and how to react to certain occasions in war. Vegetius explains how one should fortify and organize a camp, how to train troops, how to handle undisciplined troops, how to handle a battle engagement, how to march, formation gauge and many other useful methods of promoting organization and valour in the legion.

As G. R. Watson observes, Vegetius' ''Epitoma'' "is the only ancient manual of Roman military institutions to have survived intact". Despite this, Watson doubts its value, for Vegetius "was neither a historian nor a soldier: his work is a compilation carelessly constructed from material of all ages, a congeries of inconsistencies".<ref>Watson, ''The Roman Soldier'', pp. 25f</ref> These antiquarian sources, according to his own statement, were [[Cato the Elder]], [[Cornelius Celsus]], [[Frontinus]], [[Tarruntenus Paternus|Paternus]] and the imperial constitutions of [[Augustus]], [[Trajan]], and [[Hadrian]] (1.8).<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Vegetius|volume=27|page=968}}</ref>

The first book is a plea for army reform; it vividly portrays the military decadence of the Late Roman Empire. Vegetius also describes in detail the organisation, training and equipment of the army of the early Empire. The third book contains a series of military maxims, which were (appropriately enough, considering the similarity in the military conditions of the two ages) the foundation of military learning for every European commander from [[William the Silent]] to [[Frederick the Great]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

His book on [[siege]]craft contains the best description of Late Empire and [[Medieval]] siege machines. Among other things, it shows details of the siege engine called the ''[[Onager (siege weapon)|onager]]'', which afterwards played a great part in sieges until the development of modern cannonry. The fifth book gives an account of the materiel and personnel of the [[Roman navy]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

According to the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition]], "In manuscript, Vegetius' work had a great vogue from its first advent. Its rules of siegecraft were much studied in the [[Middle Ages]]." N.P. Milner observes that it was "one of the most popular Latin technical works from Antiquity, rivalling [[Pliny the Elder|the elder Pliny]]'s ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' in the number of surviving copies dating from before AD 1300."<ref>Milner, ''Vegetius'', p. xiii</ref> It was translated into English, French (by [[Jean de Meun]] and others), Italian (by the Florentine judge [[Bono Giamboni]] and others), Catalan, Spanish, Czech, and Yiddish before the invention of printing. The first printed editions are ascribed to Utrecht (1473), Cologne (1476), Paris (1478), Rome (in ''Veteres de re mil. scriptores'', 1487), and Pisa (1488). A German translation by Ludwig Hohenwang appeared at Ulm in 1475.<ref name="EB1911"/>

However, from that point Vegetius' position as the premier military authority began to decline, as ancient historians such as [[Polybius]] became available. [[Niccolò Machiavelli]] attempted to address Vegetius' defects in his ''[[The Art of War (Machiavelli)|L'arte della Guerra]]'' (Florence, 1521), with heavy use of [[Polybius]], [[Frontinus]], and [[Livy]], but [[Justus Lipsius]]' accusation that he confused the institutions of diverse periods of the Roman Empire and [[G. Stewechius]]' opinion that the survival of Vegetius' work led to the loss of his named sources were more typical of the late [[Renaissance]].<ref>Milner, ''Vegetius'', pp. xiiif.</ref> While as late as the 18th century a soldier such as [[Marshal Puysegur]] based his own works on this acknowledged model,<ref name="EB1911"/> in Milner's words, Vegetius' work suffered "a long period of deepening neglect".<ref>Milner, ''Vegetius'', p. xiv.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Translations==
*''Military Institutions of Vegetius,'' translated with a preface and notes by Lieutenant John Clarke, London, 1767. Abridged reprint (Books IV and V omitted): ''The Military Institutions of the Romans,'' Military Service Publishing Company, Harrisburg, Pa.. 1944.
*''Vegetius: Epitome of Military Science'', translated with notes and introduction by N.P. Milner, Translated Texts for Historians, Vol. 16, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1993. (Second edition 1996; second revised edition 2011.)
*''Het Romeinse leger'', Dutch translation by Fik Meijer, Polak/Van gennep Publishers, Amsterdam, 2004.

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus}}
The complete Latin text of ''De Re Militari'' is available online:
*[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/vegetius.html The Latin Library]
*[http://www.intratext.com/y/LAT0189.HTM IntraText]

From the [https://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/rosenwald.html Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection at the Library of Congress]
*[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/Rosenwald.0061.1 ''De re militari''] [Cologne] N[icolaus] G[oetz, ca. 1475]. 
*[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/Rosenwald.0062.1 ''De re militari''] [Augsburg, Johann Wiener, ca. 1475].

The 1944 abridged edition of Lieutenant John Clarke's 1767 translation (omitting Books IV and V, "of interest only to military antiquarians") is available online:
*[http://www.digitalattic.org/home/war/vegetius/ ''The Military Institutions of the Romans'']

A complete facsimile of John Clarke's 1767 translation is available at Google Books:
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=sQlXAAAAcAAJ ''Military Institutions of Vegetius'']

1529 German-language edition of [[De re militari]] published by Heinrich Stayner with woodcuts variously depicting underwater diving suits, siege equipment, cannons, and air mattresses for the comfort of soldiers in the field.

*[https://digital.sciencehistory.org/works/7w62f9133 Vier Bücher der Ritterschafft] (All 121 full-page woodcuts and 2 half-page woodcuts freely available for download in a variety of formats from [[Science History Institute]] Digital Collections).

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[[Category:4th-century Romans]]
[[Category:5th-century Romans]]
[[Category:4th-century writers in Latin]]
[[Category:5th-century writers in Latin]]
[[Category:4th-century Christians]]
[[Category:5th-century Christians]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman military writers]]
[[Category:Date of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Date of death unknown]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman veterinarians]]