Vegetius (correctly Flavius Vegetius Renatus) (active c.390), Roman military writer. The author of the only Roman military manual to survive complete was not a soldier, but a senior civilian administrator who advocated a return to the discipline of the ‘old legion’. Vegetius reconstructs its recruitment and organization, field strategy and tactics, siege and naval warfare, by using many sources of different dates, an antiquarian approach which makes his De Re Militari a difficult text for modern students. It largely ignores the 4th-century army, and did not influence imperial policy, but it gained a wide readership in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. His influence extended into the 18th century, linking with the Enlightenment and its ‘scientific’ approach to military thought.

Bibliography

• Vegetius, Renatus Flavius, Vegetius: Epitome of Military Science, trans. and ed. N. P. Milner (Liverpool, 1993)

— Roger S. O. Tomlin

Vegetius (Flāvius Vegetius Renātus), military writer under the emperor Theodosius (AD 379–95). His Epitoma rei militaris (‘military epitome’) is a compilation of material from many periods but aims to describe and advocate the training and organization of the classic Roman legion.

(Flavius Vegetius Renatus) (vĭjē'shəs), fl. c.385–400, Roman writer. He is the author of Epitoma rei militaris [a summary of military matters], which is an important source of information about the Roman military system.

Quotes:

"Let him who desires peace prepare for war."