Research Catalog

Title

Vegetius : epitome of military science / translated with notes and introduction by N.P. Milner.

Author

Vegetius Renatus, Flavius

Publication

Liverpool [England] : Liverpool University Press, 1996.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

Milner, N. P.

Description

xliii, 161 p.; 21 cm.

Summary

"The only Latin art of war to survive, Vegetius' Epitome was for long an essential part of the medieval prince's military education. The core of his proposals, the maintenance of a highly-trained professional standing army and navy, was revolutionary for medieval Europe, while his theory of deterrence through strength remains the foundation of modern Western defence policy. This annotated translation highlights the significance for his own age of Vegetius' advice, written just before the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, at a time when economic weakness and political disintegration threatened to undermine the strategic defensive structure that had underpinned the Roman State for so long." "The main thrust of his reforms is to confront the problems of the fragmentation of the army, the barbarization of its personnel, the loss of professional skills, and the substitution of mercenaries for standing forces. The accent of the work is on the practicalities of recruiting and training new model armies (and navies) starting from scratch, and on the strategies appropriate to their use against the barbarian invaders of the period."--Jacket.

Series Statement

Translated texts for historians ; v. 16

Uniform Title

• De re militari. English
• Translated texts for historians v. 16.

Alternative Title

• De re militari.
• Epitome of military science

Subject

• Vegetius Renatus, Flavius 383-450
• Vegetius Renatus, Flavius
• Military art and science > Rome
• Rome > Army
• Rome > Navy

Genre/Form

• Early works
• Early works.

Note

• Translation of: De re militari

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Minor west-Syrian chronography -- Dionysius of Tel-Mahre, secular history, introduction concordance of the contents -- Two apocalyptic text of AD 691+ (by S.P.B.)

ISBN

085323910X

OCLC

• 36182380
• SCSB-12205662

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library