VEGETIUS

Flavius Vegetius Ranatus. A Roman writer on military affairs, who, under a commission from Theodosius I, composed, between 384 and 395 A.D., a work in four books on military affairs (Epitome Rei Militaris) consisting of extracts from earlier writers on this subject (especially Cato, Celsus, and Frontinus). He raises no claim to personal knowledge or to stylistic merits, but only to a recognition of his industry. Although it is on the whole an arid and uncritical compilation, the book is valuable for the light it throws on the Roman military system.