Vegetius'S ‘De Re Militari’: The Triumph of Mediocrity

Abstract

Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Vegetius was regarded as the most authoritative writer on Roman military institutions in particular and upon war in general. His appeal was both historical and practical; his anti-mercenary fervour impressed Italian humanists in the fifteenth century,- his aphoristic wisdom was incorporated by Machiavelli into his own work and was, in turn, further disseminated by the many military writers who fell wider Machiavelli's spell. Nevertheless, Vegetius's reputation was increasingly under threat. The accumulation and publication of materials relating to modern warfare and to technologies unknown to the ancients was developing apace, and even writers who believed that classical military institutions remained relevant to modern warfare now had at their disposal a range of ancient authors largely unknown in the Middle Ages. Scholars were becoming simultaneously more aware of Vegetius's shortcomings and more sophisticated in their handling of historical sources. Yet, despite this, Vegetius enjoyed hisgreatest (though short-lived) triumph early in the seventeenth century when he was translated, paraphrased and illustrated by Johann von Wallhausen as an indispensable source forall practical military men.1