Stratagems

Four hundred years of Roman military strategy in the palm of your hand

The choice of these two works – Stratagems and On Military Matters in one volume allows the reader a bookend of Roman military theory and style.  Stratagem was written in the first century AD by noted engineer and soldier, Sextus Julius Frontius.  Rather than a specific outline of tactics, it is examples of strategies employed by other generals over time that could be, presumably learned by commanders and applied as the situation arose.  This is somewhat similar to the style Plutarch uses in describing the lives of the notable Greeks and Romans in his book, Parallel Lives.  On Military Matter, on the other hand, was written near the end of the western Empire in the fourth century AD, as a manual of how an army should be organized and used.  Little is known about its author, Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus, beyond this work and another on veterinary medicine.

Frontius had a diverse career that includes experience as a soldier and engineer.  Of his works that have survived down to us, De aquaeductu, consists of two books reporting on the history and description of the aqueducts of Rome to the Emperor Nerva.  He served in the army in Germany under Domitian as well as in Britain. Stratagems consist of four books, three of which are accepted to belong to Frontius while the fourth has been in doubt. There are indications that Stratagems was written in conjunction with a now lost book on military theory.  Frontius wrote his book while Rome was at the height of its military prowess, but wanted to remind his readers of the worthies of history and the constant need to learn from their examples in order to keep the military strong.

On Military Matters (De Re Militari) originally consisted of five books, only three of which are presented here while the fourth and fifth dealt with the Roman Navy and Sieges.   Vegetius wrote his books when Rome was in decline as a military power, as a way to regain the might of the first century, but ignores the central problems of Rome’s civil wars and lack of martial spirit.