De Re Militari
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De Re Militari (Latin "Military matters") was a treatise of late Roman warfare that became a military guide in the Middle Ages.
Writer of De Re Militari was Flavius Vegetius Renatus, who lived in the late 4th century. It may be that Vegetius wrote it trying to formulate a military reform, possibly under the patronage of Theodosius I. It has been also called Epitoma Rei Militaris. The phrase si vis pacem para bellum ("If you want peace, prepare for war") probably originates from Vegetius.
Vegetius based his treatise on Roman armies, especially those of the mid to late Republic. He emphasized things such as training of soldiers as a disciplined force, orderly strategy, maintenance of supply lines and logistics, quality leadership and use of tactics and even deceit to ensure advantage over the opposition. He was concerned about selection of good soldiers and recommended hard training of at least four months before the soldier was accepted into the ranks. The leader of the army (dux or duke) had to take care of the men under his command and keep himself informed about the movements of the enemy to gain advantage in the battle.
Largely because it was the only treatise on Roman warfare to survive intact, De Re Militari became a popular manual on warfare in the Middle Ages, especially between 9th and 16th centuries, even if some of the information was unsuitable to later times and circumstances. Vegetius' notes about siegecraft became especially obsolete when the technology advanced and gunpowder weapons such as cannons came into widespread use. Vegetius' suggestion of a soldier's religious oath to God and to the realm might have influenced knightly practices. Still, because of the lack of literacy, as a guide it was probably accessible only to aristocracy, clergy and royalty. Machiavelli very likely read Vegetius and incorporated many of his ideas into his own The Art of War.
To the modern day, 226 Latin copies of the book have survived, not including translations to various other European languages. Many of them have copious amount of personal notes on them, pointing at matters that have interested their contemporary owners.
