Wegtius's Brief Description Of Art Of War And The Military Crisis Of The Late Roman Empire

Flavius Vegetius Renatus is a famous military writer in late Roman Empire.He is regarded as the greatest military theorist in the ancient world.His book De re militari is acknowledged to be the most important military monograph from late Roman Empire to early modern times in the western world.This book has a profound influence on the warfare and military thought in both Medieval and modern europe.In addition,its influence on the training and the formation of the European army is quiet obvious.Many of the most famous European commanders in the Middle Ages studied it as the bible of military thought and practiced it in the war.Until modern times,this book still won praise from Montecuccoli and the Austrian Field Marshal Prince de Ligne.De re militari is the most important military monograph left by the ancients.De re militari was written in late Roman Empire.At that time,the Roman Empire is in a serious military crisis.There are four main problems which are the border defense,the barbarization of Roman army,the fall of Roman army and the impact of Christian spirit.As an imperial officer rather than a general,Vegetius collected books of ancient manuscripts and doctrine to sum up why the ancient Rome became a great empire out of loyalty to the emperor and worry of Roman Empire.He wanted to save the Roman Empire from a serious military crisis.The main material of De re militari is the works of Cato,Cornelius Celsus,Paternus,Frontinus,the rules and the regulations of Trajan and Hadrian.From the content point of view,Vegetius’ s intention to write this book should be to encourage the rulers of military reform which can restore and maintain the efficiency and power of the Roman army.De re militari is a summary of the laws of war in ancient Rome.The military doctrine of De re militari was not taken seriously at that time,but it had a great influence on wars in the Middle Ages and early modern times.De re militari has put forward many practical suggestions for the later generals,and the military theory of this book has been widely accepted.