|
|
Roots of Strategy: A Collection of Military Classics
Contents:
Show Summary
Hide Summary
Historical SummaryVegetius’ compilation of the military wisdom and customs of the Romans has been the most influential military work written in the western world. Compiled for the Emperor Valentinian II about 390 A. D., just before Rome was captured and burned by Alaric, King of the Goths, it was circulated in manuscript for a thousand years and served the purpose of a field service and training regulations throughout Europe. As soon as printing was discovered it was published in Italian, French, German, Dutch, and English within the space of sixteen years. Caxton printed the first English edition in 1489. To Vegetius can be attributed the organization of the modern division, even to ponton equipment, a description of which is given in his book. The disciplinary practices of our own army can be traced to him. It was from study of Vegetius that Marshal de Saxe rediscovered cadenced marching, an art that had been lost in European armies for a thousand years. "In war," wrote Vegetius, "discipline is superior to strength; but if that discipline is neglected there is no longer any difference between the soldier and the peasant." And he proceeds to explain how to insure discipline. No officer can understand our own military institutions who has failed to read Vegetius.
THE POST-EXERCISE.
We are informed by the writings of the ancients that, among their other exercises, they had that of the post. They gave their recruits round bucklers woven with willows, twice as heavy as those used on real service, and wooden swords double the weight of the common ones. They exercised them with these at the post both morning and afternoon.
This is an invention of the greatest use, not only to soldiers, but also to gladiators. No man of either profession ever distinguished himself in the circus or field of battle, who was not perfect in this kind of exercise. Every soldier, therefore, fixed a post firmly in the ground, about the height of six feet. Against this, as against a real enemy, the recruit was exercised with the above mentioned arms, as it were with the common shield and sword, sometimes aiming at the head or face, sometimes at the sides, at others endeavoring to strike at the thighs or legs. He was instructed in what manner to advance and retire, and in short how to take every advantage of his adversary; but was thus above all particularly cautioned not to lay 84 himself open to his antagonist while aiming his stroke at him.
Contents:
Chicago:
"The Military Institutions of the Romans, Book 1: The Post-Exercise," Roots of Strategy: A Collection of Military Classics in Roots of Strategy: A Collection of Military Classics, ed. Thomas R. Phillips (Harrisburg, PA: The Military Service Publishing Company, 1940), Original Sources, accessed July 1, 2025, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UHXSAAA17LQKR53.
MLA:
. "The Military Institutions of the Romans, Book 1: The Post-Exercise." Roots of Strategy: A Collection of Military Classics, in Roots of Strategy: A Collection of Military Classics, edited by Thomas R. Phillips, Harrisburg, PA, The Military Service Publishing Company, 1940, Original Sources. 1 Jul. 2025. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UHXSAAA17LQKR53.
Harvard:
, 'The Military Institutions of the Romans, Book 1: The Post-Exercise' in Roots of Strategy: A Collection of Military Classics. cited in 1940, Roots of Strategy: A Collection of Military Classics, ed. , The Military Service Publishing Company, Harrisburg, PA. Original Sources, retrieved 1 July 2025, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UHXSAAA17LQKR53.
|