Vegetius on the Roman Navy: Translation and Commentary
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
VEGETIUS ON THE ROMAN NAVY: TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY, BOOK FOUR, 31 - 46 by PAUL DANIEL EMANUELE B.A., University of British Columbia, 1969 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Classics We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA November, 1974 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that publication, in part or in whole, or the copying of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. PAUL DANIEL EMANUELE Department of Classics The University of British Columbia Vancouver V6TiW5, Canada Date i I ABSTRACT This thesis is made up of three parts. The first discusses by way of introduction the unresolved questions concerning Flavius Vegetius Renatus and his Epitoma Rei Militarise reviewing the arguments and evidence which have been brought to bear on such fundamental issues as the proper spelling of the author's name, his station in life, the place in which he lived and wrote, his floruit-date and the identity of the emperor to whom he dedicated his work. Since there exists no external evidence which might aid in the solution of any of these problems, the arguments put forward have been based upon clues found within the text. It has been established with certainty that Vegetius wrote sometime between A.D. 383 and 450; but in this sixty- seven year interval, which is not longer than a man's life-span, five emperors reigned in the West, any one of whom might have been Vegetius' dedicatee. Beyond this, however, nothing is certain. The next portion of the thesis consists of a translation into English of the last part of Book 4 (chapters 31-46), a treatise on the Roman navy. This relatively easy task was most recently under• taken by John Clarke in 17^7. The last and most substantial section of the present work is a commentary upon Vegetius' naval chapters dealing with the history of the Roman fleets, their organisation, the types of ships they used, the preparation of shipbuilding wood, the winds, astrological i i i meteorology, tides and currents, naval artillery, armour and battle tactics. By presenting such a wide range of subjects Vegetius has produced a handbook on the Roman art of war at sea which is without parallel in Latin literature. Very little that he says, however, cannot be found in the work of at least one Greek or Latin author; a great deal is available in several. Among these are technical writers, poets and historians. The commentary, then, consists in large part of citations of such sources as may corroborate or contradict Vegetius1 statements or supply further information. Although it is likely that Vegetius himself consulted some of these, in only one instance is it possible to establish his debt to any specific predecessor. The references supplied in the commentary are taken from many ancient works whose number and diversity of subject matter show that our author was a well-read and scholarly individual. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ; ABSTRACT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii INTRODUCTION 1 FOOTNOTES 16 TRANSLATION • 25 COMMENTARY 36 BIBLIOGRAPHY 110 ILLUSTRATIONS 125 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Arch. Anz. Archaologischer Anzeiger. Atti VIII Cong. St. Biz. Atti dello Ottavo Congresso di Studi Bizantini, vol. 1, pp. 324-339. BCH Bulletin de Correspondence Hellenique. Casson, Ships and Seamanship L. Casson, Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World (Princeton, 1971). CIG Corpus Ins criptionum Graecarum3 edited by A. Boeckh et al. (Berlin, 1828- ). CIL Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum3 edited by Th. Mommsen et al. (Berlin, 1862- ). C Ph. Classical Philology. Dessau Inscviptiones Latinae Selectae3 edited by H. Dessau (Berlin, 1962). IG Inscviptiones- Graecae, editio mi nor,vol.14, edited by G. Kaibel (Berlin, 1890). JHS Journal of Hellenic Studies. JRS Journal of Roman Studies, Lewis and Short C.T. Lewis and C. Short, A Latin dictionary (Oxford, 1879). vi Mattingly and Sydenham H. Mattingly and E.A. Sydenham, Roman Imperial Coinage, IV i (London, 1936). Mel. Arch et Hist. Melanges d! Archeologie et d'Histoire de I'Ecole Francaise de Rome. Mem. Ac. N. Line. (Sci. Mor. Stor.) Memorie dell'Accademia Nasionale dei Lincei, Classe di Scienze Morali e Storiche. MM' Mariner's Mirror. OLD Oxford Latin Dictionary (Oxford, 1968- ), Phil. Woch. Philologischer Wochenschrift. Proc. Brit. Acad. Proceedings of the British Academy. R-E Paulys Realencyclop'ddie der classischen Altertwnswissenschaft, edited by Georg Wissowa et al. (Stuttgart, 1893- ). Rend. Sed. Ac. Naz. Line. (Sci. Mor. Stor. Fil.) Rendiconti delle Sedute dell'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Classe di Scienze Morali, Storiche e Filologiche. Rev. Arch. Revue Archeologique. Rh. Mus. Rheinisches Museum. TAPA Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. vi i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Unbounded thanks are due Dr. James Russell whose wide knowledge and infinite patience have guided me through the long task of researching and compiling information for this thesis. I am also grateful to Dr. J.A.S. Evans and Dr. E.H. Williams whose suggestions and comments have been invaluable. ANTONIO SILVERI, Vivo Diligenti Sapientique la PART I INTRODUCTION 1 b THE WORK The Epitoma Rei Militaris sets forth in four Books a detailed description of the Roman military establishment. Drawing material from much older sources^ the author presents his dedicatee, the 2 emperor himself, with a discussion of virtually every aspect of the legion from recruiting to winning battles in the first three Books and the techniques of siegecraft in the first half of the fourth. The latter part of the fourth Book, with which this thesis deals, treats a completely different subject, viz. war at sea. Because of the apparent discontinuity of subject and because it has an introduction of its own, as do Books 1, 2, 3 and 4, this naval treatise perhaps ought to be considered a fifth Book. Indeed 3 Lang mentions a thirteenth-century manuscript which shows such an 4 arrangement and another containing an excerpt from this part of the work states that the material comes from Book .5. In this short guide to the Roman navy the author provides much non-military information: 150.4-8. Introduction. 150.9- 151.2 The fleets and their bases. 151.3-11. The organisation of the fleets. 151.12-20. The "Liburnian." 151.20-153.9. The preparation of shipbuilding materials. 153.10- 154.9 Types of ships. 154.10-160.17.The names of the winds and signs of approaching storms. 2 161.1-162.4 Pilotage. 162.5-165.7 Battle at sea. 165.8-11 The Danube cutter squadrons. Although there were handbooks providing information on the same wide variety of topics much later, in Byzantine times, this work 5 is unique for the Roman period. THE AUTHOR The name of the Epitoma's author is given in almost all the manuscripts as Flavius Vegetius Renatus or some variation. The one exception gives his pvaenomen as Publius, which would make him also the author of a contemporary work on veterinary medicine, de mulomedicina.^ The nominative form of the pvaenomen Flavius is indicated by the genitive singular form ending in -ii in seven out of eight manuscripts.^ Only two of seven manuscripts show the genitive singular form ending in -ii for the nomen Vegetius. Usually the conversion of an adjective or cognomen to a nomen involves a change of ending from -us to -ius; Rufus, for instance, becomes Rufius. Thus vegetus, meaning o "brisk," "lively," "vigorous" would become Vegetius. Since the genitive ending in -i does not preclude the nominative ending in -ius q we may be reasonably certain that our author's nomen is Vegetius. 3 The cognomen presents no problem and is indicated to be Renatus where- ever it is given. Our author's full name, then,is in all likelihood Flavius Vegetius Renatus. Most of the manuscripts indicate that Vegetius was a vir illustris.^® This title marks him as a person of considerable rank; depending upon the date of his work, he might have been among the more 11 12 senior members of the senatorial order. Three manuscripts identify 13 him as a comes and two more specify that he was the comes sacrum, or finance minister. A cogent argument has been advanced that the latter is the correct reading on the grounds that the word sacrum is more likely to have been omitted from some manuscripts by copyists who 14 did not understand it than added in other cases. Further, the comes sacrum became a vir illustris by virtue of his position while 15 the ex officio title of an ordinary comes was spectabilis. The positive testimony of TT, moreover, ought not to be taken lightly, for 1 g it is generally held to be the most authoritative of the manuscripts. It is not at all difficult to believe that Vegetius was a man of some importance, for his work contains indications that he had access to the imperial court. He was in a position to lay before the emperor himself this "little booklet"1^ which might serve as a 18 handy, reliable guide to ancient military affairs. He even receives 19 the emperor's personal blessing and approval of his efforts. This would all be consistent with the exalted status of a comes sacrum.