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Vegetius on Armour: the Pedites Nudati of the Epitoma Rei Militaris*

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Vegetius on Armour: the Pedites Nudati of the Epitoma Rei Militaris* VEGETIUS ON ARMOUR: THE PEDITES NUDATI OF THE EPITOMA REI MILITARIS* The date of Vegetius’ Epitoma Rei Militaris has been oft debated. Although obviously written between the years 383 and 450, various impe- rial contenders have been suggested, with the most popular being Theo- dosius I, emperor of the eastern Empire from 379-395 and sole ruler of the Roman world after the usurper Eugenius’ defeat in 3941. Still, others have suggested a later date, perhaps one under Valentinian III, who ruled the western Empire between the years 425-455, a contention which deserves serious consideration. The present discussion will confine itself to only one aspect of this problem. One of the most intriguing statements to be found in the Epitoma is that the infantry of Vegetius’ time no longer wore armour (Epit. I 20.2-5). As will be seen, the epitomator’s assertion does not seem to tally with views that the text was written during the reign of Theodosius the Great. Much ink has been spilt on the value of * Journal sigla are those of L’Année philologique. Other abbreviations are as per OCD3. In addition: BAR = British Archaeological Reports (Oxford); BHAC = Bonner Historia- Augusta-Colloquium (Bonn); DRB = De Rebus Bellicis; HGM = L. DINDORF (ed.), His- torici Graeci Minores, 2 vols, Leipzig 1870-1871; L&S = C.T. LEWIS & C. SHORT, A Latin Dictionary, Oxford 1879; OLD = P. GLARE (ed.), Oxford Latin Dictionary, Oxford 1986. All dates in this article are AD. 1 The most notable partisans of a Theodosian date include S. MAZZARINO, Trattato di storia romana II, Rome 1956, p. 487-489 and 542-543; V.A. SIRAGO, Galla Placidia e la transformazione politica dell’Occidente, Louvain 1961, p. 467-475 and 493; A. CHASTAG- NOL, Végèce et l’Histoire Auguste, in BHAC 1971 (1974), p. 59-80; T.D. BARNES, The Date of Vegetius, Phoenix 33 (1979), p. 254-257; and G. SABBAH, Pour la datation théo- dosienne du ‘De Re Militari’ de Végèce, Centre Jean Palerne, Mémoires II, Saint-Étienne 1980, p. 131-155. For a date under Valentinian III, see O. SEECK, Die Zeit des Vegetius, Hermes 11 (1876), p. 61-83; C.D. GORDON, Vegetius and his Proposed Reforms of the Army, in J.A.S. EVANS (ed.), Polis and Imperium: Studies in Honour of Edward Togo Salmon, Toronto 1974, p. 35-55; W. GOFFART, The Date and Purpose of Vegetius’ ‘De Re Militari’, Traditio 33 (1977), p. 65-100; and E. BIRLEY, The Dating of Vegetius and the Historia Augusta, in The Roman Army: Papers 1929-1986, Amsterdam 1988, p. 58-68 (= BHAC 1982/83, 1985, p. 57-67). Others have supposed that the Epitoma was addressed to either Valentinian II (e.g. C. ZUCKERMAN, Sur la date du traité militaire de Végèce et son destinataire Valentinien II, SCI 13, 1994, p. 67-74) or Honorius (e.g. J.W. FÖRSTER, De Fide Flavii Vegetii Renati, Bonn 1879, p. 7-9; and C. GIUFFRIDA MANMANA, Per una datazione dell’ ‘Epitoma rei militaris’ di Vegezio: politica e propaganda nell’età di Ono- rio, SicGymn 34, 1981, p. 25-56). For a bibliography on Vegetius, see R. SABLAYROLLES, Bibliographie sur l’Epitoma rei militaris de Végèce, Cahiers du groupe de recherches sur l’armée romaine et les provinces III (1984), p. 139-146. 128 M. CHARLES the information recorded at Epit. I 20.2-5, yet comparatively little atten- tion has been paid to establishing exactly when — or, indeed, if — infantry armour really did fall into disuse. Using a range of literary sources pertaining to a variety of genres, some of which would not nor- mally be used for such a ‘serious’ purpose (the merit of this action will be explained in time), we shall attempt to do precisely this. 1. THE EMPEROR GRATIAN AND EPIT. I 20 An important consideration in favour of a later dating, especially one under Valentinian III, is a reference at Epit. I 20.4-5 to a Roman military failure against the Goths (it might be assumed that Vegetius refers to the Visigoths). This section of the treatise needs to be discussed in detail. Near the begin- ning of the chapter, Vegetius states that ab urbe enim condita usque ad tem- pus diui Gratiani et catafractis et galeis muniebatur pedestris exercitus (Epit. I 20.3). Stelten translates this as follows: «from the founding of the city up to the time of the deified Gratian the infantry soldiers were protected by armour and helmets»2. What exactly does this mean? While Vegetius’ state- ment is perhaps as ambiguous in Latin as it is in translation3, it is generally thought to mean that discipline was relaxed during the reign of Gratian rather than after it4. Thus the two points of time to which Vegetius refers (viz. con- dita urbs and tempus diui Gratiani) are not wholly inclusive5. The statement at Epit. I 20.3, according to the general scholarly consensus, may be para- 2 L.F. STELTEN, Flavius Renatus Vegetius. Epitoma Rei Militaris, New York 1990, ad. loc. 3 G. SABBAH, art. cit. (n. 1), p. 140, writes that «l’expression… n’est pas parfaitement claire et, à la limite, on pourrait même croire que la «tradition antique» s’est maintenue jusqu’à la fin… [du] règne [de Gratien]». The translation of C. GIUFFRIDA MANMANA (Flavio Vegezio Renato: Compendio delle istituzioni militari, Catania 1997, ad loc.) offers no more clarification: «Infatti dalla fondazione di Roma fino al tempo del divo Graziano la fanteria era munita di corazze catafratte e di elmi». Similarly, note F.M. MÜLLER’s (Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus. Abriß des Militärwesens, Stuttgart 1997, ad loc.) ver- sion: «Denn seit Gründung der Stadt bis zur Zeit des vergöttlichten Gratian… war das Fußheer gesichert durch Schuppenpanzer und Helme» (why catafracta should be translated as «scale-armour» is perplexing). 4 E. GIBBON, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, London 1837, p. 439; C.D. GORDON, art. cit. (n. 1), p. 42; N.P. MILNER, Vegetius: Epitome of Military Science, Liverpool 19962, p. xxv and xxviii; C. OMAN, A History of the Art of War: The Middle Ages from the Fourth to the Fourteenth Century, London 1905, p. 18; G. SABBAH, art. cit. (n. 1), p. 147; and E.A. THOMPSON, A Roman Reformer and Inventor: Being a New Text of the Treatise ‘De Rebus Bellicis’, Oxford 1952, p. 70. 5 Note C. GIUFFRIDA MANMANA’s thoughts on the matter (op. cit. [n. 3], p. 19): VEGETIUS ON ARMOUR 129 phrased as «Roman soldiers wore cuirasses and helmets from the founda- tion of the city until some time during the reign of Gratian (i.e. at some time after 375)», rather than as «Roman soldiers wore cuirasses and hel- mets from the foundation of the city until a change took place after Grat- ian’s death (i.e. after 383)». In any case, if the latter were the intended meaning of Vegetius, the present effort to dissociate the Epitoma from the age of Theodosius I would be more or less unnecessary. Theodosius might be thought of as Gratian’s imperial successor, and he was certainly the more powerful of the two remaining Augusti after the latter emperor’s assassina- tion in 383. The ineffective boy-emperor Valentinian II, nominally the senior Augustus (he was raised to that position in 375), does not appear to have been in a position to have done anything. And more so after Theodosius assumed de facto control of the whole Empire after his defeat of Maximus in 388. Let us not take such a facile option, i.e. that defensive armour was set aside after, rather than before, Gratian’s death, and assume, therefore, that Vegetius means that defensive armour was worn from the foundation of Rome until some time between the years 375-383. After the statement discussed above, Vegetius asserts that, cum campestris exercitatio interueniente neglegentia desidiaque cessaret, protective armour fell into disuse (Epit. I 20.3). We are told that the emperor first allowed his men to lay aside their body-armour (i.e. their cataphracta). After this indul- gence had been granted, the soldiers set about removing their helmets (galeae). Even though Roman infantry had habitually worn them for cen- turies regardless of climate and comfort, these two items were found to be too heavy for the soldiers’ liking. As a result, antiqua penitus consuetudo deleta est (Epit. I 20.2). According to Vegetius, the neglegentia of the sol- diers was to prove disastrous. Indeed, our author informs us that a large number of unprotected Roman troops fell to Gothic arrows in an unspeci- fied conflict: sic detectis pectoribus et capitibus congressi contra Gothos milites nostri multitudine sagittariorum saepe deleti sunt (Epit. I 20.4)6. «L’ambiguità però sussiste, se si fa riferimento solo alla definizione di Graziano come divus e non agli altri elementi che Vegezio ci fornisce in questo stesso passo». In order to accord with her belief that Theodosius’ son Honorius was the recipient of the treatise, Giuffrida Manmana (p. 19-20) believes that the adjective diuus was applied to Gratian in order to exculpate Theodosius from the charge of letting the infantry lay aside their defen- sive armour. Thus, according to this scholar, we have a point of reference from 383, and not 375, the year in which Gratian became emperor of the West. Obviously, this line of reasoning is difficult to prove. 6 S. MAZZARINO, op. cit. (n. 1), p. 488, seems to suggest that Vegetius was writing in the near aftermath of Adrianople. 130 M. CHARLES That the antiqua legio, equipped with helmet and cuirass, could march into combat with little fear is, of course, nonsense7.
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