VEGETIUS ON THE ROMAN NAVY: TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY,
BOOK FOUR, 31 - 46
by
PAUL DANIEL EMANUELE
B.A., Univers ity of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1969
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS
in the Department
of
Class ics
We accept th i s thesis as conforming to the
required standard
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
November, 1974
In presenting th i s thesis in pa r t i a l f u l f i l l m e n t of the requirements
for an advanced degree at the Univers i ty of B r i t i s h Columbia, I
agree that the Library shal l make i t f ree l y ava i lab le for reference
and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying
of th i s thesis fo r scholar ly purposes may be granted by the Head of
my Department or by his representatives. I t i s understood that
pub l i ca t ion , in part or in whole, or the copying of th i s thesis fo r
f i nanc ia l gain sha l l not be allowed without my wr i t ten permission.
PAUL DANIEL EMANUELE
Department of Class ics
The Univers ity of B r i t i s h Columbia Vancouver V6TiW5, Canada
Date
i I
ABSTRACT
This thesis i s made up of three parts. The f i r s t 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 spe l l i ng of the author 's name, his s tat ion in
l i f e , the place in which he l i ved and wrote, his floruit-date and the
ident i t y of the emperor to whom he dedicated his work. Since there
ex ists no external evidence which might aid in the so lut ion of any of
these problems, the arguments put forward have been based upon clues
found with in the text . I t has been establ ished with certa inty that
Vegetius wrote sometime between A.D. 383 and 450; but in th i s s i x t y -
seven year i n t e r v a l , which i s not longer than a man's l i f e - s p a n , f i v e
emperors reigned in the West, any one of whom might have been Vegetius '
dedicatee. Beyond t h i s , however, nothing i s ce r ta in .
The next portion of the thesis consists of a t rans la t ion into
English of the l a s t part of Book 4 (chapters 31-46), a t rea t i se on
the Roman navy. This r e l a t i v e l y easy task was most recently under
taken by John Clarke in 17^7.
The l a s t and most substantial section of the present work
i s a commentary upon Vegetius ' naval chapters dealing with the h istory
of the Roman f l e e t s , the i r organisat ion, the types of ships they
used, the preparation of sh ipbui ld ing wood, the winds, a s t ro log ica l
i i i
meteorology, t ides and currents, naval a r t i l l e r y , armour and bat t le
t a c t i c s . By presenting such a wide range of subjects Vegetius has
produced a handbook on the Roman art of war at sea which i s without
pa ra l l e l in Lat in l i t e r a t u r e . Very l i t t l e that he says, however,
cannot be found in the work of at least one Greek or Lat in author; a
great deal i s ava i lab le in several . Among these are technical w r i t e r s ,
poets and h i s to r ians . The commentary, then, consists in large part
of c i t a t i on s of such sources as may corroborate or contradict Vegetius 1
statements or supply further information. Although i t i s l i k e l y that
Vegetius himself consulted some of these, in only one instance i s i t
possible to establ i sh his debt to any s pec i f i c predecessor. The
references supplied in the commentary are taken from many ancient works
whose number and d i ve r s i t y of subject matter show that our author was
a well-read and scholar ly i nd i v i dua l .
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
; ABSTRACT i i
TABLE OF CONTENTS i v
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v i i
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, v o l . 1, pp. 324-339.
BCH Bulletin de Correspondence Hellenique.
Casson, Ships and Seamanship L. Casson, Ships and Seamanship in the
Ancient World (Pr inceton, 1971).
CIG Corpus Ins criptionum Graecarum3 edited by A. Boeckh et al. ( Be r l i n , 1828- ).
CIL
C Ph.
Dessau
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum3 edited by Th. Mommsen et al. ( Be r l i n , 1862- ).
Classical Philology.
Inscviptiones Latinae Selectae3 edited by H. Dessau ( Be r l i n , 1962).
IG Inscviptiones- Graecae, e d i t i o mi nor,vol.14, edited by G. Kaibel ( Be r l i n , 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. (Sc i . 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.
Proc. Brit. Acad.
Philologischer Wochenschrift.
Proceedings of the British Academy.
R-E Paulys Realencyclop'ddie der classischen Altertwnswissenschaft, edited by Georg Wissowa et al. ( S tuttgart , 1893- ).
Rend. Sed. Ac. Naz. Line. (Sc i . Mor. Stor. F i l . ) Rendiconti delle Sedute dell'Accademia
Nazionale dei Lincei, Classe di Scienze Mora l i , Storiche e F i l o log i che .
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 i n f i n i t e patience have guided me through the long
task of researching and compiling information for th i s thes i s .
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
P A R T I
I N T R O D U C T I O N
1 b
THE WORK
The Epitoma Rei Militaris sets forth in four Books a deta i led
descr ipt ion of the Roman m i l i t a r y establishment. Drawing material
from much older sources^ the author presents his dedicatee, the 2
emperor himself, with a discussion of v i r t u a l l y every aspect of the
legion from rec ru i t i ng to winning batt les in the f i r s t three Books and
the techniques of s iegecraft in the f i r s t ha l f of the fourth. The
l a t t e r part of the fourth Book, with which th i s thesis deals, treats
a completely d i f f e ren t subject, v i z . war at sea.
Because of the apparent d i scont inu i ty of subject and because
i t has an introduction of i t s own, as do Books 1, 2, 3 and 4, th i s
naval t rea t i se perhaps ought to be considered a f i f t h Book. Indeed 3
Lang mentions a thirteenth-century manuscript which shows such an 4
arrangement and another containing an excerpt from th i s part of the
work states that the material comes from Book .5.
In th i s short guide to the Roman navy the author provides
much non-mil itary information:
150.4-8. Introduction.
150.9- 151.2 The f l ee t s and t he i r bases.
151.3-11. The organisation of the f l e e t s .
151.12-20. The "L iburn ian. "
151.20-153.9. The preparation of sh ipbui ld ing mater ia l s .
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 P i lotage.
162.5-165.7 Bat t le at sea.
165.8-11 The Danube cutter squadrons.
Although there were handbooks providing information on the
same wide var iety of topics much l a t e r , in Byzantine times, th i s work
5 i s unique for the Roman period.
THE AUTHOR
The name of the Epitoma's author i s given in almost a l l the
manuscripts as Flavius Vegetius Renatus or some va r i a t i on . The one
exception gives his pvaenomen as Publ ius, which would make him also the
author of a contemporary work on veterinary medicine, de mulomedicina.^
The nominative form of the pvaenomen Flavius i s indicated
by the genit ive s ingular form ending in -ii in seven out of eight
manuscripts.^ Only two of seven manuscripts show the genit ive s ingular
form ending in -ii fo r the nomen Vegetius. Usually the conversion of
an adject ive or cognomen to a nomen involves a change of ending from
-us to -ius; Rufus, for instance, becomes Rufius. Thus vegetus, meaning o
" b r i s k , " " l i v e l y , " "vigorous" would become Vegetius. Since the
genit ive ending in -i does not preclude the nominative ending in -ius q
we may be reasonably certa in that our author 's nomen i s Vegetius.
3
The cognomen presents no problem and is indicated to be Renatus where-
ever i t i s given. Our author 's f u l l name, then,is in a l l l i ke l i hood
Flavius Vegetius Renatus.
Most of the manuscripts ind icate that Vegetius was a vir
illustris.^® This t i t l e 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 senator ial order. Three manuscripts i den t i f y
13
him as a comes and two more specify that he was the comes sacrum,
or finance min is ter. A cogent argument has been advanced that the
l a t t e r i s the correct reading on the grounds that the word sacrum i s
more l i k e l y to have been omitted from some manuscripts by copyists who 14
did not understand i t than added in other cases. Further, the comes sacrum became a vir illustris by v i r tue of his pos i t ion while
15 the ex officio t i t l e of an ordinary comes was spectabilis. The pos i t i ve testimony of TT, moreover, ought not to be taken l i g h t l y , f o r
1 g
i t i s generally held to be the most author i tat i ve of the manuscripts.
It i s not at a l l d i f f i c u l t to bel ieve that Vegetius was a
man of some importance, f o r his work contains ind icat ions that he had
access to the imperial court. He was in a pos i t ion to lay before
the emperor himself th i s " l i t t l e book le t " 1 ^ which might serve as a 18
handy, r e l i a b l e guide to ancient m i l i t a r y a f f a i r s . He even receives 19
the emperor's personal blessing and approval of his e f f o r t s . This
would a l l be consistent with the exalted status of a comes sacrum.
The author 's comments on the scope of his work and his 20
proposal to summarise the contents of numerous sources show that he
4
was a man with a good education. This i s borne out by his f a m i l i a r i t y
with good scholarship as re f lec ted in his references to Greek and Roman
21
l i t e r a t u r e and h i story. His a b i l i t y to compile material from many
sources wr i t ten in both Greek and Latin shows a degree of learning which
was becoming increasingly uncommon in the West at the time and was
almost exc lus ive ly confined to "the c i r c l e s where power and patronage
22 were exerc ised. "
VEGETIUS1 RELIGION
No information has come down to us through external sources
regarding Vegetius 1 personal l i f e . Nevertheless i t i s c lear from
internal evidence that he was f am i l i a r with the Chr i s t ian r e l i g i o n and
that he may well have been a Chr i s t i an . In the Epitoma there are at
least f i ve passages of a re l i g ious nature, two of them (38.19; 152.17)
23 obviously re fe r r ing to Ch r i s t i an i t y :
38.19 "They swear by God and Chr i s t and the Holy S p i r i t
and by the majesty of the Emperor, who must be
loved and worshipped by the whole human race,
24 second only to God" (Si lhanek 's t r an s l a t i on ) .
152.17 " . . . and we are aware also from the study of
r e l i g i on how proper i t has been to observe these
25 days alone for a l l t ime."
5
4.3 ". . . since nothing i s begun well u n t i l , a f te r
God, the emperor approves" (S i lhanek 's t r an s l a t i on ) .
73.16 . . . God be with us . . . [ i s said as a password]. II 27
159.11 ". . . according to the course prescribed by the
w i l l of God the Creator . . . 1 , 2 8
These re l i g ious references do not in themselves confirm that
Vegetius was a Chr i s t ian . In the s ingle instance where he mentions
Chr i st s p e c i f i c a l l y (38.19) he i s merely describing the oath of service
sworn by so ld ie r s . Likewise, Deus nobisaum i s a Chr i s t ian slogan, but
again the author i s simply reporting on a m i l i t a r y pract ice. The
references to Deus (4.3) and Deus Creator (159.11) are not necessar i ly
incompatible with the be l i e f s of a pagan monotheist of the same period. '
The passage re fer r ing to Easter ( i f th i s i s in fact the s ign i f i cance of
the words "these days alone") does not const i tute compelling evidence
for Vegetius 1 Ch r i s t i an i t y since the Easter controversy was a " l i v e "
issue at the time and well-known to any well-informed person, whether
bel iever or pagan. Nevertheless, i t i s more than l i k e l y that Vegetius
was at least a nominal Chr i s t ian because th i s was almost mandatory in
court c i r c l e s of the time. In any event, the emperor himself was
surely a Chr i s t ian and i t would be improper to address non-Christian
re l i g ious observations to him.
6
DATE
The period during which Vegetius l i ved and wrote i s ea s i l y
establ ished with in a span of s ixty-seven years. He composed the
Epitoma a f te r the death of Gratian (died A.D. 383), fo r he refers to
30
that emperor as deceased. The book must have been c i r c u l a t i n g
for some time before A.D. 450, for in that year one Eutropius, who so
informs us in a note at the end of the tex t , corrected a copy without 31
the use of a master copy. Indeed i t may be possible to l i m i t the
range further i f we consider as s i g n i f i c an t Vegetius 1 f a i l u r e in dealing
with naval issues, to account for the naval operations against the
Vandals in North A f r i c a . This would suggest a date before the
4 3 0 ' s . 3 2
Let us turn now to two important Vegetian questions that may
help us to establ i sh a more precise date for the l i f e and work of our
author - - v i z . the i dent i t y of his emperor and. the part of the Empire
in which he l i v e d .
PLACE
It has been argued that Vegetius probably l i ved and wrote
in the West because his work is in Lat in and i t mentions a Western
33
emperor, Gratian. In the Later Empire the East was growing increas
ingly Greek-speaking, although Latin long remained an o f f i c i a l language
7
34 and was standard in the armies; in the schools of law i t was used
un t i l the s ix th century. While we can point to Easterners such as
Ammianus Marcell inus l i v i n g in the West and wr i t ing good La t i n , we
cannot produce an example of an author of Lat in t reat i ses in the East.
It seems un l i ke l y , then, that Vegetius might have done such a thing.
It seems most appropriate, in any case, that a t r ea t i s e on the ancient
Roman arts of warfare should be wr i t ten in the ancient Roman language.
Further evidence for Vegetius 1 western o r i g i n may be found
in his work. Several passages ra i se points of h i s tory r e l a t i ng
s p e c i f i c a l l y to the West, such as the wearing of Pannonian caps by
35 so ld iers and the existence of an Afr ican t r i b e , the U r c i l i a n i , who
36
are known through only one other ancient source. The strongest
evidence for Western provenience, however, i s contained in the fourth
Book. Here we f i nd in addit ion to such minutiae as the Roman slang i\
37 name for certa in siege engines and the name which the Br itanni gave
38 to scout boats two e x p l i c i t references to the current emperor's
a c t i v i t i e s . The repairs to the walls of Rome referred to in the
39 introduction and the operation of cutter squadrons on the Danube
40
mentioned at the end of the l a s t chapter can hardly be the works of
any but an emperor ru l i ng in the West.
8
VEGETIUS' DEDICATEE
In the sixty-seven years between the f ixed termini A.D. 383
and 450 f i v e emperors reigned in the West:^ Valent in ian II (died 392),
Theodosius I (ruled over both parts, died 395), Honorius (died 423),
Constantius III (died 421) and Valent inian III (died 455). Since
Constantius reigned too b r i e f l y to merit consideration as Vegetius '
master, we may el iminate his name from the l i s t and seek the imperator
42 inviotus among the four remaining contenders.
Theodosius I has long been the favour i te of the majority of
43 scholars. The argument in favour of th i s i d e n t i f i c a t i o n i s based
44 on the fol lowing points.
45
1. Vegetius states that the primisorinius i s the highest-
ranking o f f i c i a l i n the Pretor ian P re fec t ' s o f f i c e ; the
Notitia Dignitatum, however, awards th i s pos i t ion to the
46
oomioularius, an arrangement confirmed,Sirago c la ims, in a
novella of Theodosius II of Feb. 26, 444 4 7 . I f the dating
of the Notitia to some time before 430 i s r e l i a b l e ,
Valentinian III may be thus excluded from the contest. 48
2. The reference to the Capitolina arx and the repairs to
the walls of Rome i s not to be taken as a contemporary
remark, but as an anachronist ic a l l u s i on to the G a l l i c
invasion of Camil lus ' time. Honorius, who in fact 49
effected repairs to Rome's defences, is thus el iminated.
3. Vegetius 1 emperor was a founder of c i t i e s ; th i s points
d i r e c t l y to Theodosius the Great, who founded Theodosiopolis
in Armenia.
4. Vegetius ' emperor was a man of great m i l i t a r y s tature,
himself a master of a l l the warl ike s k i l l s described in
the Epitoma and espec ia l l y adept in archery, r id ing and
f o o t r a c i n g . ^
5. Vegetius seems to have in mind a ru l e r over a un i f ied
empire; he i s not only domitpr omnium gentium barbararum,
52 but also dominus ac princeps generis humani. This
cannot be said of e i ther Honorius or Valent in ian I I I ,
53
while Theodosius, in the imagery of Pacatus, was a l i ghtn ing
bo l t that f lashed from Spain to the land of the Sarmatians,
from the Ebrus to the Danube. This champion of Rome smote
the Goths, the Saracens, the Scyths, the Albanians, the
Persians, the Huns and the Alans, waging war along a l l the
borders of the Empire.
6. The name of Theodosius i s f i rmly connected with the Epitoma
by the i n s c r i p t i on ad Theodosium imperatorem in two manuscripts,
both of which as well as a th i rd re fe r to a Theodosius e l se -54
where in the i r texts .
None of these arguments i s absolutely convincing fo r the fo l low
ing reasons,c point for point:
10
1. The argument concerning the primiscrinius implies that
before the publ icat ion of the Notitia Dignitatum he was
superior to the comicularius. On the contrary, the
comioularius was as early as A.D. 365 the second highest
ranking o f f i c i a l , a f te r the princeps, in the administration of
an o f f i c e according to a Novella of Valentinian I and Valens
on the sale of o f f i ce s {Theodosian Code 8.4.10).
2. There i s no reason for judging the reference to the repairs
to the walls of Rome to be an anachronism, fo r Vegetius
seems quite e x p l i c i t in saying that his emperor carr ied out
such a task.
3. The foundation of a s ing le c i t y , Theodosiopolis, does not
show Theodosius the Great to have been an outstanding
bu i lder . Indeed Vegetius praises not a founder of c i t i e s ,
but a rebu i lder ; the key clause i s a pietate tua innumerabiles
urbes ita ivgi labore perfectae sunt.
4. We need not pause long to consider whether Vegetius '
praises of the emperor's a t h l e t i c prowess i s more apt
for one candidate or another. G lo r i f y i ng emperors f o r
empty or non-existent v i c t o r i e s , pra is ing them for v i r tues
they did not possess and generally misrepresenting the
events of the i r reigns were common coin in the panegyrics
of the Late Empire. Vegetius ' adulation of his master
does not go as fa r as the sickening f l a t t e r i e s of the
11
professional panegyrist, but neither may we assume
that he gives us an accurate descr ipt ion of his
dedicatee.
5. Again, the grandiose claims Vegetius makes on his
emperor's behalf need not be l i t e r a l l y true or have
any sound basis in f ac t .
6. The Theodosius mentioned in three manuscripts need
not have been Theodosius the Great, but possibly his
less distinguished grandson and namesake. Nor need
Theodosius have been the name of Vegetius ' dedicatee,
but rather the emperor for whom a copy was made. The
fact that Theodosius II ruled in the East presents no
problem, for we know that the work c i r cu la ted there,
witness the copy "corrected" by the scr ibe Flavius
Eutropius.
Seeck 5 5 i den t i f i e s Valent in ian III as Vegetius ' emperor,
claiming that he possessed the qua l i t i e s which are a t t r ibuted to the
dedicatee at various points in the text :
1. He reigned in the West.
56 2. He was a young ru le r .
57 3. He constructed many c i t i e s .
4. He had f leets on the Danube.^8
12
While these things are a l l true of Va lent in ian, the same could
be said of the other emperors in question. The f l ee t s on the Danube
in fact were established quite ear ly and continued in existence almost
59
un t i l the f a l l of the West. Moreover, Vegetius says nothing about
the emperor's age, but only describes him as a very vigorous, a t h l e t i c
i nd i v i dua l , a thing which might be appropriate for a man i n his prime.
Nor ought we to forget what we said above concerning f l a t t e r y of the
emperor.
The one other man who might be our imperator inviotus i s
Honorius. Vegetius seems to be wr i t i ng a f te r the end of a series of
disasters i n f l i c t e d by the Goths and involving the destruction of a fin
number of Roman c i t i e s . This could eas i l y be during the shaky peace
establ ished in A.D. 382 by Theodosius I, reigning with Valentinian 1 1 . ^
In th i s case, however, the ruined t e r r i t o r i e s between the Danube and
the Balkans were handed over to the Goths, while Vegetius implies 62
that his emperor restored the c i t i e s which had been destroyed.
Extensive repairs were made, as they must be, in I ta ly and the Balkans
a f te r the passage of the Gothic horde, A.D. 409-412. Certa in ly 64
Vegetius ' praise of the emperor for improving the walls of Rome
suggests a date a f te r 403, for in that year S t i l i c h o , the able general
of Honorius, completed the defensive works undertaken in ant i c ipat ion 65
of a Gothic invasion. Thus the only clue Vegetius gives us which
would actua l l y d i s t ingu ish his dedicatee from a l l the other emperors
points d i r e c t l y to H o n o r i u s w h o , furthermore, i s accorded the t i t l e
imperator inviotus by an i n s c r i p t i o n . ^ 7
13
In a l l , the paucity of r e l i a b l e evidence in the matter of
the dedicatee makes i t impossible to decide the issue with any
cer ta in ty . Indeed i t seems un l ike ly that any settlement w i l l be
reached for some time to come.
VEGETIUS1 SOURCES FOR THE NAVAL CHAPTERS
Vegetius acknowledges his debt to certa in authors fo r the
material he has included in his handbook on warfare. The contr ibut ion
of these to the f i r s t three and a ha l f Books has been amply discussed
69
by numerous scholars. The sources for the naval t r e a t i s e , however,
are d i f f i c u l t to i d e n t i f y , fo r he names only one, v i z . Varro ( V e r g i l , ^
whom he also mentions, can hardly be regarded, as a source). Only one
passage, moreover, has any demonstrable connection with an extant work
of one of the authors named as a source, v i z . F ron t inu s .^ For the
res t , we can only speculate what sources might have been used.
C i tat ions from various ancient authors appear frequently in the commen
tary, infra, but for the most part these are produced merely to ve r i f y
the correctness of Vegetius ' information or to serve as a point of
reference. Although i t i s possible that he consulted these works
there i s no evidence that he d id. 72
Aside from the wind l i s t , which he draws from Varro, our
author must have r e l i ed quite heavily on ag r i cu l tu ra l wr i ters for the
14
73 chapter on lumbering and on h istor ians for information concerning the
f l ee t s and the tac t i c s of sea-batt le. The section dealing with the
stars and the i r e f fect on the weather could have come from Varro 's
libri novates, since the subject would appear to be su i tab le for
inc lus ion in a work of such a descr ipt ion.
VEGETIUS AND THE NAVY
When Vegetius wrote the Epitoma the Imperial f l ee t s were but
a shadow of the i r former selves, although they s t i l l car r ied on some
operations. The chief sources fo r the h i s tory of the fourth and
f i f t h centur ies, Jordanes, Ph i los torg ius , Zosimus and Olympiodorus, a l l
mention naval a c t i v i t i e s such as S t i l i c h o ' s maritime blockade against
t r a f f i c from the East. Claudian speaks glowingly of S t i l i c h o ' s naval
preparations against the Goths in I l l y r i cum. The Notitia Dignitatum,
probably compiled during the f i r s t quarter of the f i f t h century, l i s t s
three f l ee t s on act ive service i n the Mediterranean, v i z . the o ld
I t a l i an f l ee t s at Misenum and Ravenna and, the classis Venetian at
74 Aqu i le ia . Nevertheless, the Ravennate f l e e t existed in l i t t l e more
75
than name; Zosimus re lates that Honorius was hard put to gather
enough ships to evacuate his court from Ravenna.
15
The decl ine of the f l ee t s was the natural re su l t of the
lengthy peace preva i l ing on the seas from the time of the bat t le of
76
Actium. As land-borne incursions became more serious the Empire
strengthened i t s r i v e r f l e e t s , which patro l led the lakes and r i ve r s
of po tent i a l l y dangerous areas along the f r on t i e r s . Although the deep-77
sea f l ee t s declined u n t i l , as Jordanes says, one saw only f r u i t
trees in the harbour of Ravenna, the Notitia Dignitatum shows the
existence of twenty-one inland "naval " commands.
Whatever claims may be made to the e f fec t that Vegetius 78
had army experience, i t seems most un l i ke ly that he ever served with the f l e e t s . The lack of enthusiasm which he displays in his
79
introduction to the naval t r ea t i s e assures us of that. Further,
the s t y le of warfare he describes was a thing of the past i n his own
time; nor i s there even the remotest p o s s i b i l i t y that he might have
known contemporary t ac t i c s from pa r t i c i pa t i ng in a b a t t l e , for the
only one that took place a f te r the ba t t l e of Actium was fought in 325,
v i z . that in the Propontis between Constantine and L i c i n i u s . Since
th i s i s so, and since we seem to have access to almost as much h i s t o r i c a l
material as he, his work has nothing to add to our knowledge of the
Roman Imperial navy.
16
FOOTNOTES
'Vegetius mentions his sources several times, making i t c lear that his i s not an o r i g ina l work, but a compendium of information gathered from much older works {of. 5.3-5,8-12; 33.4-7; 64.15-16). He s p e c i f i c a l l y mentions the m i l i t a r y wr iters Cato (13.5; 17.17; 18.18; 37.10), Cornelius Celsus (13.6); Frontinus (13.6; 37.15) and Paternus (13.7) as well as the constitutiones of Augustus, Trajan and Hadrian (13.8-9). Of pa r t i cu la r interest with respect to the naval chapters are his references to the works of Verg i l and Varro (160.12-17).
2 Vegetius dedicates his work to the emperor (4.1-5.12) and
declares that he is composing th i s work for his use and benef i t . There are many instances in the work where the author addresses his august reader d i r e c t l y {e.g. 5.7; 29.3; 33.4; 37.21).
p. x, n. 1
3 C. Lang, Vegetius: Epitoma Rei Militaris ( Be r l i n , 1872),
Vaticanus 2077; of. Th. Mommsen, "Zu Vegetius," Hermes 1 (1866), pp. 130-133.
^Ea r l i e r wr i ters of m i l i t a r y t reat i ses or co l l ec t ions of strategems such as Frontinus occas ional ly made mention of some matter re la t ing to naval warfare. Vegetius ' t r e a t i s e , however, was the f i r s t to make a thorough, systematic study of the operation of war f l e e t s . Although there existed in l a t e r times the works of Syrianus Magister ( f i f t h - s i x t h centur ies ) , Anonymus Byzantinus ( s ixth century) and Leo VI ( la te ninth century), quite often the Byzantine o f f i c e r who desired to own a complete naval manual needed to own two volumes, one on seamanship (meteorology, p i lotage, etc. ) and one on batt le t ac t i c s (cf. R.H. Dolley, "Naval Tactics in the Heyday of the Byzantine Thalassocraty," Atti VIII Cong. St. Biz., v o l . 1, p. 326).
vCf. A.Neumann in R-E, Supp. x, s.v. "Vegetius," pp. 1018-1019. The Epitoma and the -Mulomedicina have several points in common; in both cases the epitomator has taken pains over the rhythm and arrangement of his words and both works show the same use of the passive per iphras t ic . Both works are divided into four Books, each with i t s own introduct ion, and both works c i t e sources by name.
17
1 jCf. C. Lang, op. cit., pp. x - x i . Flavi Vegeti Renati Epitoma Rei Militarist ( Be r l i n , 1885).
8 The cognomen Vegetus i s attested in at least two places:
A. De Grassi ( I fasti consolari dell'impero romano [Roma, 1952]) l i s t s Q. Valerius Vegetus as consul for A.D. 91 and 112; an i n s c r i p t i on {cf. Dessau, v o l . 1, 2.233) records the name of a duumvir L. Saufeius Vegetus.
q The s ixth-century grammarian Pr i sc ian {institutiones
Grammaticae, in H. K e i l , Grammatici Latini [Hildesheim, 1961], v o l . 2, p. 321) mentions Vegetius, and here the name i s given in the nominative case. However, the manuscripts of th i s work show a var iety of forms -- vegitus, vegitius, vegetus, vigitus and vegetius. In Vaticanus 2077, a manuscript of the Epitoma {cf. note 4, above), yet another va r ia t ion occurs which would make our author 's name vegatus.
^ C f . Lang, op. cit., pp. x - x i .
^ I n the early fourth century the comes sacrum was among the spectabiles, the group immediately below the illustres; but before the end of the century he was promoted to the l a t t e r category. A f ter the middle of the f i f t h century the illustres were given the t i t l e gloriosi. Vegetius, i t seems, wrote a f te r the promotion of the spectabiles and before the promotion of the illustres (the termini fo r his work, A.D. 383 and 450 are discussed below, p. 6); cf. A.H.M. Jones, The Later
Roman Empire (Oxford, 1964), p. 528.
12 M. G.
13 ft and Vaticanus 4497. The f u l l t i t l e i s comes sacrarum
largitionum, frequently abbreviated to comes sacrum {cf. Notitia Dignitatum, Occidens 1.11; 2.1). This o f f i c i a l had overa l l r e spon s i b i l i t y for the co l l e c t i on of taxes and for the administration of imperial monopolies and enterpr i ses, such as weapon f a c t o r i e s , granaries, mines and mints.
^ T h i s i s suggested by C. Schoner {Studien zu Vegetius [Program, Erlangen, 1880], pp. 1-15).
18
This i s noted by A.P. Dorjahn and L.K. Born ("Vegetius on the Decay of the Roman Army," CJ 30 [1934], p. 149, n. 9) in support of Schb'ner's argument.
Cf. Lang, op. cit., p. x v i i ; Neumann, op. cit., p. 993; A. Andersson, Studio. Vegetiana: commentatio academica (Uppsala, 1938), p. 1.
17 opusculum; of. 5.1; 13.4.
18 Cf. 5.1-5.
9Cf. 4.1-5.12; 33.3-4, 13-15; 64.16; 129.10-11; 150.4.
Cf. 4.1-5.12.
Vegetius ' comments range from general statements {e.g. 5.13-21; 35.9-15) to references to spec i f i c authors {e.g. 13.5-9; 160.12-15). See also my discussion of sources, pp. 13-14.
Vegetius ' f a m i l i a r i t y with the Greek language i s indicated by his use of Greek words {of. 159.5-7) and by his own statement: 155.1-3 horum vooabula ad summovendam dubitationem non solum Graeoa sed etiam Latina protulimus.
For my assumption that Vegetius was a subject of the Western Empire see my discussion below, pp. 6 - 7 . The quotation i s from F. M i l l a r , A Study of Cassius Bio (Oxford, 1964), p. 6.
Vegetius 1 piety i s exaggerated s l i g h t l y by D.K. Silhanek {Vegetius, Books 1 and 2: A Translation and Commentary [N.Y.U., unpublished d i s se r ta t i on , 1972], p. 3): "The work abounds in references to God or to the d iv ine. Lang's preface l i s t s f i ve such instances and his Index Verborum adds another f i f t e e n for s i x words with the common stem div-."
19
24 Iurant autem per Deum et Christum et Spiritum Sanctum et
per maiestatem imperatoris, quae secundum Deum generi humano diligenda est et colenda.
25 . . . et contemplatione ipsius religionis cognoscimus3
quam pro aetemitate his tantum diebus placuit celebrari. While i t may be objected that the religio referred to here
i s not necessar i ly C h r i s t i a n i t y , those who would attach some pagan s ign i f icance to the passage are hard put to produce an acceptable in te rpretat ion . In fact the passage appears to refer to the celebrat ion of the feast of the Resurrection (see my note to 152.18), which was a matter of dispute in the fourth century. E. Gibbon {The Decline & Fall of th&Ronan Empire, edited by J.B. Bury [New York, 1946], p. 856, n.34) gives us th i s assessment of the controversy:
'they [Audians or Quartodecimans] always kept the i r Easter, l i k e the Jewish Passover, on the fourteenth day of the f i r s t moon a f te r the vernal equinox; and thus pert inac ious ly opposed the Roman church and the Nicene synod, which had fixed Easter to a Sunday."
26 . . . quia neque recte aliquid inchoatur, nisi post Deum
faverit imperator.
27
28
. . . {.pro signo dicitur"]. . . Deus nobiscum . .
. praescripto cursu Dei arbitrio Creatoris
29 Cf. F.C. Grant, Hellenistic Religions (New York, 1953),
pp. xxv i -xxx iv.
30 22.3 ad tempus divi Gratiani - " u n t i l the time of the
divine {i.e. l a t e ] Grat ian. "
31 165, bottom: El. Eutropius Emendavi Sine Exemplario Constan-
tinopolim Consul. Valentiniano Aug. VII et Abieni . . . De Grassi {op. cit.) dates the seventh consulship of Va lent in ian, with Avienus as colleague, to A.D. 450.
20
32 To these campaigns of A.D. 432-441 we might add mention of
the Eastern expedition against John the usurper in 425. V.A. Sirago {Galla Plaoidia e la trasformazione politica dell'occidente [Louvain, 1961], pp. 465-466) believes Vegetius wrote before 439, "epoca in cui si ripresero le ostilita per mare, mentre Vegezio riconosce che at suo tempo i mari sono tranquilli."
33 This argument has been advanced by 0. Seeck ("Die Ze i t des
Vegetius," Hermes 11 [1876], pp. 62-64); of. Lang, op. cit., p. v; Dorjahn and Born, op. cit., pp. 148-149; CD . Gordon, "Vegetius and His Proposed Reforms of the Army" in Polis and Imperium (Toronto, 1974), p. 36.
3Vf. E. Pulgram, The Tongues of Italy (Cambridge, 1958), pp. 324-389.
35 " 23 . 27 .
36 115.5-6; the other source i s Corippus 1 epic on the reconquest
of Lat in A f r i c a in the mid-s ixth century, Johann. 5.390.
137.21 causias, a Macedonian-style hat {c Valerius Maximus 5.1.4) which seems to have been common at Rome from at least the early second century B.C. {cf. Plautus, Mil. 4.4.42).
38 153.18 picatos. See also my note.
39 129.6 sqq. Sed dispositionibus vestrae clementiae quantum
profecerit murovum elaborata constructio, Roma docwnentum est, quae salutem civium Capitolinae arcis defensione servavit . . . "Rome i s the proof of how benef ic ia l has been the painstaking construction of walls under the d i rec t ion of Your Kindness, which has preserved the safety of c i t i zen s by the protection of the Capito l ine c i t a d e l . " Cf. CI audi an 28.529-534.
165.8-9 De lusoviis quae in Danubio agrarian cotidianis tutantur excubiis, reticendum puto . . . See also my notes.
21
41 For the argument favouring the Eastern emperor Theodosius
II see Teuffel and K r o l l , GescTiichte des romisches Literatur ( Le ipz ig , 1 8 7 5 ) , pp. 1016-1018. Silhanek, while arguing for Vegetius ' Eastern o r i g in (op . cit., pp. 4 - 1 1 ) , favours Theodosius I, who ruled both East and West (op. cit., pp. 1 2 - 2 1 ) .
to 150.4 .
42 Vegetius so addresses his emperor s i x times; see my note
4? Namely, Silhanek, loc. cit.; M. Planck, "Der Ve r fa l l der
romischen Kriegwesens am Ende der v ier ten Jahrhundert nach Chr i s tus , " , Zeitschr. vierten S'dkularf. der Univ. Tubingen ( S tuttgart , 1 8 7 7 ) ; Lang, op. cit., p. v i i ; C. Schoner, loc. cit.; D. Schenk , Flavius Vegetius Renatus: die Quellen der Epitoma Rei Militaris, Klio, Beih. 22 ( 1 9 3 0 ) , p. 3 ; A.R. Neumann, op. cit., pp. 9 9 2 - 9 9 3 ; V.A. Sirago, op . cit., pp. 4 6 5 - 4 7 6 ; G.R. Watson, The Raman Soldier ( Ithaca, 1 9 6 9 ) , p. 26 and Oxford Classical Dictionary(Oxford, 1 9 7 0 ) , s.v. "Vegetius."
44 Cf. Sirago, op. cit., pp. 4 6 7 - 4 7 3 ; Lang, op. cit., pp. v i -
v i i i ; Silhanek, loc. cit.
45 55 .17 sqq.
^Oc. 4 . 2 0 .
47
Sirago gives no exact reference, but he seems to mean N.Th. 2 5 . 5 , which i s dated January 16 , 444. The reference, moreover i s to the primicerius, so that th i s c i t a t i o n i s useless as evidence.
4 8 1 2 9 . 8 .
49 Cf. I. Richmond, Tlie City Wall of Imperial Rome (Oxford,
1 9 3 0 ) , pp. 257 - 262 .
50 ° U 1 2 8 . 1 1 sqq.
5 1 1 2 4 . 1 5 - 125 .5 .
22
5 233.10-11
53 Panegyric 10.22.
54 Cf. Silhanek, op. cit., p. 17. The mss. are Palatinus
909, tenth century; Vaticanus 4493, twelfth century; Parisinus 7231, twelfth century; cf. Lang, op. cit., p. v i i .
55 Op. cit., pp. 61-83. Valent in ian"s claim was put forward
previously by Gibbon, op. cit., p. 883, n. 75; and supported by Lang, op. cit., p. v i i i i and recently by C D . Gordon, op. cit., p. 36.
5 6124.15-125.5.
5 7128.11 sqq.
5 8 165.8-11.
124-125.
59
Cf. S tar r , C.G., The Roman Imperial Navy ( Ithaca, 1941), pp.
6 0 22.9-12.
^Some have suggested that th i s Valentinian was the imperator invictus: Stewech, Fl. Vegeti Renati: Epitoma (Antwerp, 1585); Bessel , "Spici legium ad F l . Vegeti L ibros , " Misc. Philol. Cvit. Syntagma, (Amsterdam, 1742); Schwebel, Be Re Militari (Argentour, 1806); S. Oman,
A History of the Art of War in the Middle Ages? (London, 1924), p. 17.
6 2128.17-18.
CO If Vegetius wrote a f te r the sack of Rome in A.D. 410,
why does he not mention that memorable event? Seeck (op. cit., p. 65) maintains that such disasters are soon forgotten, and a f te r the passage of a few years would hardly be worth mentioning. On the other hand, i t also seems l i k e l y that Vegetius would be wise not to mention the sack i f the emperor connected with so ignominious a defeat were s t i l l on the throne.
23
64 129.6 sqq. This passage has been explained away with no
reasons given as an anachronist ic reference to the time of Camil lus; cf. Sirago, op. cit., pp. 467-468 .
65 Ibid.; of. Ian Richmond, The City Wall of Imperial Rome
(Oxford, 1930), pp. 257-262; CIL, v o l . 6, 1188-1190.
^Honorius has been nominated previously by J.W. Forster, Quaestiones Vegetianae (Program, Rheydt, 1895).
67 CIL, v o l . 6.1187; of. my note to 150.4 imperator inviote.
68 Vide supra, n. 1.
69 H. Bruncke, Quaestiones Vegetianae (Diss. Le ipz i g , 1875);
J.W. Forster, De Fide Flavii Vegetii Renati (Diss. Bonn, 1879); Dankfried Schenk, Flavius Vegetius Renatus: Die Quellen der Epitoma Rei Militaris, Klio, Beih. 22 (1930); F. Lammert, "Zu Vegetius Epitoma Rei M i l i t a r i s IV, 1-30," Phil. Woch. 51 (1931), pp. 798-800; A. Neumann, "Das Augusteisch-Hadrianische Armeereglement und Vegetius," C. Ph (1936), pp. 1-10; "Das romische Heeresreglement," C Ph, 41 (1946); E. Sander, "Die h istor i sche Be isp ie le in der Epitome des Vegez," Phil. Woch. 50 (1930), pp. 955-958; "Vegez: die Quellen von IV, 1-30," Phil. Woch. 51 (1931), pp. 395-399; "Die Hauptquellen der BLicher 1-3 des Epitoma Rei M i l i t a r i s des Vegetius," Philologus 87 (1932), pp. 373 sqq.; A.0. Mauch, Der lateinische Begriff Disciplina (Diss. Basel, Freiburg, 1941).
70Cf. my notes to 160.12-13, 159.15, 160.8, 156.5.
^162.18-20 = Frontinus, Strategemata, 2.3.34; cf. my note on th is passage.
72
Cf. my note to 155.3 ventis - indicemus ; see also
R. Re i tzenste in, " "D ie geographischen Bucher Varros," Hermes 20 (1885)
pp. 520 -522.
24
73 Cf. 5.2 diversos historicos. It i s generally agreed
that Vegetius ' sources or ig inate in the early Empire; of. Dankfried Schenk, op. cit.; E. Sander, "Die Quellen des Biiches IV, 31-46 der Epitoma des Vegetius," Hh. Mus. 99 (1956), pp. 153 sqq.
Cf. Oc. 42.4,7,11. Vegetius omits any mention of th i s f l e e t , probably because i t was not one of the t r ad i t i ona l naval squadrons, and so would be out of place in a work on matters that were ancient even to him.
Hist. Nov. 6.8.
76
cevtamen. Vegetius himself attests to t h i s : 150.8 agitur terrestre
77Get. 29.
78 Cf. Silhanek, op. cit.3 pp. 1-2.
79 Cf. 150.7 pauciova dicenda sunt.
25a
P A R T I I
T R A N S L A T I O N
25b
XXXI. Inv incible emperor, now that I have set forth at Your
Majesty's command the pr inc ip les of bat t le on land, the rest of my
work, I think, belongs to naval warfare. There i s less to be said
about these a r t s , for the sea has long since been pac i f ied and our
struggle i s on land against the barbarian peoples.
In keeping with the d ign i ty and advantage which becomes
the i r greatness, the Roman people did not assemble a f l e e t on the spur
of the moment on account of need a r i s i ng from some disturbance, but
always kept one in readiness against any c r i s i s i t should encounter.
For no-one dares to provoke by aggression or to injure the kingdom
or people that he knows to be prepared and ready to defend i t s e l f and
r e t a l i a t e . Therefore, a legion each was stationed at Misenum and
Ravenna with f l ee t s so that they would not be too far removed from
the protection of the c i t y , and whenever the case demanded they might
s a i l to any port in the world without delay or roundabout routes.
The Misene f l e e t was with in reach of Gaul, the provinces of Spain,
Mauretania, A f r i c a , Egypt, Sardinia and S i c i l y ; and the Ravennate
f l e e t was wont to travel by d i rec t course to Epirus, Macedonia,
Achaia, the Propontis, the Black Sea, the East, Crete and Cyprus,
since in matters of war speed i s usually more useful than valour.
XXXII. The prefect of the Misene f l e e t was in charge of those war
ships stationed in Campania, while the prefect of the Ravennate f l e e t
had command of those based on the Ionian Sea. These men had under
them ten tribunes each, one for every cohort. And each ship had i t s
own "navarchus" - - that i s , "master," as i t were - - whose da i l y chore
26
and unceasing task i t was to arrange the a c t i v i t i e s of the helmsmen
rowers and so ld iers - - except for the other tasks of seamen.
XXXIII. Various provinces have been at certa in times very powerful
at sea, and so there have been various types of ship. But while
Augustus was f i ght ing the Batt le of Actium, since Antony had been
beaten mainly by the Liburnian a u x i l i a r i e s , i t became per fect l y c lear
from the experience of th i s important bat t le that the ships of the
Liburnians were handier than others. Therefore, the Roman emperors
b u i l t a f l e e t of ships modelled on these, adopting t he i r general design
and the i r name. Liburnia i s in fact a part of Dalmatia l y ing near
the c i t y of Iader; and war ships are now b u i l t in the s ty le of that
d i s t r i c t and ca l led "L iburnians. "
XXXIIII. Just as in laying foundations fo r houses qua l i t y i s sought
a f te r in the sand and stone, so much more ca re fu l l y in bu i ld ing ships
must everything be inspected, because i t i s much more dangerous fo r a
ship to be un f i t than for a house. The ship of war, therefore, i s most
commonly constructed of cypress, pine - - e i ther cu l t i va ted or w i ld - -
and f i r . It i s better nai led together with bronze than with i r on .
For although the cost, to be sure, may appear somewhat heavier, never
theless i t proves p ro f i tab le because bronze las t s longer; fo r rust
quickly eats away iron na i l s under warm and wet condit ions, but brass
na i l s reta in the i r o r i g ina l s o l i d i t y even in s a l t water.
27
XXXV. One must be espec ia l ly careful that the trees from which war
ships are to be made are cut between the f i f t een th day of the new moon
and the twenty-second. For only on these eight days are the cut
materials preserved from ro t ; on the other hand, timber cut on a l l other
days dissolves into dust within the very same year, i t s insides eaten
away and destroyed by worms - - a phenomenon that has been demonstrated
by both theoret ica l study and the day to day experience of a l l bu i lders .
And we are aware also from the study of r e l i g i on how proper i t has been
to observe these days alone for a l l time.
XXXVI. Moreover, beams are cut to good advantage a f te r the summer
s o l s t i c e — that i s , throughout the months of Ju ly and August — and
throughout the autumn equinox [that i s ] un t i l the f i r s t of January. For
during these months, as the sap begins to dry up, the logs are dryer
and therefore stronger. Logs must never be hewn into planks immediately,
nor are planks to be used in ships as soon as they are sawn, since to
ensure increased dryness the wood deserves a re sp i te , having been whole
trees up to th i s time and only recently s p l i t into two planks. For
planks which are f i t t e d together while s t i l l green shrink when they
have sweated out the i r natural moisture and leave rather large cracks.
And nothing is more dangerous to seafarers [than gaping planks].
XXXVII. With respect to s i ze : the smallest ships of war have a
s ingle t i e r of oars; those a l i t t l e la rger , two; those of good s ize a l l o t
three, four or sometimes f i ve posit ions for the rowers; and th i s should
not seem enormous to anyone since far larger vessels are reported to
28
have taken part in the Batt le of Actium - - ships of s ix ranks or even
more! Scouting c r a f t , however, operate in company with the larger men
of war; having about twenty rowers on each side - - the Br itanni c a l l
them " p i c t boats." I t i s the pract ice for surpr ise attacks to be
made with these, for convoys of the enemy's ships to be intercepted
sometimes and for the approach of the enemy and the i r strategy to be
found out by keeping a keen watch. So that the scouting vessels w i l l
not be betrayed by brightness, the s a i l s are dyed Venetian blue,
s im i l a r to the colour of the sea, and the tackle i s coloured with the
wax that ships are generally coated wi th. A l so, the sa i l o r s and
marines wear Venetian blue coloured c lothing so that not only at night,
but even in the daytime, they more eas i l y remain unseen while scouting.
XXXVIII. Anyone who s a i l s with an army in war f l ee t s ought to know
beforehand how to recognise the signs of storms. For often war ships
are wrecked more grievously by storms and waves than by enemy assault.
A l l one's s k i l l must be applied to th i s branch of natural science
because the nature of winds and storms is learned from c e l e s t i a l
science. And j u s t as fores ight saves the cautious in the face of
the harshness of the sea, so does carelessness destroy the heedless.
Therefore, a study of navigation ought f i r s t to examine the number
and names of the winds. The ancients, on the one hand, believed that
there were only four p r inc ipa l winds blowing from the i r own respective
d i rect ions in the sky, corresponding to the cardinal points of the
compass; but the experience of a l a te r age has discerned that there
29
are twelve. To el iminate any misunderstanding, I have presented here
not only t he i r Greek names, but Lat in as w e l l , in such fashion that
a f te r having l i s t e d the four pr inc ipa l winds, I sha l l name those that
are associated with them to the r ight and l e f t . And so, l e t us begin
from the spring s o l s t i ce - - that i s , from the eastern point: from th i s
d i rec t ion r i ses Apheliotes - - that i s , Subsolanus; to i t s immediate
r i gh t , Caecias or Euroborus and to i t s left,Eurus or Volturnus. Now
Notus - - that i s , Auster - - occupies the southern point, having on. i t s
r i ght Leuconotus - - that i s , "the white south wind" - - and on i t s l e f t
Libonotus - - that i s , Corus. Zephyr, then - - that i s , "evening wind"
- - has the western point, with Lips or Afr icus l y ing to the r i gh t , and
to i t s l e f t Iapyx or Favonius. And that leaves the northern sector
with Aparctias or "the north wind"; the place on i t s r i ght i s held by
Thrascias or C i rc ius and that on i t s l e f t by Boreas or Aqui lo. These
winds are wont to blow often one at a time, sometimes two at a time,
but during great storms even three at a time.. Before t he i r onward
rush the seas, untroubled and calm on t he i r own, rage with heaving
waves. At the i r gust, according to seasons and regions, f a i r weather
returns in place of storms, and again, calm weather turns stormy. For
with a favourable blow a f l e e t can make the ports i t would des i re ; but
with the wind contrary i t i s forced e i ther to heave to and turn back
or to run the r i s k . And so, he who has earnestly studied the theory
of winds has suffered shipwreck only with d i f f i c u l t y .
30
XXXVIIII. The fol lowing is a t rea t i se on months and days. To be
sure, the violence and harshness of the sea do not permit s a i l i n g
throughout a l l the year, but certa in months are the most su i tab le , some
are uncertain, and the rest are by the law of nature unmanageable for
war f l e e t s . From the end of Pachon - - that i s , a f te r the r i s i n g
of the Pleiades - - f rom the 27th of May un t i l the r i s i n g of Arcturus - -
that i s , the 14th of September - - s a i l i n g i s believed to be safe
because the harshness of the winds i s softened through summer's k ind
ness; a f te r th i s time, un t i l the 11th of November s a i l i n g is uncertain
and close to r i sky because Arcturus - - a very v io lent star — r i ses
a f te r the 13th of September. And on the 24th of September the nasty
weather of the equinox begins, while around the 7th of October there i s
the r i s i n g of the "Rainy Kids, " and in the same month on the 11th, of
Taurus. From the month of November, moreover the winter sett ing of
the Verg i l i ae harass seagoing t r a f f i c with frequent storms. Therefore,
from the 11th of November un t i l the 10th of March the seas are closed.
For the day i s very short, and night prolonged; the heavy cloud cover,
the low v i s i b i l i t y of the atmosphere and the crue l ty of the winds
i n ten s i f i ed by ra in and snow not only drivev f l ee t s from the sea, but
also discourage;} t r ave l l e r s from journey on land. In f a c t , a f te r the
birthday of s a i l i n g , so to speak - - which is celebrated with fe s t i ve
contests and public display in many c i t i e s - - i t i s dangerous to attempt
sea voyages un t i l the 15th of May because of very many stars and the
season of the year i t s e l f , not to the extent that commercial t r a f f i c
stops altogether, but because greater care must be taken when an army
travels in war ships than when boldness hastens the vessels of pr ivate
trade.
31
XL. Further, the r i s ings and sett ings of other stars s t i r up very
f i e r ce storms. Although spec i f i c days among them are pointed out in
the testimony of the authors, nevertheless, because some changes occur
for various reasons and - - as one must confess - - the nature of mankind
i s forbidden f u l l knowledge of c e l e s t i a l operations, men therefore make
a t r i p l e d i v i s i on of marine observation. It has been establ ished that
storms occur during the day f ixed upon or the day before or a f t e r .
Whence, i f storms occur on the day before, they say in Greek that " i t
storms e a r l y " ; i f on the appointed day, " i t storms"; and i f on the
day a f t e r , " i t storms l a t e . " But to l i s t them a l l s p e c i f i c a l l y
would seem e i ther s i l l y or longwinded since very many authors have care
f u l l y expounded the arrangement not only of the months, but also the
days. The t r a n s i t s , too, of the stars that are ca l l ed "p lanets " often
upset calm weather when they take up t he i r signs or leave them according
to the course prescribed by the w i l l of God the Creator. Not only the
theory of science, but also common experience r ea l i s e s , moreover, that
the s t o rm- f i l l ed days about the new moon are to be feared to the
utmost by those upon the sea.
XLI. Also storms r i s i n g up out of calm weather and calm out of
tempest, are forecast by many signs which the disk of the moon shows
as though in a mirror. A reddish colour announces winds; a darkish
tone, ra ins ; a mixture of the two, clouds and raging storms. A
pleasant and br ight disk assures f a i r weather for s a i l i n g ; i t bears
th i s on i t s face, pa r t i cu l a r l y i f in i t s fourth r i s i n g i t i s not
blunt-horned and red or darkened with moisture pouring over i t . Also
32
the sun r i s i n g and sett ing is important as to whether the day rejo ices wi
rays of equal intens i ty or changes with c lo se - l y ing cloud; whether i t
i s br ight with i t s usual glow or f i e r y with winds dr iv ing and not pale,
or spotty as rain threatens. The a i r , indeed, and the sea i t s e l f and
the s i ze and appearance of the clouds provide information to anxious
s a i l o r s . Some things are made known by the b i rds , some by the f i s h ,
which Vergi l grasped in the Georgios with his near-divine ta lent and
which Varro ca re fu l l y worked out in his naval books. If helmsmen
claim to know these things, they actua l l y do to the extent that
experience has educated them out of t he i r ignorance - - na higher form
of education has tutored them.
XLII. The body of water that i s the sea i s the th i rd element of
creat ion. Aside from the winds, i t i s agitated by i t s own eddy and
motion. For during certa in hours, day and night a l i k e , i t runs back
and for th with a certa in ag i tat ion which they c a l l "rheuma"; l i k e
t o r ren t i a l streams at one time i t floods the land and i t flows back
into i t s own depths at another. The double character of th i s back-and-
forth motion helps ships on the i r way when favourable and impedes them
when contrary. And the l a t t e r case i s to be avoided with utmost care
by one about to enter a dec i s ive ba t t l e . For the momentum of the t ide
cannot be overcome with the aid of oars - - even the wind sometimes
y ie ld s to i t . And since in d i f f e ren t areas the t ides vary at certa in
hours due to the d i f f e r i n g state of the moon's waxings and wanings,
for that reason he who is about to conduct a sea-batt le must become
acquainted before the engagement with the charac te r i s t i c s of the loca l
waters.
33
XLIII. The business of mariners and helmsmen i s to know the region
in which they are going to be s a i l i n g and i t s ports, so that they can
avoid project ing or submerged rocks, shallows and shores. By as
much as the sea i s deeper, by so much i s safety greater. Attentiveness
i s required of skippers, s k i l l of helmsmen, courage of rowers, because
naval ba t t l e i s done on a calm sea and the sh ips ' bulk s t r i kes the
enemy with beaks and dodges t he i r counter-attacks not by the gusts of
the winds, but by the stroke of the rowers. In th i s task the muscles
of the rowers and the masters' s k i l l at plying the t i l l e r produce the
v i c to ry .
XLII I I. Batt le on land c a l l s for many sorts of arms. A naval
engagement, however, absolutely demands not only several types of arms,
but also engines and a r t i l l e r y j u s t as i f one were f i gh t ing on walls
and towers. What, indeed, i s more merciless than a naval b a t t l e ,
where men perish in water and flame! So special care must be taken
over defensive devices so that the men are protected by mail coats,
cuirasses, helmets and even greaves. For a man who stands on deck
and f ights in ships cannot complain of the burden of his armour.
Stronger and larger shields also are adopted on account of the blows
of stones. Besides hooks, grapnels and other sorts of naval weapon,
darts and stones are f i r e d on both sides with arrows, m i s s i l e s , s l i ng s ,
s t a f f - s l i n g s , hand-arrows, onagers, catapults and scorpions; and
what i s even more serious, those who can depend on the i r valour go
across to the ships of the enemy when the vessels have closed and the
boarding bridges dropped. And there they f i gh t i t out to the f i n i s h
34
at close quarters - - "hand-to-hand," as the expression says. In the
larger war ships they even set up ramparts and towers so that , as i f
from a w a l l , they can more eas i l y wound or k i l l t he i r opponents from
the higher l eve l s . Shafts wrapped with f i r e - o i l , oakum, brimstone
and pitch are shot flaming from the catapults and s t i ck into the hu l l s
of the enemy ships and with so many incendiary devices they quick ly
set f i r e to the planks, smeared as they are with wax, p i tch and re s in .
Some men are k i l l e d by blade and stone and some are driven to burn amidst
the waves. But in the midst of so monstrous kinds of deaths the
b i t te re s t eventual i ty i s that the bodies must be eaten, unburied,
by the f i s h .
XLV. Just as in land warfare, surpr ise attacks are made on unwary
s a i l o r s . Ambushes are set up about su i tab ly s i tuated narrows between
i s lands, and th i s i s done so that being unprepared they may be more
eas i l y destroyed. I f the enemy's s a i l o r s are t i r e d from a long row,
i f the wind presses against them, i f the t ide i s against t he i r bows,
i f the enemy i s asleep and unsuspecting, or i f his anchorage affords
no way of escape or i f the desired opportunity for f i gh t ing has
ar i sen, then one must j o i n hands with the favours of fortune and do
bat t le in accordance with chance. But i f the enemy has escaped the
trap through caution and there i s a pitched b a t t l e , then the men-of-
war must be assembled in ba t t l e formation; not in a s t ra ight l i n e , as
on a b a t t l e f i e l d , but curved l i k e a crescent moon, the middle bulging
backwards with the wings pro ject ing , so that i f the enemy t r i e s to
break through, he w i l l be surrounded and crushed by the formation
35
alone. On the wings, moreover, are placed the choice ships and
men.
XLVI. I t i s useful as well that your f l e e t always use the deep and
open sea, and the enemy's be driven towards the coast, because those
who are driven aground lose the i r f i ght ing thrust. In th i s sort of
engagement three types of weapon have been found to be the most helpful
towards v i c to ry : poles, hooks and double-bladed axes. When a long,
th in beam with an i ron t i p at e i ther end i s hung l i k e a yardarm on a
mast i t i s ca l led a pole. Whether the enemy ships come alongside
to port or to starboard, i t i s swung f o r ce fu l l y l i k e a batter ing ram
and never f a i l s to lay low and k i l l enemy marines or s a i l o r s , and quite
often i t drives a hole through a sh ip ' s h u l l . However, a very sharp
blade, curved l i k e a pruning hook, which i s fastened to poles of
considerable length i s ca l l ed a hook. I t suddenly cuts the ropes
holding up the yardarm and when the s a i l s have f a l l e n the ship i s
rendered quite sluggish and useless. The double-bladed axe has a
very broad and sharp blade on e i ther s ide. Very s k i l l e d sa i l o r s
and marines go out in small boats in the midst of heated bat t le and by
means of these s t e a l t h i l y cut the cables that hold the steering oars of
the enemy's ships. Whenever th i s i s done the ship i s captured
immediately, as i f weak and unarmed. For what hope of safety i s l e f t
to a ship that has l o s t i t s rudder?
I think I ought to say nothing about the cutters on the i
Danube that protect the farmlands with da i l y pa t ro l s , because constant
experience in these matters has discovered more lore than time-tested
teaching has shown.
P A R T I I I
C O M M E N T A R Y
The notes in the Commentary are
arranged according to Lang's pages
and l i ne numbers. For instance,
150.4 indicates page 150, l i n e 4.
150.4. maiestatis. The word "majesty" can refer simply to "great
ness, grandeur, d i gn i t y " (cf. Lewis and Short, A Latin Dictionary
[Oxford, 1879] s.v. majestas), p a r t i c u l a r l y as regards the gods or
men of high stat ion such as kings and senators. In a p o l i t i c a l con
text , however, i t means the sovereignty of a people. Thus the word
i s appropriate fo r an emperor i n both senses, as a man of high s ta t i on
and the head of the Roman Empire. Vegetius appl ies i t to the emperor
f i ve times {cf. 33.8, 37.20, 38.19, 129.10).
150.4. Imperator invicte. Sc ip io Africanus was the f i r s t and
apparently the only man to receive t h i s ' h o n o r i f i c " t i t l e during the
Republican period {cf. C icero, Verr. 4.82). The Senate discussed i t s
conferral upon the young T iber ius , but Augustus must have deemed i t
too great an honour for his he i r since he ended the del iberat ions with
a veto {cf. Suetonius, Tib. 17.2).
Under the Empire the t i t l e imperator belonged exc lus ive ly to
the emperors and the i r heirs designate. Both i t and the ideal v i r tues
of a v ic tor ious general (on th i s subject see R. Combes, Imperator
[Par i s , 1966]; M.P. Charlesworth, "The Virtues of a Roman Emperor,"
Proc. Brit. Acad. 23 [1937] pp. 105-133) appear among the imperial
t i t l e s and cognomina--P-£us, fo r instance, in the name of Antoninus
Pius. Commodus dubbed himself invictus Hercules Romanus in the l a s t
year of his l i f e (cf. Dessau, v o l . 1.2.400). The coinage of
. . shows that they associated themselves certa in emperors J
with Sol Invictus and then adopted the invictus t i t l e fo r themselves
37
{of. Mattingly and Sydenham, v o l . 5,pt.2, coins of
n , vo l . 6 , p. 240, coins of 'Constantine I). Probus; K
In fact v i r t u a l l y every emperor from the late
second century onwards bore the t i t l e inviotus {of. Dessau, vo l . 1.2.
506 sqq.). However, although every emperor of that period was
imperator and inviotus, the combination imperator inviotus was very
rare; i t s conferral i s c l ea r l y attested only once, in the la te second
century. On the occasion of his eleventh acclamation Septimius
Severus was accorded two separate and d i s t i n c t t i t l e s - - i m p e r a t o r and
imperator inviotus {of. Dessau, vo l . 1.2.421). Aside from the upstart
" G a l l i c Emperors" Tetricus I and II {of. Mattingly and Sydenham, vo l . -5,
2,p.417) th i s exalted t i t l e i s attested only fo r Honorius and Arcadius
{of. Dessau, vo l . 1.2.794 = CIL v o l . 6.1187). In these instances,
i t i s not certa in that the emperors named bore the t i t l e o f f i c i a l l y .
It may be that by the end of the fourth century imperator inviotus
had become a mere f l a t t e r y that might be used for any emperor. Hence,
we cannot be certa in that Vegetius uses i t in any proper, o f f i c i a l
sense and we cannot depend on i t great ly as evidence for the i den t i t y
of Vegetius ' dedicatee.
150.7. iam dudum pacato mari. No pitched sea bat t le was fought
between the bat t le of Actium in 31 B.C. and the bat t le in the Propontis
between Constantine and L i c i n i u s in A.D. 324. With Rome's dominion
extended to every corner of the Mediterranean world there existed no
r i v a l naval power. The prov inc ia l f l ee t s and detachments of the
38
Misene and Ravennate f l ee t s were present in various stations about
the coasts and i s lands, maintaining government transport and communi
cations and discouraging piracy. The large-scale cor sa i r a c t i v i t i e s
that Pompey suppressed in the f i r s t century B.C. (°f. Appian, Mithr.
92-93; Dio. 36.20-22; P lutarch, Pomp. 24; Cicero, De. Imp. 31 sqq.) could
never be repeated under the Empire; for not only were there f l ee t s to
deal with any incidents that might occur, but the presence of the
Roman army on land allowed no refuge for buccaneers f l ee i ng from the
f l ee t s and protected the coastal towns from sea-borne ra ids . An
exce l lent i l l u s t r a t i o n of th i s s i tua t i on occurs in Josephus, B.I. 3.
414-427; here Vespasian catches some Jewish rebels-turned-pirates
between the f l ee t s and the legions.
The f l ee t s sometimes became involved in the various c i v i l
wars that occurred in the h i s tory of the Empire. Even during these
disturbances, however, they never saw action in naval ba t t l e . The
ships were used as troop transports, and on occasion the sa i l o r s would
j o i n in the f i ght ing on land (cf. Josephus, Ant. 19.253; Tacitus,
Hist. 1.87; 2.13-15,28,32; Suetonius, Vitel. 15).
Given the preva i l ing i n a c t i v i t y on the seas in the la te fourth
and early f i f t h centur ies, i t i s not surpr i s ing that Vegetius should
consider naval matters r e l a t i v e l y unimportant, things about which
there was rather l i t t l e to be sa id. Eventually, however, the Empire
paid for i t s neglect of the f l e e t s ; the Vandals took to seamanship
in the 430's and were not to be brought under control for a century
(cf. Procopius, B.V. 1.17-20). These events, however, lay in the
future, as Vegetius ' s i lence concerning them seems to indicate (cf.
my Introduction on the matter of Vegetius ' date).
39
150.12. Nemo-cognoscit. Vegetius expresses s im i la r sentiments in
the introduction to Book 3 {cf. 65.11-12).
150.12. semper habuit praeparatam. Although Augustus receives due
c red i t for establ i sh ing Rome's f i r s t permanent f l e e t s , i t i s also true
that the Romans always had naval forces at the i r d i sposa l , even as
early as the fourth century B.C. (on the early navy sea W.W. Tarn in
J.E. Sandys, A Companion to Latin Studies [London, 1968] 754-756;
C. S tar r , The Roman Imperial Navy [New York, 1941] pp. 1-8). The
ancient h istor ians record t he i r existence during a l l Rome's great
internat ional c r i se s : Appian {Samnit. 7.1) reports a Tarentine '
attack upon a Roman squadron on the pretext that the Romans were v i o
l a t i n g an old naval treaty (ca. 282 B.C.); Livy (9.30) says that there
were duumviri in charge of f i t t i n g out and repai r ing f l ee t s in a period
some twenty years e a r l i e r . Polybius (1.20.9-10), chron ic l ing Rome's
" f i r s t naval adventure"--v iz. the F i r s t Punic War--states that the
Romans decided to construct quinqueremes and triremes but that t he i r
shipwrights knew nothing about bui ld ing the former. It can be
inferred from this that, on the other hand, they did know how to bu i ld
t r i r e m e s — i . e . they were experienced naval bu i lder s , further evidence
of the e a r l i e r existence of Roman f l e e t s .
A f ter the Punic Wars, un t i l Augustus' time, the Romans had
l i t t l e or no naval forces of the i r own, but found i t more convenient
to have others supply them with ships and s a i l o r s — e s p e c i a l l y t he i r
Greek and I ta l i an a l l i e s — w h i l e Roman legions embarked as marine
companies in time of war {'-/. Livy 36.4.42; Appian, Mithr. 56.94;
40
Suetonius, Caes. 2). L i t t l e importance must have been attached to the
f lee t s themselves, for only the poorest of Roman c i t i zen s were assigned
to naval instead of to legionary service (cf. Polybius 6.19).
150.15. Apud Misenim . . . et Ravennam. Having mentioned Rome's long-,
standing pol icy of naval preparedness Vegetius describes the next stage
of naval development, the establ i sh ing of permanent f l e e t s . In formal i s
ing the operations of the Misene and Ravennate f l ee t s Augustus put into
e f fec t a plan that had been conceived e a r l i e r . Cicero (Pro Flaooo 31)
was a strong advocate of the maintenance of permanent patrol f l ee t s
in the period fol lowing Pompey's successful campaign against the p i ra tes .
Caesar and Pompey, as they waged war on one another, both saw the
important advantage that control of the seas could g ive; i n the struggle
Caesar ac tua l l y ordered the formation of a f l e e t each in the Tyrrhenian
and the Ad r i a t i c (cf. Appian, B.C. 2.41).
150.15. singulae legiones cum classibus. During the time of the
Republic the Romans generally used f l ee t s supplied by the i r a l l i e s
(cf. 150.12. semper hdbuit praeparatam), embarking the i r own legions
to act as marines. Eventually, th i s po l icy was changed and under the
Augustan system permanent f l ee t s were establ ished at Misenum and
Ravenna. Here Vegetius emphasizes the d i f ference, that the Romans
supplied both the ships and s a i l o r s , v i z . classes, and the f i ght ing
men, v i z . legiones. Although the men of the f l ee t s were peregrines,
non-c i t izens, they were, l i k e so ld iers of the auxilia, granted
c i t i zen sh ip on retirement.
41
Vegetius ' reference to both classes and legiones does not imply
that within the f leets there were two separate organisat ions, one of
s a i l o r s , the other of marines; on the contrary, Vegetius out l ines a
s ing le command structure [cf. 151.3-11). Nor does a dual organisation
appear to be indicated in other ancient accounts of the imperial f l e e t s ,
except in cases involving the embarkation as extra f i ght ing men of
troops that normally had nothing to do with the f l ee t s [cf. Tacitus,
Hist. 1.87,2.13-15,28-32; Zosimus, Hist. Nov. 1.22). At least two
insc r ip t ions (CIL v o l . 10.3365,3369) show that each ship const i tuted
a century. Moreover, there was no d i s t i n c t i on between s a i l o r s and
marines; both were regarded as " s o l d i e r s " , fo r the funerary in sc r ip t ions
of members of the f l ee t s {cf- CIL v o l . 10.3370-3674) record simply that
they "served" {militavit). Ulpian states p l a i n l y {Dig. 37.13.1.1)
omnes remiges et nautae milites sunt.
Vegetius may well be correct i n terms of numbers when he claims
that each of the c i t i e s , Misenum and Ravenna, could boast of a legion
as well as a f l e e t — t h a t i s , marines as well as s a i l o r s . At a time
when the legion at f u l l strength included at least f i v e thousand men
the Misene f l e e t was able to form the Legio I Adiutrix fo r Nero. Since
the f l e e t continued to operate even a f te r los ing so many men {cf. Tac i tus,
Hist. 1.6), those who went into Nero's land forces must have been marines.
In the same year the Ravennate f l e e t in l i k e fashion gave Vespasian
the Legio II Adiutrix. We can be cer ta in that, since the rowers
normally outnumbered the marines, there must have been at least another
" l eg ion " l e f t in each of the f l ee t s a f te r the departure of the marines,
and that the establishment of each f l e e t was o r i g i n a l l y well over ten
thousand men.
42
It i s l i k e l y , furthermore, that Vegetius ' statement holds true
for his own period, for although the f l ee t s had declined d r a s t i c a l l y
in strength, so also had the complement of a legion been reduced, to
about a thousand men.
150.16. stabant. Vegetius ' use of the imperfect tense need not
necessari ly imply that the f l ee t s are no longer in existence at the
present time. The broadly descr ipt ive nature of th i s chapter of the
Epitoma suggests that the wr i te r i s attempting to convey the notion
of a state of being that began at some i nde f i n i t e time in the past
and pers i s ts into the present (on the point of grammar see R. Ku'hner
and K. Steggmann, Lateinisohe Grammatik, v o l . 2, pt. 1 [Hannover,
1966] p. 123).
150.16. ne longius - abscederent. To protect his seat of power
Augustus cleared the I t a l i an peninsula of a l l troops except his
Praetorian Guard. For further secur i ty he used the f l ee t s of Misenum
and Ravenna to guard the approaches by sea and to dominate the whole
of the Ad r i a t i c and Tyrrhenian Seas (of. Tac i tus, Ann. 4.15; Suetonius,
Aug. 49). Moreover, these two f l ee t s eventual ly, because of t he i r
association with the emperor's person, acquired the t i t l e "Praetor ian"
(of. CIL v o l . 3.31,32 for two of the e a r l i e s t pieces of evidence).
The home ports selected for these f l ee t s v/ere both s t r a teg i c
a l l y s i tuated, in keeping with the i r purpose, and near enough to
Rome to allow the emperor to exercise d i rec t control over them.
43
150.17. sine mora - pervenirent. An army could be transported by
sea much fas ter than i t could march overland. The interested reader
may f i nd information on the rate of travel of ships and the duration
of voyages between some important ports in L. Casson, Ships and
Seamanship in the Ancient World (Princeton, 1971) pp. 292-296 and
"The Speed under Sa i l of Ancient Ships," TAPA 82 (1951) pp. 136-148;
E. de St.-Denis, "La v i tesse des navires anciens", Rev. Arch. ser. 6,
18 (1941) pp. 121-138.
150.19. Misenatium - consueverat. Vegetius here describes a naval
defence system in which the two I t a l i an f l ee t s are responsible fo r the
secur i ty of the whole Mediterranean world. Arguing that such a desc r ip
t ion i s complete and accurate only for the f i r s t ha l f of the f i r s t
century A.D., Schenk (op. cit.y p. 71 sqq.) attempts to show that
Vegetius uses Frontinus as the source for th i s part of his work. Sander
(Rh. Mus. 99 (1956) p. 161 ) suggests on the same grounds that our
author uses the Constitutions of Augustus. On the contrary, however,
any discussion of the Augustan naval establishment ought to mention
the f l e e t at Forum J u l i i , the modern Frejus, which was s t i l l act ive in
A.D. 69 [cf. Tacitus, Ann. 4.5; P lutarch, Ant. 68.1). Further, such a
survey ought to l i s t the various prov inc ia l f l e e t s . The classis
Alexandrina can be dated to the reign of Gaius (cf. Ph i lo Judaeus, In
Place. 163) and i t received the t i t l e augusta, probably from Vespasian
(cf. CIL v o l . 8.21025). The classis Pontica may be the f l e e t referred
to by Josephus (B.I. 2.366-367) in connection with events of the year
A.D. 66. The classis Britannica existed under Nero and f igured in
44
the upheavals of A.D. 68/69 (of. Tacitus, Hist. 4.79); stamped br icks
from Boulogne-sur-mer in France show that i t s base in that locat ion
existed as early as the reign of Claudius (of. CIL v o l . 13.125559).
On the other hand, Vegetius does not adequately describe the
naval establishment of h is own day, as Justus Lipsius- (De Magistratibus
Romanis 1.5) suggests. Our author does not take into account the
forces that must have been maintained in the Dardanelles and the
Black Sea by the Eastern Empire (of. Theodosian Code 8.7.21). Nor
does he mention the classis Venetum based at Aqu i l e i a , which is l i s t e d
i n the Notitia Dignitatum (Ocoidens 42.4), a document perhaps contem
porary with his own work.
Since Vegetius omits a l l these deta i l s he appears to be o f f e r
ing us not a deta i led descr ipt ion of the Imperial f l e e t s , but rather
an out l ine of Roman naval strategy. Likewise Tacitus (Ann. 4.5) and
Suetonius (Aug. 49) remark that I ta l y i s protected by f l ee t s operating
in the waters that surround the peninsula, but do not go on to
enumerate the various squadrons that made up the Whole naval e s tab l i s h
ment of t he i r times.
150.19. Galliam - Cuprum. A f ter the formation of prov inc ia l f l ee t s
these areas were no longer - - i f they ever had been - - under the
exclusive protection of the I t a l i an f l e e t s . Nor, in f a c t , did the
I t a l i an f l ee t s observe the boundaries that Vegetius sets down; i n s c r i p
tions of the Ravennate f l ee t have been discovered in places that our
author considers the t e r r i t o r y of the Misene f l e e t , and vice-versa
(cf. E. Verrero,L'ordinamento delle armate romane [Roma, 1878] pp. 65-
45
158. G. Jacopi , "La classis Ravennas" Rend. Acc. Naz. Linc.}\Sez.
Mor. Stor. Fil.] ser. 8,6 [1951] pp. 532,546-549). I t appears, in
f a c t , that the Misene f l e e t sent more missions overseas than did the
Ravennate f l e e t , which, for the most part, remained in the A d r i a t i c .
Dalmatia, home of the L i bu rn i , i s conspicuously absent from
Vegetius ' l i s t . Possibly in his time i t was under the protection
of the classis Venetum. Zosimus [Hist. Nov. 6.8) reports that Honorius,
contemplating f l i g h t from Ravenna in A.D. 410, gathered there an
unusually large number of ships. That the emperor had to send for
these ships from other parts of his realm indicates that the Ravennate
f l e e t was no longer a s i g n i f i c an t force. Although
there i s no real evidence to support such a theory, one might venture to
guess that the Ravennate f l e e t ' s strength might have been trans
ferred north to Aqu i l e i a , where i t became the classis Venetum l i s t e d
in the Notitia Dignitatum; a l i k e l y occasion for such a s h i f t i s
S t i l i c h o ' s I l l y r i a n campaign against A l a r i c in 397.
150.19. Galliam. Of the seven provinces of Gaul in the Late Empire
only Navbonensis has a coast l ine on the Mediterranean {cf. A.H.M. Jones,
The Later Roman Empire [Oxford, 1964] Maps 1 and 2).
150.19. Hispanias. The p lura l form re f l e c t s the fact that four of
Spain 's s i x provinces - - f i ve in the Iberian peninsula and Tingitana
in North A f r i c a - - could be reached by sea (cf. Jones, loc. cit.).
46
150.19. Mauretania. Sander (Rh. Mus. 99 [1956] p. 156 . ) holds
that th i s reference to Mauretania in the s ingular form dates Vegetius 1
source to the Augustan era, before i t s d i v i s i on into two provinces.
Nevertheless, i t i s quite as l i k e l y that our author i s speaking of
the contemporary prov inc ia l organisation. Mauretania Sitifensis and
Caesariensis {Tingitana became a Spanish province) were considered in
l a te r times as a s ingle unit under the dux et praeses provinciae
Mauretaniae [cf. Not. Dig., Oo. 30.1).
150.20. Aegyptum. The diocese of Egypt was incorporated in A.D.
382; before th i s date i t was administered as part of the diocese
Oriens.
150.22. Orientem. Vegetius surely refers to the diocese Oriens as
const ituted in his own time; i t s coastal provinces were Isauria, Cilioia
Prima and Seounda, Syria, Syria Salutaris, Phoenice, Palestina Prima,
Secunda and Salutaris.
151.4. Praefectus. During the Republic the praefeotus classis was
the deputy of a consul, proconsul or some other ranking commander; as
such he was temporarily in charge of a rather small part of his super ior ' s
forces. Caesar, fo r instance, put one of his young o f f i c e r s , Decimus
Brutus,in command of a squadron of ships during one phase of a campaign
(of. B.G. 3.9).
During the Empire the permanent f l ee t s were commanded on a less
temporary basis by equestrians appointed by the emperor. The most famous
47
of these was Pl iny the Elder, prefect of the Misene f l e e t .
The prefecture of a f l e e t was a rather dist inguished pos i t ion
whose holder ranked high under the command of the magistev militum
praesentalis (cf. Not. Dig., Oc. 42). It was the highest o f f i c e
attained by Sextus Aulienus (otherwise unknown) a f te r he achieved
equestrian status (cf. CIL v o l . 10.4868), but for Gnaeus Marcius
(cf. CIL v o l . 10.1127), presumably of more exalted b i r t h , i t marked
the beginning of a more prest igious career.
O r i g i na l l y the prefecture of a f l e e t was s im i l a r to the command
of a leg ion, involv ing r e spons i b i l i t y for men, equipment and camp as well
as leadership in ba t t l e . The nature of the post, however, under
went a change and l i k e the Pretor i an Prefect of l a t e r times the f l e e t
prefect became ch i e f l y an administrator. Although he remained the
senior o f f i c e r of the f l e e t his task was to superintend the a f f a i r s of
the base and the town where i t was located. I r on i c a l l y , the o f f i c e
of prefect of the Ravennate f l e e t f lour i shed when the f l e e t was a l l
but defunct and presumably the pos i t ion resembled the Urban Prefecture
at Rome (cf. Not. Dig., Oc. 50.7.9 Praefectus classis cum curis eiusdem
civitatis.). Meanwhile, others saw to the m i l i t a r y aspects of the
navy, possibly tribunes (cf. note on 151.6 tribuni and deni . . . per
cohortes singulas) remained in charge of the i r respective cohorts and
praepositi (cf. Dessau vo l . 1.1351,2764) commanded detachments on
missions.
151.5. Ionio marl. "The Ionian" i s properly that part of the Ad r i a t i c
Sea which i s south of the "hee l " of I ta ly (cf. P l i n y , N.H. 3.150 in eo
48
duo maria quo distinximus fine, Ionium in -prima parte, interius
Hadriaticum; also Strabo 2.5.20). Nevertheless wr i ters i n ancient
times did not always observe the d i s t i n c t i o n between the two; CI audi an,
a contemporary of Vegetius, refers to the upper reaches of the Ad r i a t i c
as Ionios fluotus (of. 26.209) and Appian, the second-century h i s t o r i an ,
speaks of the Liburni as p irates of the Ionian Sea (of. III. 3.7).
151.6. tribuni. Since the f l ee t s were organised in the same fashion
as the legions i t would be reasonable to suppose that they also had
tribunes. However, in e a r l i e r times no provis ion was made for the
assignment of tribunes to the f l e e t . Polybius, describing the se lect ion
of tribunes fo r the t r ad i t i ona l four legions (of. 6.19) mentions that
only c i t i zen s with a census standing below four hundred drachmae were
relegated to the navy. This i s not at a l l odd, for in Republican
times the Romans generally r e l i e d upon the i r naval a l l i e s - - Greeks
and I ta l ians — to supply them with ships and crews. When occasion
demanded, regular legionar ies were embarked in these ships as marines.
Caesar (B.G. 3.14.3) ce r ta in l y indicates to us that when his men went
aboard ships they were commanded by t he i r own tr ibunes. This was only
a temporary arrangement, but the instance demonstrates that i t was
possible fo r tribunes to function in a f l e e t .
The auxilia, or infantry aux i l i a r y cohorts, o f f e r a good
para l le l as regards internal organisat ion. Both the f l ee t s and the
auxilia were composed of non-cit izens (that i s , before Caraca l la ' s
general grant of c i t i zensh ip in A.D. 212) serving under Roman o f f i c e r s
49
of equestrian status. Both resembled the legion inasmuch as they
were divided up into centuries (cf. G. Webster, The Roman Imperial
Army [London, 1969] pp. 146-148). Since the Romans seem to have found
i t convenient to organise both f l ee t s and auxilia a f te r the fashion
of the legions, and since the auxilia had tr ibunes, i t seems l i k e l y
that the f l ee t s had them a l so , despite the complete lack of evidence.
[N.B. Although one i n sc r i p t i on (Dessau v o l . 3.9479, from Thrace)
indeed refers to a "tr ibune of Liburnians 1, 1 v i z . xp t$ *A i 3 . , the
Liburnians could conceivably be so ld ier s from Dalmatia rather than
sh ips.]
Nor i s the suggestion acceptable that " t r ibune" replaced
"navarch" in the th i rd century a f te r Chr i s t (cf. V. Chapot, La flotte^
de Misene [Par i s , 1896] p. 131), for th i s would assume a great lack
of common knowledge on Vegetius ' part. Moreover, Vegetius has taken
the pains, in other instances where such changes have occurred, to
inform his reader (cf. 34.9-10; 41.1-3; 42.16-18; 43.9-11; 46.16-17;
49.16-17; 137.20-21). In any case, to return to the theme touched
on in the l a s t paragraph, the tr ibunate was a commissioned o f f i c e held by
equestrians while the navarchy was a centurionate generally held by pro
fess ional so ld iers promoted through the ranks (cf. my note to 151.8
navarchos).
151.6. deni . . . per cohortes singulas. We have seen that Vegetius
cor rect ly compares the organisation of the f l ee t s to that of the legion
(note 150.15 singulae legiones). However, l i k e the tr ibunes, the
cohorts attested by Vegetius cannot be confirmed through any other
50
source. There ex i s ts an i n s c r i p t i on (CIL v o l . 6.1274*) re fer r ing to
a s a i l o r who belonged to the twelfth (!) cohort of a f l e e t , but
unfortunately i t i s a forgery.
It i s possible to i n fe r the existence of cohorts from the decen
t r a l i s e d command structure of the f l e e t s . As we observed e a r l i e r (cf.
151.4 praefectus) the prefect of a f l e e t was a c i v i l administrator while
the conduct of the m i l i t a r y operations of the f l e e t was entrusted to
deputies. These men would appear to have held independent commands
analogous to alae and cohortes equitatae or the nianeri of the Late
Empire, although the prefect was t he i r nominal ch ief .
151.8. navarchos. Certain scholars (namely C. S tar r , The Roman
Imperial Navy [New York, 1941] pp. 38-43 and Jacop i , op. cit., pp. 540-
541) have concluded that the navarch was a f l e e t t r ibune, basing t he i r
claim on the fol lowing passages:
Ammianus Marcell inus 23.3.9 classis advenit tribuno Constan-
tiano cum comite Lucilliano ductante . . .
Zosimus, Hist. Nov. 3.13.3 KaxecTnaav 6e v a u a p x o t A o u K i a v o s
KCU Ka j vaxavT io s .
These, contrary to the opinion c i ted above, do not furnish conclusive
evidence that tribune and navarch were equivalent. The two gentlemen
in question, a count and a tribune in the one vers ion, are c l e a r l y
senior o f f i c e r s conducting a transport mission as part of an inland
expedit ion. To confuse such a dist inguished ind iv idual as a comes
with a humble centurion - - v i z . navarchus - - or even with a tribune
51
would be absurd; obviously, then, Zosimus means vauapxos in a more
c l a s s i ca l sense, "ship commander" or "admira l . "
The navarch of the Roman navy was, to judge by the evidence,
the equivalent of a senior centurion of the land army. An i n s c r i p t i on
from Ravenna (CIL v o l . 11.86) shows one man's progress from the rank
of t r i e r a r ch ( a sh ip ' s captain jun io r to the navarch) to that of navarch
and f i n a l l y to pr inc ipa l navarch of the f l e e t ; another from Misenum
{CIL v o l . 10.3348) shows a promotion from the pr inc ipa l navarchy to the
pr imip i l a te of a legion. The promotion i m p l i c i t in the transfer to
an army legion lay in the p r i v i l ege of reta in ing an equivalent rank in
a more senior branch of the serv ice. Further, j u s t as meritorious
service in the legions could lead to a man's being made primus pilus
bis, so could a s a i l o r become bis navarahus {of. CIL v o l . 10.3350, an
i n s c r i p t i on from Misenum). This pa r t i cu l a r honour i s attested for no
other ranks of the armed serv ices.
In his discussion of the navarch's status Starr {of. op. oit.
p. 40) states that he was a squadron commander, pointing out that in
the in sc r ip t ions of t r ie rarchs the name of a man's ship i s often given
(e.g. CIL v o l . 10.3361, from Misenum) while in the case of navarchs
no ships are mentioned. This de ta i l appears to be in perfect harmony
with Vegetius ' account of the primus pilus, who is said to have commanded
four centuries {of. 42.Msqq. ). If the navarch was indeed the
equivalent of the primus pilus, he too ought to have led four centur ies.
In the f l ee t s a ship was considered a century {of. CIL vo l . 10.3365,
3369). The navarch, therefore, must have been responsible for a
52
squadron of at least four ships.
It i s worth noting that in the ninth century the skipper of
a ship was s t i l l ca l led a navarch and that his rank was known to be that
of a centurion: cf. Leo, Peri Thai. 8 Kevxapxwv xoG 6pouovos . . . icai
o TOO vavapxou 5e 3 nxo i xou Kevxapxou.
The fol lowing table demonstrates roughly how the centurionates
of a legion (of. 42.11-43.14) should correspond to those of the navy:
Primus Pilus
Primus Hastatus
Prinoeps Primae Cohortis
Seoundus Hastatus
Triarius Prior
Centuriones
Navarohus, Navarohus Prinoeps.
Trierarohi
Centuriones (of. CIL v o l . 10.3372)
151.8. navioularios. This word belongs to the vocabulary of commer
c i a l seafaring and denotes e i ther a ship owner or a captain of a
f re ighter .
151.9. ceteris nautarum officiis. Nautarum here appears to include
marines, milites, as well as rowers, remiges and helmsmen, gubernatores.
These would have routine tasks which they would carry out without special
instruct ions or under the supervision of various petty o f f i c e r s such as
optiones and suboptiones, custodes armorum, naufylaces, e tc . (of. CIL
vo l . 10. 3394— 3497 ). The skipper, of course, would
use the same chain of command to arrange and carry out the special
exercises that Vegetius mentions.
53
151.14. Liburnorum auxiliis. The L i bu rn i , a f i e r ce t r i be of the
Dalmatian coast, f i r s t made contact with Rome in the fourth century
before Chr i st through the i r a c t i v i t i e s as p irates (cf. Livy 10.2.4;
Appian, III. 3; Varro, R.R.2.8-9; Servius, Comm. Ad Aeneid. 1.243).
Subdued, they became useful a l l i e s (of. H.A. Ormerod, Piracy in the
Ancient World [London, 1924] pp. 167-186). Caesar turned to good use
the i r ships, which became the standard model fo r vessels of the Imperial
f l e e t s , and the i r appetite for excitement (cf. B.C. 3.5,9). Upon his
death, the Liburni rose up with the rest of Dalmatia against Roman
domination, only to be put down by Octavian. The men and ships he
took with him to Actium made an important contr ibut ion towards his
v ic tory over Antony (cf. Appian, III. 13-16; Florus 4.11).
151.16. ceteris aptiores. The ships of the L iburn i were noted,
as bef i t s p i rate c r a f t , for the i r speed and manoeuvrability (cf. Appian,
B.C. 2.39; III. 2.7; S i l i u s I t a l i c u s , Pun. 13.240-243).
Vegetius uses liburna gener ica l l y f o r any ship of war, as do
many other Latin authors (cf. Horace, Epod. 1.1; Car. 1.37.30; P l i n y ,
N.H. 10.63; Orosius 6.19.8). Nevertheless, the word had a more
precise meaning - - that i s , i t denoted a pa r t i cu la r type of ship.
S a i l o r s ' funerary in sc r ip t ions mention hexeremes (of. CIL v o l . 14.232),
quinqueremes (cf. CIL v o l . 10.3523),quadriremes (cf. Dessau vo l . 1.
2833), triremes (cf. CIL v o l . 10.3585) and l iburnians (cf. CIL v o l ,
10.3421). Since i t was d i f f e ren t from the other classes of ships
mentioned above, the l iburn ian would appear to have been a l i g h t
bireme, the only class not otherwise accounted for . The adject ive
54
6 i K p o T a appearing in connection with i t ce r ta in l y indicates th i s
{of. Appian, III. 1.3; Lucian, Amor. 6; S i K p o x a applied to other
ships, Polybius 5.62.3; A r r i an , Anab. 6.5.2; Appian, Mithr. 92). A Latin equivalent, ordine contentae gemino, appears in Lucan's
PharsaUa (3.533-534).
For a complete co l l e c t i on and evaluation of the evidence on
l iburn ians , see S. Panciera, "L iburna, " Epigraphioa 18(1956) pp. 130-
156.
151.18. Libumia. The t e r r i t o r y of the Liburni at the time of
the Roman conquest extended along the coast of modern Jugoslavia from
the r i v e r Ars ia to the mouth of the T i t i u s and included the is lands of
the Quanerno {of. P l i ny , N.H. 3.139; Strabo 7.5.4). Their p r inc ipa l
c i t y Iader or Iadera (modern Zadar or Zara) occupied a s i t e some 150
Roman miles'march from Pola {of. Pliny.ff.tf. 3.140-141; see Figure 1,
Map). For further information on the Liburni see J . J , Wilkes,
Dalmatia (London, 1969) pp. 159-162.
152.3. cupresso. Cypress was not one of the more important woods
in ancient sh ipbui ld ing, to judge by the paucity of references to i t
in l i t e r a t u r e . Plato {Laws 705c) mentions i t in passing, but
Theophrastus does not include i t in his l i s t of sh ipwright ' s materials
{of. H.P. 5.7.1-2). Among the Lat in authors, only Vegetius f inds
i t important enough to mention.
Nevertheless, archaeologists have discovered that the heavier
beams in the remains of some wrecked ships are of cypress. The Yassi
55
Ada Byzantine wreck had a kee l , sternpost, through-beams and wales
of cypress {cf. F. van Doorninck, J r . , "The Byzantine Shipwreck at
Yassi Ada" [Univers ity of Pennsylvania d i s se r t a t i on , unpublished,
1967] p. 100). The Pantano Longarini wreck had cypress wales,
str ingers and planking (cf. P. Throckmorton and G. Kapitan, "An
Ancient Shipwreck at Pantano Longar in i , " Archaeology 21 [1968] p.
187).
152.3. pinu domestica sive silvestri. The wi ld pine y ie lded not
only wood, but also p i tch for seal ing hu l l s {cf. P l i n y , N.H. 16.52).
The domestic va r ie ty , less resinous and, therefore, l i g h t e r , was used
mainly fo r planking. Pine planks were des irable fo r t he i r l ightness
and strength and were usually free of knot holes {cf. J . Beauverie,
Les bois industriels [Pa r i s , 1904] p. 224). Ovid {Ars Am. 2.9),
Verg i l (Ec. 4.38) and Propertius (4.6.19-20)do not d i s t ingu i sh v a r i e t i e s ,
but re fe r simply to the pinus. Another t ree , often confused with the
wi ld pine because of i t s appearance, shared the f i ne shipbui ld ing
qua l i t i e s of domestic pine: P l i n y , N.H. 16.39 . . . quas tibulos yocant
. . . graoiles [than the w i ld pine] succinctiovesque et enodes3
libuvnicarum ad usus3 paene sine resina.
Archaeological f indings show that pine was widely used for
strakes {cf. F. Benoit, I'Epave du Grand Congloue a. Marseille [ x i v e
supplement a Gallia; Pa r i s , 1961] p. 149; J . du P lat Taylor, Marine
Archaeology [London, 1965] p. 88; van Doorninck, loc. cit.; G. Uce l l i p
Le NavidiNemi [Roma, 1950] p. 152). Its use, however, was not
56
confined to the sh ip ' s shel l alone; the Grand Congloue wreck's keel
and r ibs were also of pine (Benoit, loc. cit.).
152.4. lavice. In Lang's ed i t ion th i s word appears only in the
Apparatus. A. Andersson (studia Vegetiana [Uppsala, 1938] pp. 175-
176) fee l s that i t ought to be accepted as part of the text .
The larch was commonly used in shipbui ld ing (cf. P l i n y , N.H.
16.195,219), presumably when i t was the eas i l y ava i lab le loca l mater ia l .
No known wrecks, however, have y ie lded any remains of larch wood.
152.4. abiete. The f i r tree grows t a l l and s t ra ight and i t s wood
i s f a i r l y l i g h t ; these two features make i t espec ia l l y useful fo r masts
and yardarms (cf. P l i n y , N.H.16.195; Theophrastus, H.P. 5.1.7), for in
the long, narrow, unstable c r a f t we are discussing too much weight
high above the waterl ine might ea s i l y capsize them. Presumably, the
tree in question i s the s i l v e r f i r which i s to be dist inguished from
another, somewhat heavier f i r (cf. Theophrastus, H.P. 5.7.1) used
probably in hu l l s (cf. V e r g i l , Aen. 8.91).
152.5. utilius - configenda. Vegetius does not specify what parts
of the ship are to be " na i l ed " together. In e a r l i e r times shipwrights
used metal fastenings sparingly and made most of the j o i n t s with t ree
na i l s (of. Procopius, Goth. 4.22.10-14; on shipbui ld ing see Casson,
op. cit., pp. 203-213). By the s i x th century the use of metal na i l s
for fastening hu l l s together had become a common expedient as the
57
testimony of Procopius (Vers. 1.19.23) demonstrates. An o f f i c i a l
document from A f r i ca {cf. R.O. Fink, Roman Military Records on
Rapyrus [Cleveland, 1971] pp. 338-339) shows that in one instance, at
lea s t , the Imperial navy opted for the fa l se economy of purchasing
i ron na i l s instead of the more expensive bronze na i l s . Shipwrecks of
Late Imperial and Byzantine times show the use of both i ron and bronze
na i l s (cf. Benoit, op. cit., p. 151, f i g . 79; van Doorninck, op. cit..
94-95; U c e l l i , op. cit. p. 152 and f i g . 153,154; G. Bass, "Underwater
Excavations at Yassi Ada: A Byzantine Shipwreck," Arch. Am . 71
[1962] p. 552).
152.10. quintodecima - secundam. The moon waxes u n t i l i t s f i f t een th
day at which time i t becomes f u l l , and then begins to wane un t i l i t
disappears altogether about three days before the appearance of the new
moon. Several ancient authors advise the cutt ing of trees only while
the moon wanes:
Cato, De Ag. 37 . . . nisi intermestri lunaque dimidiata turn
ne tangas materiem . . . "except between moons and during the
moon's waning, do not cut timber."
Varro, R.R. 1.37 . . . quaedam facienda crescente luna . . .
quaedam contra . . . ut caeduas silvas . . . "some things are
to be done as the moon waxes . . . some things at the opposite
time . . . such as cutt ing f o re s t s . "
P l i n y , N.H. 16.190 . . . Infinitum refert et lunaris ratio,
nec nisi a vioesima in tricesimam caedi volunt. "Lunar reckon
ing i s also very important; nor do they [trees] want cutt ing
except from the twentieth to the t h i r t i e t h . "
58
Since Vegetius claims f a m i l i a r i t y with other works of Cato
and Varro {of. 13.15,17.17,18.18,37.10,160.14) i t is not un l i ke ly that
he consulted the i r ag r i cu l tu ra l t reat i ses concerning th i s mater ia l .
152.18. his tantum die bus. In a footnote to his t rans la t ion of
Vegetius, John Clarke {Military Instructions in Four Books [London,
1767] pp. 198-199) makes the fol lowing observations:
"Reason and the constant Pract ice of A rch i tec t s . ] To
these reasons Vegetius adds another of an extraordinary
kind . . . He has found out that th i s in terva l between
the f i f t een th and twenty-third of the Moon, in which he
says Trees should be f e l l e d , coincides with the Time
appointed for the Celebration of Easter. What Connection
or A f f i n i t y th i s can have with the Subject in Question,
I leave to others to determine. Stewechius observes that
one Manuscript has placuit Pasoha celebrari, and t e l l s us
at the same time that the Word Pascha i s a Gloss. But
I question whether, without the Assistance of that Word,
i t would have been an easy matter to unriddle our
Author 's Meaning."
In the fourth century there was a great re l i g i ous controversy
over the date of the celebrat ion of Easter (between the f i f t een th and
twenty-third days of the f i r s t moon a f te r the spring equinox). Vegetius
could hardly have been unaware of the s ign i f i cance of these days,
espec ia l l y since the issue was not completely l a i d to rest in his
l i f e t ime . In acknowledging the correctness of observing "these days
59
alone" he furnishes us with possible evidence that he was at least a
nominal Chr i s t i an .
152.19. Caeduntur - Januarias. Not only the time of the month, but
also the season of the year i s a matter of importance in logging. The
ancient author i t ies do not agree completely on the matter of the proper
time for cutt ing t rees, but they have one important point in common,
that they a l l recommend winter months.
V i t ruv iu s , De Arch. 2.9.1 Materies caedenda est a primo
autwrmo ad id tempus quod erit antequam flare incipiat
favonius. "Lumber must be cut from the beginning of
autumn un t i l the time before Favonius begins to blow"
(about February 8 according to P l i n y , N.H. 16.193).
Cato, De Ag. 17 . . . ubi solstitium fuerit ad brumam
semper tempestiva est. " . . . i t i s always in season
once the summer s o l s t i c e has come, u n t i l the winter
s o l s t i c e . "
P l i n y , N.H. 16.188 . . . Caedi tempestivum . . . tigna aut
quibus aufert s.ecuris corticem a bruma ad favonium aut,
si praevenire cogamur, arcturi oocasu et ante eum fidiculae,
novissima ratione solstitio. "Cutt ing i s seasonable . . .
for beams or trees whose bark i s to be str ipped with axes
from the winter s o l s t i c e to Favonius or, i f we are forced
to ant ic ipate th i s date, the sett ing of Arcturus,and before
that the F id icu lae - - the summer s o l s t i c e by the l a te s t
account."
60
Vegetius* dates, v i z . from the summer so l s t i ce to January
1, correspond c losest to Cato ' s , v i z . summer s o l s t i c e to winter
so l s t i ce (December 25). The small discrepancy between the dates fo r
the end of the logging season, a matter of about a week, would appear
to be a t t r ibutab le to Vegetius ' having "rounded o f f " the date for the
s o l s t i c e . That he used another source i s un l i ke ly since a l l the
other sources c i t e not month and day, but year ly c e l e s t i a l phenomena.
153.1 His - ligna. Cf. Theophrastus, H.P. 5.1.3 iceAeuouai 6e xa\
6eS\JKUias xns seAnvns xeyveiv cos aicXripoxepoov K C U aaaTreaxepoov yavoyevajv.
"And they recommend cutt ing a f t e r the sett ing of the moon since [the
trees] become harder and less l i k e l y to r o t . "
Both Vegetius and Theophrastus apparently are aware that increased
dryness - - that i s , a smaller sap content - - makes the wood more durable.
Neither, however, l i nk s dryness with immunity from decay. As fa r as
Vegetius knows, the only i l l resu l t s of bui ld ing ships with wet wood are
the gaping cracks that are l e f t when the wood dr ies and shrinks (of.
153.7 sqq.). He bel ieves, then, that the inf luence of the moon preserves
trees from rot (of. 152.16-17) supernatural ly, as i t were; but in
order to secure a tougher mate r i a l , the tree must be cut in the winter,
before the sap starts to flow.
153.3. Illud - indutias. Vegetius does not say how long timber
must be l e f t to dry; obviously, i t i s up to the woodman to judge when
i t i s ready for use. Pl iny c i te s instances in which the wood was cut
and cured and the ships b u i l t and commissioned, a l l in fo r ty days in
one case, s i x ty in another (N.H. 16.192; of. Florus 2.2; Livy 28.45.21 )..
61
153.6. tabulae duplioes. According to Theophrastus (H.P. 5.5.6)
certa in types of trees must be s p l i t in ha l f in order that the centre
may dry properly. A f ter the curing i s completed, each hal f i s then
hewn into planks. In the hu l l s of ancient wrecks the thickness
of these planks ranges from two to ten centimetres (of. Casson, op.
ait., pp. 214-216).
153.12. tevnos. - Triremes must have been considered rather large
ships in Vegetius ' time. Although quadriremes and quinqueremes
possibly s t i l l existed (of. Paulinus of Nbla, Poemata 24.73), they are
mentioned only ra re ly i n l i t e r a t u r e . Large "ships of the l i n e " l i k e
those of Anthony's and Octavians ' ba t t le f l ee t s were not required from
the f i r s t century onwards because in the absence of oppos it ion, the
pract i ca l function of the f l ee t s was to maintain transport and communi
cat ion. Nor, to be sure, could the heavier ships perform such tasks
as well and as economically as smal ler, f a s t e r c r a f t . In any case,
the western Empire of the la te fourth century could i l l af ford the
expense in money and manpower that these "bat t le sh ip s " demanded.
153.13. remigio gradus. Because of l i t e r a l i n terpretat ion of the
expression ordines remorum some scholars were long under the impression
that a quinquereme must be a ship with f i v e superimposed t i e r s of oars
( for a review of the a r t i c l e s and theories see W.W. Tarn, "The Greek
Warship," JH S 25 [1905] p. 137, note 1). Others have favoured the
theory that there was but one t i e r of five-man oars. This arrangement,
ca l l ed a soaloocio, has been shown to have or ig inated in more recent
times (cf. J.S. Morrison, "The Greek Trireme," Mariner's Mirror 27
62
[1941] pp. 18-20) and i t has long been known that a f i v e - t i e r e d vessel
- - to say nothing of a larger one — i s an impos s ib i l i t y because of
engineering d i f f i c u l t i e s (cf. A. J a l , La flotte.de Cesar [Pa r i s , 1861]
p. 104; R.C Anderson, Oared Fighting Ships [London, 1962] p. 22). Nor
does any ancient representation depict a ship with more than three
t i e r s of oars (of. W.W. Tarn, op. cit., p. 206). There i s now some
consensus that the correct theory i s a compromise between these two
(cf. Anderson, op. cit., p. 23; Casson, op. cit., pp, 99-100). Ships
may have as many as three ve r t i c a l t i e r s , but polyremes are large
enough to accommodate several rowers at each oar, i . e . they have extra
"ranks" of rowers (see Figure 5).
Concerning Vegetius ' descr ipt ion of polyremes J.S. Morrison
("The Greek Trireme," MM 27 [1941] p. 17) makes th i s comment:
" I t never occurs to him [ i . e . Vegetius] to question the
premise that ships of the higher denominations had t he i r
rows of oars (ordines) arranged at d i f f e ren t leve l s l i k e
the two rows of the Liburnian which he knew. . . There i s ,
then, reason to bel ieve that his a t t r i bu t i on of three
leve l s of oars to the tr i reme, four to the quadrireme, and
so on, rests upon inference and not upon information."
However, Tarn (of. J H S 25 [1905] p. 205) has demonstrated that when
Lat in authors describe polyremes in terms of remorum - - or remigum ordines
- - they are general ly not to be interpreted as specify ing superimposed
t i e r s . Rather, the intent of such expressions i s to impress upon the
reader some idea of the power of the sh ip ' s engines, so to speak. Thus
in the case of Florus 2.21.5-6 — a senis in novenos remorum ordines
[Antony's ships] . . . a binis remigum in senos nec amplius ordines
[Octavian's ships] - - the expression "ranks of rowers" appears
63
to give us the truer image, in l i g h t of Anderson's theory on rowing
arrangements.
If Vegetius intended to indicate superimposed t i e r s of oars, he
ought to have ended the sentence at quinos; fo r the remorum ordines
of the m-inimae libtcpnae and the paulo mdiores c l ea r l y are so arranged.
Instead, our author goes on with the statement that ships "of ample
s i ze a l l o t " gradus to the crew. One meaning of the word (of. OLD, s.v.
gradus) i s "a t i e r of seats, " as in a theatre. Vegetius, therefore,
may be referr ing to rowing pos i t ions , not to t i e r s of oars; and i f he
i s speaking of rows of seats, ce r ta in l y they need not be arranged at
d i f fe rent l eve l s .
The noun remigium may denote the act of rowing, as in 163.13
(of. also Tacitus, Ann. 3.1.21; Cicero, Tusc. 5.39.114); or i t may
refer to the rowers, as in Livy 26.51.6. E ither meaning makes good
sense in the context of th i s statement.
153.13. enovme videatur. Vegetius may well have had reason to bel ieve
that he was try ing his reader 's c redu l i t y . Zosimus (5.20.4) reports at
the end of the f i f t h century that even the bui ld ing of triremes has
been given up long ago. Just as Vegetius refers to the bat t le of Actium
for evidence in support of his remarks, so Zosimus i s obliged to point
to the Punic Wars.
153.14. Aotiaoo proelio. This was the l a s t naval ba t t l e of ancient
times in which were used such large ships and such tac t i c s as Vegetius
has in mind. Although Tarn argues convincingly that th i s h i s t o r i c a l l y
64
important engagement was not such a hard-fought contest as Florus and
Dio make i t appear (of. JRS 21 [1931] pp. 173-199), the fac t remains
that Vegetius regards i t as the very paradigm of naval t ac t i c s and
armament.
153.16. Soafae. With respect to s ize and use these are ident i ca l
to the " sma l l , very swi f t dromons" mentioned by Leo (Pevi Thai. 10)
and to the " l i g h t e r and fas ter of the sh ips, " as they are ca l l ed by
Syrianus Magister (Naumaohiae 6.2). Although scafa suggests a c r a f t
without a ram (probably the same as myoparo; of. C. Torr } p. 118)
i t i s conceivable that Vegetius considers these the minimae liburnae.
Certa in ly vessels of th i s so r t , having twenty rowers a s ide, would not
be too small to be considered of use in bat t le during the Late Empire.
Although they were used ch i e f l y as scout boats, these brave
l i t t l e gal leys also went into b a t t l e , taking up a pos i t ion at the centre
of the l i n e (of. Syrianus Magister, Eaumaohiae 9.32). Craf t l i k e these
spearheaded Be l i s a r i u s 1 expedition to North A f r i c a in A.D. 533. Indeed,
so badly had Roman seapower declined that even these small ships went
shorthanded (of. Procopius, Vand. 1.11.15-16).
153.18. picatos. This reading makes l i t t l e sense. Since a l l sh ips '
hu l l s were painted with p i tch or wax there is no reason for c a l l i n g
th i s pa r t i cu l a r type of c r a f t "p i tched" as i f th i s were a special
feature. Moreover, the colour usually associated with a pitch-coated
hul l i s not blue, but black.
65
The a l ternate reading pictas shows the correct gender and makes
better sense in view of the blue colour of the ships - - that i s , there
may be some connection with the blue-painted P i c t i s h warr iors. The
ships may have acquired the i r name because they were painted blue l i k e
the w i l d tribesmen, because they were used i n campaigns against the
P i c t s , or even because the type may have or ig inated with the P ict s them
selves, who Bede says were once pirates (H.E.A. 1.1; cf. CI audi an 7.
54-58). On the other hand, pictas may be simply the perfect p a r t i c i p i a l
form of the verb pingo, describing the ships as "coloured" rather than
pitch black. Certa in ly th i s adject ive would be apt with reference to
painted emblems or standards.
154.4. colore Veneto. Vegetius explains that th i s colour i s the
same hue as the waves of the sea, v i z . blue. This descr ipt ion of
camouflaging i s unique in ancient l i t e r a t u r e . Ph i lostratus (imag.
1.19.3) in fact records the opposite procedure when he describes a
p i rate ship painted so as to be seen and s t r i k e te r ro r into the heart
of the beholder.
The success of the measure which Vegetius suggests was probably
l i m i t e d , f o r in f i ne weather i t i s v i r t u a l l y impossible to conceal a
ship on the open sea. On the other hand, near shores and islands a
ship might be made to blend into the background, espec ia l l y on du l l
days. On a dark night a ship of any dark colour, r e f l e c t i n g l i t t l e
l i g h t , could eas i l y escape detect ion. In any case, painting the whole
ship blue would make i t less conspicuous than one with a white s a i l .
Modern navies have un t i l recent times employed such techniques success
f u l l y , although in more sophist icated versions.
66
154.5. funes. Coating the rigging serves more to protect i t from
the s a l t water and the sun than to camouflage i t .
154.9. Qui - praenoscere. Writers of naval t reat i ses never f a i l to
emphasise the importance of meteorology (cf. Leo, Peri Thai. 2; Syrianus
Magister, Naumaohiae 5). There i s a s im i l a r message in Vergi l (Georg.
1.252 sqq.); cf. A. Andersson, op. cit., pp. 30-31.
154.12. prooellis perierunt. Disasters such as the loss of an
ent i re f l e e t o f f Camarina during the F i r s t Punic War (cf. Polybius 1.37)
taught the Romans to heed warnings l i k e th i s one (for more examples
of h i s to r i ca l l y - recorded storms see R. Boker, s.v. "Winde," R-E V i l l a ,pp.2267-
2280). The emperor Gaius once transported a f l e e t overland from Gaul
to I ta l y at considerable expense rather than r i s k los ing i t on the
peri lous voyage across the Bay of Biscay, around Spain and through the
S t ra i t s of G ib ra l ta r (cf. Suetonius, Calig. 47).
154.17. Veteres - oomprehend.it. Roman wr i ters agree that men at
f i r s t dist inguished only four winds: cf. P l iny N.H. 2.119 Veteres
quattuor ornnino servavere per totidem mundi partes - ideo nec Homerus
plures nominat; Gel 1ius 2.22.16 . . . Romero auotore qui solos
quattuor ventos noverit. Later the number of i den t i f i a b l e winds was
established as twelve; cf. P l i n y , loo. cit. secuta aetas ooto addidit;
Vegetius 1 windrose, Figure 2. Nevertheless, some people clung to an
intermediate, eight-wind system and Ge l l i u s was one of these; cf. 2.22.18
. . . sunt qui pro octo duodeoim faciant.
67
155.1. vocabula. Supplying both Greek and Lat in names fo r the winds
i s not uncommon in Lat in t r ea t i s e s , although the authors do not always
acknowledge that certa in names are of Greek der ivat ion. Despite
Vegetius ' attempt t o avoid d i f f i c u l t i e s by d i s t ingu i sh ing between these,
there are discrepancies between his wind l i s t and those of several other
ancient sources (see Figures 3 and 4). Such d i f f i c u l t i e s could hardly
be avoided fo r the proper name of each wind was not a matter of estab
l i shed ce r ta in ty ; of. Ge l l i u s 2.22.2 vulgo neque de appellationibus eorum neque
de finibus neque de numero oonveniret. Theophrastus, too, i s
aware that the winds are known by various names to d i f f e ren t peoples:
10.62 'Ev E i K e A i a 6e x a i K i a v ou KaAoucuv a A A ' OTTIAIOOXTIV • 6 O K £ 1 S3 OUX
6 aoxo s e l v a i x i c n v aAAa <Sia<{>epeiv , o x i 6 yev 6aauvei T O V oupavov o
83ov. kpyecnrriv &e ox y e v [ o u v ] oAuymav 3 d\ 6e ax ipcova icaAoucnv 3 o i
(6e) i r e p i I i x e A i a v 6ep<xav . Tov a7m.Alurrnv 6e eAAeaTrovxiccv xapgav 6e
^ o i v i x e s } g e p e x u v x i a v 6 J (o\) e v x u Ilovxto . "But in S i c i l y they c a l l 1 x
i t not Caecias but Apel iotes; i t seems to some to be not the same,
but d i f f e r e n t , for the one clouds the sky and the other doe's not. And
some c a l l Argestes Olympias, others Skiron, and the S i c i l i a n s c a l l i t
Derkias. Some c a l l Apeliotes Hel lespont ias, the Phoenicians c a l l i t
Karbas and those on the Black Sea c a l l i t Berecynthia.
155.6. apheliotes. This wind's name i s spel led apeliotes or apheliotes
from the Greek o r i g ina l s spel led O O T - ( Ionic; of. A r i s t o t l e , Meteor. 363a- 363b
13; CIG 518; Figures 3 and 4 or ouJ>- ( A t t i c , shown on the Tower of the
Winds, IG v o l . 14.1308, Figure 4).
A r i s t o t l e i d en t i f i e s Apeliotes as the southeast wind in one
place {Meteor. 364 b 20), commenting that i t i s sometimes ca l l ed Eurus.
68
However, in the passage included in Figure 3 [Meteor. 364 a 16-17) i t
i s simply the east wind. For the most part, other ancient accounts
agree that Apheliotes i s the east wind; the one exception i s Gel 1ius
who, l i k e A r i s t o t l e , gives i t the alternate name Eurus (see Figure 3).
155.3. ventis - indicemus. Cf. Seneca, N.Q. 5.16.3 Quattuor enim
caeli partes in ternas dividunt et singulis ventis binos subpraef eotos
dant. Hao arte Varro, vir diligens, illos ordinat. It i s probable,
then, that Vegetius ' wind l i s t fol lows Varro ' s [of. 160.14 libri navales).
A comparison of the l i s t s as presented in Figure 3, however, reveals that
Vegetius ' l i s t does not correspond exactly with Seneca's, who also c l ea r l y
consulted Varro.
155.4. verno . . . solstitio. There i s no such thing as a "spr ing
s o l s t i c e . " I t seems c l ea r , however, that the d i rec t ion Vegetius means
to ind icate i s due east, which i s the d i rec t i on of the spring equinox
(of. A r i s t o t l e , Meteor. 363b; Ge l l i u s 2.22.7-8; P l i n y , N.H. 2.119;
Seneca, N.Q. 5.16.3; V i t ruv iu s , De Arch. 1.6.4). The correct reading,
then, i s probably that appearing in ms. II, A verno itaque aequinoctio.
155.6. subsolanus. Cf. Ge l l i u s 2.22.8 Is alio quoque a Graecis nomine
ot(f>riA iwrris j Romanis nauticis 'subsolanus' cognormnatur.
155.7. caecias. Cf. Seneca, N.Q. 5.16.4 Apud nos sine nomine est.
According to A r i s t o t l e , Kcuxias i s the northeast wind, opposite Lips
(Meteor. 363 b 4 ) and between Boreas and Eurus (Meteor. 364 b 26).
69
It i s a "wet" wind {Meteor. 364b 19-20) and because i t blows down into the
Mediterranean from the Hellespont i t i s also known as "Hel lespont ias "
{of. P l i ny , N.H. 2.121; A r i s t o t l e , Meteor. 364 b 1 9).
Caecias blows on a sp i ra l course, somehow gathering clouds
towards the centre of the he l i x {of. A r i s t o t l e , Prob. 943 a 32 sqq.;
Meteor. 364b 13; Theophrastus, De Vent. 7.37,39; P l i n y , N.H. 2.126).
155.7. euroborus. This name i s otherwise unknown, obviously concocted
to su i t a wind blowing between Eurus and Boreas. Possibly Vegetius
himself fabr icated the name to make good his intent ion of providing two
names fo r each wind, although i t s parts are quite as Greek as the other
name he mentions, Caecias. Another hybrid name for the same wind,
Euroaquilo occurs in a windrose i n s c r i p t i on at Thugga {CIL v o l . 8.26652,
see Figure 4) and in the Vulgate, Acts 27.14.
155.8. eurus. Cf. Ge l l iu s 2.22.7nominatur 'eurus' fioto vocabulo
ut isti eTUuoAoyxKOi aiunt o caro xns nous pecov. Is al%o quoque a Graecvs
nomine a ^ n A i a m i s , Romanis nauticis 'subsolanus' oognominatur.
This wind s tarts blowing during the winter; a dry wind at
f i r s t , i t turns ra iny; i t also raises the temperature {of. A r i s t o t l e ,
Meteor. 364 b 20-24).
155.8. volturnus. Cf. Seneca, N.Q. 5.16.4; T. Livius [of. 22.43]
hoc ilium nomine appellat . . . Varro quoque hoc nomen usurpat - seal
et eurus iani oivitate dona tun est et nostro sermoni non tamquam alienus
70
interoenit; Ge l l iu s 2.22.10 Graeci . . . quod inter notum et eurum
sit, eupovoTOV appellant.
155.8. meridianum cardinem. Southerly winds generally blow in the
spring when the atmosphere i s unsettled (of. A r i s t o t l e , Prob. 940b1
sqq.) and also at the beginning of winter and the end of autumn {op. cit.,
942 a 5).
155.9. notus. Cf. Ge l l i u s 2.22.14 . . . v o x i s enim Graece umor
nominatur; Ovid, Metam. 1.264 madidis Notus evolat alis. Some questions
posed i n A r i s t o t l e ' s Problems serve to point out various cha rac te r i s t i c s
of th i s wind:
940b8 "Why does Notus blow a f te r a f r o s t ? "
940bl2 "For the same reason, Notus blows a f te r a snowfa l l . "
941a31 "Why does Notus less frequently blow a f te r stormy
nights than a f te r stormy days?"
941a38 "Why does Notus blow under the Dog star? "
942al6 "Why does Notus smell bad?"
155.9. ouster. Cf. P l i n y , N.H. 2.126 umidi africus et praecipue
ouster Italiae;op. oit. 2.127 noxius ouster et magis siccus fortassis
quia umidus frigidior est; Horace, Sat.2.6.18 plumbeus ouster; Suetonius/
Is idore, Nat. Per. 37.3 . . . e x humili flans humidus, calidus atque
fulminens, generans largas nubes et pluvias laetissimas, solvens etiam
f lores.
71
155.9. leuconotus. Agathemerus (cf. De Vent. 7) claims that th i s
i s another name for Libonotus, the wind between Lips and Notus. This
must be an error , however, since i t would locate Leuconotus in the
southwest, not the southeast where other sources agree that i t belongs
(see Figures 3 and 4). Moreover, Vegetius and V i t ruv ius agree that
the two are d i f f e ren t winds, blowing from d i f f e ren t d i rec t ions .
In Ausonius (Technopaeg., 'De Deis' 12) leuconotus i s an
epithet of L ips. Theophrastus (De Vent. 2.11) informs us that "there
are spring souther l ies , seasonal winds as i t were, which are ca l l ed
1 l e u cono to i ' ; fo r they are altogether c lear and c loudless . "
155.10. albus notus. Once again our author i s hard put to keep his
word and produce both a Greek and a Lat in name fo r each wind. Seneca
t e l l s us that there was no Lat in name for Leuconotus: N.Q. 5.16.4
apud nos sine nomine est; a d i f f i c u l t y Vegetius attempts to overcome
by t rans lat ing the Greek name.
155.10. libonotus. Cf. P l i n y , N.H. 2.120 . . . inter Hba et notum i
conpositum ex utroque.
155.10. corus. Vegetius has erred in putting Corus in the southwest;
a l l of the other author i t ies who mention i t place i t north of west
(see Figures 3 and 4).
As for i t s cha rac te r i s t i c s , cf. Seneca, N.Q. 5.16.5. cori
violentia vis est et in unam partem rapax; P l i ny , N.H. 2.124,126 Corus
autumnat . . . grandines septentrio inportat et corus . . . sicci
corus et vulturnus.
72
155.11. zephyrus. Cf. Suetonius/ Is idore, Nat. Eer. 21A qui et
favonius . . . iste hiemis rigorem gratissima vice relaxat, flores
producit. This wind blows during the period of the summer s o l s t i c e
{of. A r i s t o t l e , Meteor. 364b2-3). Some of i t s cha rac te r i s t i c s are
revealed by A r i s t o t l e in his Problems:
942b20 "Why does Zephyrus of a l l the winds gather the
largest clouds?"
943b21 "Why does Zephyrus seem calm and the most pleasant
of the winds, as Homer (says) \_cf. Od. 4.567]?"
944al0 "Why does Zephyrus blow towards evening and not in
the morning?"
155.11. subvespertinus. The name suggests that the Romans, too,
observed that the west wind blows in the evening {cf. preceding note).
155.12. Lips. A r i s t o t l e comments on th i s wind: Prob. 943al sqq.
" . . . Lips ar i ses out of stormy conditions and i s wet in nature" {cf.
942b25 sqq.; Meteor. 364b20). I t blows opposite Caecias {cf. Meteor.
363bl8).
155.12. africus. Cf. Seneca, N.Q. 5.16.5 . . . furibundus et vuens.
156.1. iapyx. Among the ancient authors providing wind l i s t s only
Ge l l iu s and Vegetius mention Iapyx as a major wind rather than as an
unimportant loca l wind of some par t i cu la r area. They cor rect l y describe
i t as blowing from north of west; Ge l l iu s 2.22.21-23 '^a-n^yxas ipsius
73
orae proficiscentem quasi sinibus, Apuli eodem quo ipsi sunt nomine
'Iapygem' dicunt eum esse, propemodum oaurum existimo; nam et est
occidentalis et videtur exadversum eurum flare . Itaque Vergilius
[Aen. 8.709; of. 11.678] Cleopdtram e navali proelio in Aegyptum
fugientem vento Iapyge ferri ait. Seneca, N.Q. 5.17.5 connects the name
Iapygia with Ca labr ia , not Apu l ia , but th i s would not change s i g n i f i
cantly the d i rec t ion from which Iapyx blows.
156.1. favonius. Cf. Seneca, N.Q. 5.16.5 . . . quern Zephyrum esse
dicent tibi etiam qui graece nesoiunt loqui. Since Vegetius,too,regards
Zephyrus and Favonius as d i f f e ren t winds i t seems very l i k e l y that Varro
made the same d i s t i n c t i on in his l o s t libri novates.
156.1. septentrionalem oardinem. Cf. P l i n y , N.H. 2.126 Ventorum
frigidissimi sunt quos a septentrione diximus spirare; A r i s t o t l e , Prob.
942al "Why do the norther l ies blow more than the other winds?"
156.2. aparotias. A co ld , snowy and ha i l -b r ing ing wind {of. A r i s t o t l e ,
Meteor. 364b21 sq.).
156.2. septentrio. Cf. P l i n y , 'N.H. 2.126 grandines septentrio
inportat.
156.3. thrasoias. The name i s immediately recognizable as meaning
"Thracian." According to Suetonius/ Isidore (Nat. Her. 37.5) th i s i s i
a loca l wind of the Propontis and Seneca (N.Q. 5.16.6) reports that i t
74
i s without a Latin name. Perhaps, Vegetius ought not to have i d e n t i f i e d
i t also as C i r c i u s , a G a l l i c wind (of. note fo l lowing) .
Thrascias,. i n any case, holds a pos i t ion between Argestes and
Aparctias (cf. A r i s t o t l e , Meteor. 363b28), has no other wind d i r e c t l y
opposite (op. cit. 364al) and brings storms (op. cit. 365al).
i
156.3. circius. This wind blows down into I ta ly from Gaul (cf.
Suetonius/Isidore. Nat. Rer. 37.5; P l i n y , N.H. 2.121; Seneca, N.Q.
5.17.5; Ge l l iu s 2.22,28 = Cato Fr. 93 Peter) .
Cf. Ge l l i u s 2.22.20 'Circium' appellant a turbine, opinor, eius
ao vertigine; P l i n y , N.H. 2.121 Clarissimus ventorum . . . neb ullo
violentia inferior; Seneca, N.Q. 5.17.5 . . . oui aedificia quassanti
tamen incolae gratias agunt, tamquam salubritatem caeli sui debeant ei —
divus certe Augustus templum illi cum in Gallia moraretur, et vovit et
fecit.
This seems to be the wind known today in I ta l y as la tramontane.
which blows with such constancy (of. P l i n y , loo. cit. clarissimus) that
the expression "to lose the tramontana" means " to lose a l l sense of
d i r e c t i on , become d i so r iented. "
156.3. boreas. Cf. Ge l l ius 2.22.9 Latine 'aquilo', Bopeas Graece
dicitur . . . ab Homero a.\QoxT{C\)zxri\) {.cf. Od. 5.296] appellatum; boveam
autem putant dictum caro Trjs gons quoniam sit violenti flatus et sonori.
A r i s t o t l e (Prob. 941a20)and Theophrastus (De Vent. 8.49)claim
that Boreas never blows for more than three successive days i f i t begins
at night.
75
156.3. aquilo. Cf. P l i ny , N.H. 2.127 saluberrimus autem omnium
aquilo; Suetonius/Isidore, Nat.Rev. 37.1 ex alto flans, gelidus atque
siccus et sine pluvia, qui non discutit nubes, sed stringit; also
Celsus 2.1.16 and Varro, R.R. 1.4.5.
156.3. Hi-consuerunt. A r i s t o t l e also [Meteor. 364a27 sqq.) mentions
t h i s , s tat ing that more than one wind may blow at the same time provided
they are not opposites; otherwise, he thought, they would neutra l i se one
another. The same phenomenon is much favoured by the poets: of. V e r g i l ,
Aen. 1.85-86 una Eurusque Notusque ruunt creberque procellis\Africus;
Horace, Od. 1.3.12-13 . . . nec timuit praecipitem Africum\decertantem
Aquilonibus; Homer, Od. 5.295-297 ouv S ' f f Spos xe Noxos x ' e r r e a o v
Ze^upos xe Suaans | K a i Bopens a i e p r r y e v e x n s , u e y a Kuya KUAIVSWV.
156.5. horum - saeviunt. Andersson [op. cit., p. 31) recognizes in
th i s passage an echo of V e r g i l , Georg. 3.240 sq. ima exaestuat unda\
vorticibus.
156.14. neque - lege naturae. Vegetius divides the year into four
seasons with respect to s a i l i n g : the peri lous winter months, November
11 to March 10 [cf. 158.9); the safe time, from May 27 un t i l September 14
(157.2-3); and about two months during which the safety of s o i l i n g is
uncertain, September 14 to November 11 [of. 157.5-6).
Vegetius defines the seasons according to c e l e s t i a l events
such as the r i s ings and sett ings of stars and cons te l l a t i ons , as do
76
other ancient authors. In many instances the various sources that give
dates for these events seem to disagree with one another concerning
the precise days in question. For instance, Vegetius sets the r i s i n g
of the Pleiades at May 27 while P l iny {N.H. 2.123 and 18.287) claims
that they r i s e on May 10 (Varro, E.B. 1.28.1 dates the same phenomenon
to May 9). Poss ibly, such discrepancies may or ig inate from observations
taken in d i f f e ren t geographical l a t i tudes . (E.J. Bickerman, The Chronology
of the Anoient World [London, 1968] p. 43 provides a table showing how
the dates of c e l e s t i a l phenomena vary at d i f f e ren t l a t i t ude s ) .
157.2. Paohone. To ar r i ve at th i s reading Th. Mommsen ("Zu Vegetius"
Hermes 1 {not 2 as in Lang's apparatus critious} [1866] p.131) has
corrected the emendations of Turnebus and Sc r i ve r iu s , v i z . Pharmuti and
Pauni respect ive ly . A l l three are the names of Egyptian months, Pharmuti
commencing on March 27, Pachon on Ap r i l 26 and Pauni on May 26 {of. E.J.
Bickerman, op. cit. p. 50). Happily, Pachon ends on May 25, a date
which coincides c lose ly with that given by Vegetius, May 26 (that i s , he
says that Pachon has ended by May 27). Moreover, the reading of- E,
pachnitae, can eas i l y be seen as a corruption of Paohone at the hands of
a scr ibe unfamil iar with Egyptian months.
I t i s perplexing, however, to f ind in a Lat in work an Egyptian
date so unexpectedly appearing in the midst of so many Roman dates;
but perhaps Vegetius was struck by the coincidence - - v i z . Paohone
deourso . . . ortum Pliadum. Cer ta in ly , i f Mommsen's reading is cor rect ,
i t shows him to have been a man of diverse knowledge.
77
157.3. Aroturi ovtum. The r i s i n g of Arcturus marks the end of summer
{of. A r i s t o t l e , Hist. Anim. 596bl sqq.). P l iny [N.H. 2.124) gives the
same date as Vegetius for th i s phenomenon: ad sidus aroturi, .quod exoritur
XI diebus ante aequinoctium autumni — that i s , September 14, the day
af ter the Ides and the very day mentioned by Vegetius {of. 157.7-8).
N.B. The date in diem viii deoimwn kal. Octobres in 157.3-4
i s the same as post idus Septembres in 157.7-8, viz. September 14 and
marks the r i s i n g of Arcturus; the date viii kal. Octobres in 157.8-9
i s the day of the autumn equinox, viz. September 24.
157.8. vehementissimum sidus. Cf. P l i n y , N.H. 18.310 . . . vehemen-
tissimo significatu. While P l iny states that th i s s tar i s a sign of
bad weather to come, Vegetius a t t r ibutes the turbulence of the atmosphere
to the star i t s e l f . Our author indeed seems to bel ieve read i l y in the
power of the s tar s , fo r he often speaks of them as the cause, not merely
the portents, of good and bad weather {of. 158.13-14; 159.10-13; 159.
15-160.2; 160.7-10).
157.9. aequinoctialis . . . aoerba tempestas. The ancients generally
agree that the weather tends to be quite foul during both equinoct ia l
seasons; of. Cicero, Ad Att. 10.17.3; Caesar, B.G. .4.36.2.
Besides Arcturus, there are other portents of bad weather
during September and October; of. P l i n y , N.H. 2.106; 18.278; Columella
11.2.66-75.
78
157.10. aeduli pluviales. Cf. Manil ius 1.165 Haedi olaudentes
sidere pontum; Euripides, Ion 1156-1157 'lades re, v a u x i A o i s j a o u j i e a x a x o v
a r i yexov ; Claudian, Epig. 23,3-4 sio non imbriferam nootem duoentibus
Haedis \lonio credam turgida vela mart.
Although aeduli and Taurus are without expressed verbs,
probably oritur i s to be understood from the context. Presumably,
Vegetius refers to the ascendant of the cons te l l a t ion in the case of
Haedi. No other ancient source gives an exact date for th i s phenomenon.
Vegetius, in f a c t , seems to have misunderstood his sources, fo r two
very r e l i a b l e ancient authors discuss Haedi in terms of da i l y movements
rather than "ascendant"; of. P l i n y , N.H. 18.312 . . . matutino exoriri
[on September 29] . . . oocidunt Haedi vespere [on October 5 ] ;
Columella 11.2.73 . . . oriuntur vespere [on October 6] .
158.1. Vergiliarum ocoasus. This cons te l l a t ion i s also known as
Pleiades; of. Hesiod, Works and Days 618-621 e u x ' a v I U r n a S e s aBevos
o g p i y o v ftapiwvos | f£\)yovoa\ TriTrxaxnv es riepoei6ea T T O V X O V J ^ T I T O X G
TTavxoioov aveyoov B u i o u a i v anxcu "When the Pleiades, f lee ing the over
bearing might of Orion, f a l l into the misty sea, then rage the blasts
of a l l the winds."
Vegetius gives no s pec i f i c date in November for the set t ing
of th i s con s te l l a t i on , but P l iny (N.H. 2.125) mentions the eleventh,
which i s the very day that Vegetius says marks the c los ing of the
seas fo r the winter [of. 158.1-2). Although these benign stars have
not yet set, i t i s unsafe to s a i l from September 14 to November 11
because of the unwholesome influence of ArcturMS and other stars
79
(cf. 157.5-10). In simpler terms, s a i l i n g i s safest in the time between
the r i s i n g (cf. 157.2) and sett ing (cf. 158.1) of the Pleiades or
Verg i l i ae .
158.2. sextum idus Martias. The tenth of March. From th i s day u n t i l
May 15 (cf. 158.9), or possibly un t i l May 27 (cf. 157.2-3) s a i l i n g may
be attempted, but i s not advisable (cf. 158.10-11). Vegetius does not
explain why th i s i s so, but Cicero (Ad. Att. 10.17.3) gives us to under
stand that the inclement weather of th i s period i s due to the vernal
equinox: Nunc quidem aequinoctium nos moratur, quod valde perturbatum
est.
Because the weather i s so unstable during the equ inoct ia l
season i t i s impossible to f i x a precise date upon which s a i l i n g becomes
safe. And so P l i n y , l i k e Vegetius, sets an ear ly date fo r f i r s t
s a i l i n g , but does not guarantee safety: N.H. 2.122 Ver ergo aperit
navigantibus maria . . . is dies sextus Februarias ante idibus. The
Imperial government, looking to the safety of i t s property,- forbade the
loading of government-owned cargoes before Ap r i l 1: Theodosian Code
13.9.3 Placuit sane ut Novembri mense navigatione subtracta, Aprilis
qui aestate est proximus susceptionibus adplicitur. Cuius susceptioni-
bus neoessitas ex Kal. Aprilib. in diem Kal. Octobr. mensuram servabitur.
158.3. lux - deturbat. Vegetius i s no longer speaking of the threat
of v io lent storms, but of the other circumstances that make off-season
s a i l i n g uncomfortable as wel l as dangerous. Poor atmospheric conditions
render reefs and shores i n v i s i b l e even at close range. Since ancient
ships hugged the coas t l i ne , they could not r i s k s a i l i n g in darkness;
thus the shortness of winter days would lead to much shorter da i l y
stages. This in turn, meant a longer time at sea and prolonged
exposure of the sa i l o r s to the c rue l t i e s of cold winds, ra in and snow
without the amenities of warm, dry c lo th ing , she l ter and heating.
158.6. natalem . . . nqvigationis. Perhaps th i s f e s t i v a l was in
Chr i s t ian times taken over from or re lated to that of the devotees of
I s i s . The Is iac celebrat ion was known as the iTAoicujjeaia (cf. John
Lydus, De Mens. 4.45; Apuleius, Metam. 11.17) and as the navigium
Isidis (cf. Apuleius, loc. cit.) in honour of I s i s Pelagia. A f te r a
colourfu l procession to the shore solemn prayers were offered fo r the
safety of ships and those who s a i l in them (the proceedings are
described by Apuleius, Metam. \\.8sqq.; short comments appear in J.G.
Fraser, The Golden Bough, Abridged Version [London, 1933] pp. 383-384;
R.E. Wit t , Isis in the Greco-Roman World [London, 1971] pp. 165 sqq.\
for iconographical representations see P. Bruneau, "Isis Velagia a
Delos", BCH 85 [1961] pp. 435-446).
The custom of celebrat ing the s a i l i n g f e s t i v a l probably
predates the cu l t of I s i s , j u s t as i t has survived in some modern
Chr i s t ian soc ie t ie s . Venice celebrates i t s regatta; the fo lk of the
Peiraeus and Patras observe the bless ing of the waters on the feast
of the Epiphany and the people of Ba r i , on St. Nicholas ' day.
158.10. non . . . cesset industria. Despite the r i s k s , merchants
took to the seas during the supposedly unsafe seasons in quest of p r o f i t
81
(of. P l i n y , N.H. 2.125). Despite the better judgement of the persons
involved, circumstances sometimes necessitated the transport of cargoes
during the worst months (of. Suetonius, Claud. 18). The closure of
the seas, therefore, was not complete and absolute (many instances of
off-season s a i l i n g are c i ted by E. de St.-Denis, "Mare olausum" Revue
des Etudes Latines 25 [1947] pp. 196-214; J . Rouge, "La navigation
hivernale sous I'empire romaine," Revue des Etudes Anoiennes 54 [1952]
pp. 316-325).
158.12. mercium. Metonymy. L i t e r a l l y , merx i s "merchandise, goods";
here, " t rade, commerce."
158.14. oommovent. Vegetius seems to bel ieve that these conste l lat ions
not only warn of approaching storms, but ac tua l l y s t i r them up; of.
Manil ius 2.87 sqq.; Seneca, N.Q. 2.11.2; P l i n y , N.H. 2.105 sqq.; also
note to 157.8, above.
158.15. oerti dies. Some of these are c i ted by P l i n y , N.H. 18.211 sqq.
158.15. auctorum adtestatione. Vegetius 1 b r i e f note (18 l i nes ) amounts
to an introductory comment to whichever of the f u l l t reat i ses the reader
l a t e r consults. Compare i t , for instance, to P l i n y ' s introduction to
meteorology (N.H. 18.201-209).
159.3. curam trifariam. Since men cannot re ly absolutely upon human
ca lcu lat ions [How often can the modern weatherman's predict ions be
82
trusted e n t i r e l y ? ] , sa i l o r s must watch for storms the day before one
i s due; and i f i t has not arr ived by the end of the day predicted, the
p o s s i b i l i t y of an error in the forecast ing must be allowed for and the
v i g i l maintained for yet a t h i r d day. Cf. P l i n y , N.H. 18.207 nunc
praecurrente nee paueis diebus tempestatum significatu, quod T r p o x E i y a ^ E i v
Gvaeoi vocants nunc postveniente, quod £TriX£i.yotC£iv_, et plevumque alias cel-
evius3 alias tardius caeli effeotu ad terram deeiduo; Vettius Valens
188.27.
-159.5. IIpoxeiya?£iv . . . x e l - y a ? e ' i v • • • yeTaxsiyaceiv Lang restores
the Greek characters although a l l the manuscripts show Lat in trans
l i t e r a t i o n s . These show a var iety of forms, e.g. chimazon II, eymazon E,
gymnazon E P 1 5 ind icat ing that the copyists had the Greek words e i the r
before them or read to them, each interpret ing the sounds d i f f e r e n t l y .
I t seems obvious that the Greek versions showed the present p a r t i c i p i a l
form ending in -wv rather than the i n f i n i t i v e ending in -E I V . Neverthe
le s s , Lang, perhaps mindful of P l i n y ' s syntax {of. loc. cit.), prefers
the i n f i n i t i v e ending. There i s some j u s t i f i c a t i o n fo r th i s in that
i f the Greek words were to be rendered as present pa r t i c i p l e s they
ought to appear in the p lura l form to agree with pvaecedentes, nascentes
and subsequentes. With the i n f i n i t i v e forms we may interpret the
passage as meaning "they say in Greek that ' i t storms e a r l y , ' " etc.
rather than " i n Greek i t i s ca l l ed 'an early s to rm. ' "
159.9. auctores plurimi. P rec i se ly which authors Vegetius consulted
beyond those he names in the text i s a matter of speculat ion; P l iny
83
[N.H. 18.209-214) names a few who dealt with th i s subject, and therefore
might have been used by our author - - v i z . V e r g i l , Caesar, Sosigenes
Hesiod, Thales, Anaximander, Euctemon and Eudoxus. In addit ion
Suetonius ought to receive mention since his work was consulted a f t e r
Vegetius ' time by Isidore (cf. Nat. Eer. 38).
159.10. Tvansitus - tuvbave. Some c e l e s t i a l bodies are able to cause
"very v io lent storms" (158.13-14); the planets, however, merely "upset
calm weather."
159.13. Intevluniovum dies. These are the days during which the
moon i s not seen, viz,, the days before the new moon appears (cf. note
to 152.10 quintodecima). For about three days each month there i s an
ec l ipse of the moon because the earth i s between i t and the sun, block
ing the l i g h t . The Romans had several names for th i s period: P l i n y ,
N.H. 16.190 . . . in coitu . . . quern diem alii intevluniavii3 alii
silentis lunae appellant; Cato, De Agv. 37 . . . intermestri.
Theophrastus explains the rough weather of these days as the
resu l t of the influences of the sun and moon opposing one another
(De Signis, 5).
159.15. Multis - fuscata. Sa i lo r s today s t i l l predict the weather
by observing the moon in much the same fashion as the ancients. For
more information on the various signs see Aratus, Phaen. 778-818;
Theophrastus, De Signis 8,12,27,31,51; Suetonius/Isidore, Nat. Rev.
38.1-3; V e r g i l , Geovg. 1.427-437; P l i n y , N.H. 2.128, 18.347-350.
84
Part of Varro 's t rea t i se on th i s subject survives in the l a s t
passage of P l i n y ' s work c i ted above. It appears that Vegetius might
have made use of the f i r s t ha l f of Varro 's comment, which reads as
fo l lows:
Si quarto die tuna erit directa, magnam temp estat em in mari
praesagiet} nisi si covonam circa se habebit et earn sinceram,
quoniam illo modo non ante plenam lunam hiematuram ostendit.
Si plenilunio per dimidium pura erit3 dies serenos signifi-
cabit; si rutila, ventos; nigresoens, imbres.
159.16. signis. Unlike the planets and cons te l l a t i ons , Vegetius
a t t r ibutes to the moon no power of i t s own to cause storms. Rather, i t
acts as a mirror to r e f l e c t signs that would not be v i s i b l e otherwise to
the human eye; of. Seneca, N.Q. 1.15.7 Non est enim in speculo quod
ostenditur "That which i s shown i s not in the m i r ro r . "
160.7. Sol. On the subject of weather signs given by the sun see
V e r g i l , Georg. 1.438 sqq.; Aratus, Phaen. 819-899; P l i n y , N.H. 18.342-
346; Theophrastus, De Signis,passim; Suetonius/Isidore, Nat. Her.
38.4-5.
160.8. obieota nube varietur . . . pluvia inpendente maoulosus
Andersson (op. oit.} p. 30) puts th i s passage among those in quibus,
he says, sine dubio Vergilium poetam non nominatum Vegetius imitatus
est. Vegetius ' words do, in f a c t , echo V e r g i l , Georg. 1.441-443
85
-lite ubi nascentem maaulis oariaverit ortum \ conditus in nubem medioque
refugerit orbe suspecti tibi sint imbves. On the other hand, Vegetius
mentions only the sunrise while Vergi l also deals with the sunset.
160.9. ventis urguentibus. Vergi l {Georg. 1.453) spec i f ies that Eurus,
the east wind, w i l l blow when th i s sign appears.
160.9. pallidus. Vegetius does not t e l l us what th i s sign forecasts.
Verg i l (Georg. 1.446-449) and P l iny (N.H. 18.342) say that when the sun
i s pale at i t s r i s i n g , ha i l i s portended.
160.10. Aer. Such phenomena as rainbows and d i s tant objects appearing
to be nearer are mentioned by Pl iny (N.H. 2.150) and Theophrastus (De
Signis 3.22).
160.11. mare ipsum. Some of the signs displayed in the waters of
the sea are discussed by various ancient authors; of. Aratus, Phaen.
909 sqq.; Theophrastus, De Signis 29,31,40 and De Ventis 6.35-36;
Cicero, De Div. 1.13; V e r g i l , Georg. 1,356 sqq. P l iny (N.H. 18.359)
i s e spec ia l l y informative:
mare si tranquillum in portu cursabit murmurabitve
intra se, ventuxn praedicet; si in hieme, et imbrem;
litora ripaeque si resonabunt tranquiHo, asperam
tempestatem, item maris ipsius tranquillo sonitus spumaeve
dispersae.aut aquae bullantes. Pulmones marini in
pelago pluriurn die rum hiernem portendunt. Saepe
86
et silentio intumescit inflaturnque altius solito
iam intra se esse ventos fatetur. .
Even today we speak of such phenomena as "the calm before
the storm." The weather, of course, a f fects the condit ion of the
waters in a storm area, which in turn must also have some e f fec t on
conditions in more d istant areas.
160.11. nubiumque magnitude- vet species. Ancient l i t e r a t u r e provides
considerable information concerning the art of predict ing weather from
the type and appearance of clouds; cf. P l i n y , N.H. 18.355-357; Aratus,
Phaen. 938 sq., 988 sqq., 1018 sqq., Theophrastus, De Signis. 3,13,34,
43,45,51-53; V e r g i l , Georg. 1.397,401.
160.12. avibus. According to today's popular lore birds f l y low
before a storm and when gu l l s are seen to keep to the land there i s a
storm at sea. The ancients noticed the same phenomena and the i r
l i t e r a t u r e mentions many other signs that might be observed in the
behaviour of various kinds of b i rds ; cf. P l i n y , N.H. 18.362-363;
Theophrastus, De Signis 15,19,23,28,38-41,52,53; Ae l i an , N.A. 7.7;
Aratus, Phaen. 918-1027; V e r g i l , Georg. 1.361-423; Varro apud Servium,
Comm. in Verg. Georg. 1.375.
160.13. piscibus. Vegetius leads us to understand that Vergi l and
Varro mention weather signs given by f i s h ; but no such lore i s evident
in the Georgics and no passage of Varro 's on th i s subject has survived.
87
The fol lowing make mention of the subject without furnishing any sub
s tan t i a l d e t a i l s : P l i n y , N.H. 9.55, 31.22; Athenaeus, Deipnosoph.
8.333d sqq.; Ae l i an , N.A. 12.1; P lutarch, Sollevt. Anim. 22.5. It i s
worth noting that Theophrastus {De Signis 19; of. Suetonius/Isidore,
Nat. Her. 38.1) claims that a dolphin swimming close to shore, almost
coming out of the water, portends e i ther ra in or a storm; P l iny {N.H.
9.20 sqq.) however, reminds us that a dolphin i s not a f i s h .
Although we have l i t t l e information concerning the ro le of
f i s h in weather forecast ing, i t seems that f i s h oracles were common
in an t iqu i t y ; of. A. Bouche-Le C lerq, Histoire de la divination dans
I'antiquite, v o l . 3 (Par i s , 1879) pp. 151-152.
160.13. Vergilius. Andersson (op. oit. p.27 sqq.) has catalogued
numerous Verg i l i an passages from which Vegetius seems to have borrowed.
Those which are of in teres t here, dealing with weather forecast ing, f o r
the most part belong to Georg. 1. Andersson's comment (op . cit. p. 30)
on Vegetius 1 debt to Verg i l i s worth quoting:
" . . . imitationes Vergilii etiam E. Sander (Zu Vegetius
IV 38; 41; Philol. Wochenschrift 48 [1928] p. 909 sq.) inspexit
sed ad scriptovem quendam rettulit, ex quo sumpsit Vegetius.
D. Schenk ilium soriptorem Frontinum fuisse I.I. p. 76 sqq.
iudioavit, quern in tertioet quarto libris conscribendis
Vegetium compilavisse contendit. Equidem non video, cur non
Vegetius ipse Vergilium imitari potuerit."
Pl iny gives s im i l a r acknowledgement to Vergi l {N.H. 18.209).
88
160.15. Haec. That i s , the lore i t s e l f ; the works of Verg i l and
Varro are altior doctrina.
160.15. si se scire, e tc . Without sciunt the r e l a t i v e adverb eatenus
might appear to dangle; Lang, fo l lowing Forster, seems to have inserted
i t to c l a r i f y the meaning of the sentence. To do so, however, i s
unnecessary since anyone reading i t would assume that scire in the
preceding clause indicates the verb .that i s to be understood with
eatenus.
161.1. tertia pars. That i s , water i s the th i r d of the basic sub
stances of which the whole of creat ion i s composed (earth, a i r , f i r e ,
water). P l iny {N.H. 2.10) and Seneca {N.Q. 3.12.3) c a l l water the fourth
element while Lucretius (5.495 sqq.) seems to rank " i t second.
161.2. suo - vegetatur. Since he considers water to have a mobi l i ty
of i t s own, apart from the inf luence of the winds, he must consider
the moon {cf. 161.11 sq.) to have only a small e f fec t on i t . P l i n y ,
on the other hand, appreciates the importance of the sun and moon in
causing t i de s : N.H. 2. 212 sed aestus maris accedere ac reciprocare
maxima mirum, pluribus quidem modis, verum causa in sole lunaque
161.4. aestu . . . rheuma. The t ides and currents of the Mediterran
ean Sea are s l i g h t in comparison with those of the world 's great oceans
{of. E. Semple, The Geography of the Mediterranean Region [New York,
1931] pp. 582 sqq.; M. Cary, The Geographic Background of Greek and
89
Roman History [Oxford, 1949] pp. 26-28; Casson, op. ait. p. 273). The
r i se and f a l l of the water level i s not dramatic except in cer ta in
areas such as the Malic Gulf (cf. Herodotus 7.198), the Syrtes on the
coast of A f r i c a (of. P l i n y , N.H. 5.26), Venice and the Hellespont.
Nevertheless, currents, even small ones, have a noticeable e f fec t on
rowing and s a i l i n g vessels, p a r t i c u l a r l y in places where the force of
the current can be mu l t i p l i e d , v i z . near the shore and in narrows. The
St ra i t s of Messina, fo r instance, were notorious f o r the treacherous
currents racing through the narrows (of. Livy 21.49, 29.7; Polybius
34.2.5).
161.7. secunda adiuvat, retardat adversa. The ef fects of t ide and
current must be taken into account in the planning of a b a t t l e , and
u t i l i s e d . Vegetius advocates attacking when the flow of the t ide opposes
the enemy (cf. 163.14).
161.10. cui - ventus. Can Vegetius mean to say l i t e r a l l y that the
t ide can cause a wind to stop blowing or reverse i t s e l f ? Perhaps the
statement ought to be interpreted as meaning that sometimes ships
under f u l l s a i l cannot make progress against a strong t i de .
161.12. ideo - agnosoere. In th i s section Vegetius emphasises the
importance of studying local conditions f o r the purpose of ensuring
the safety of the ship. Later he demonstrates also how factors pecu l iar
to a cer ta in place may be turned to the enemy's disadvantage; cf.
163.13 si vento urguentur adverso, etc.
90
161.14. Nauticorum - vitentuv. Here Vegetius deals with the hazards
of coastal waters; on the high seas these do not e x i s t ; cf. 161.17
tanto enim secuvitas maior est, quanto mare altius fuevit.
162,1. non ventomm flatibus - praestat. The mast and s a i l were often
l e f t ashore when a bat t le was to be fought, or at least they were unrigged
and kept on board in case they should become usefu l ; cf. Polybius 1.61.1 sqq.
Livy 36.44; Xenophon, Hell. 2.1.29; Thucydides 7.24.2; Dio 50.33.5.
Vegetius, however, thinks that the mast and s a i l were l e f t in place for
b a t t l e , fo r below (cf. 164.15 sqq.) he out l ines a t a c t i c fo r damaging
the enemy's r igg ing. This may indicate that he i s thinking s p e c i f i c a l l y
of the bat t le of Actium, at which Antony's f l e e t kept the s a i l s on board,
although not rigged u n t i l needed.
162.5. Malta - turribus. The mode of f i gh t ing that Vegetius describes
i n th i s chapter i s typ ica l of the H e l l e n i s t i c Age, not the Late Empire.
The l a s t p ract i ca l display of these arts took place at Actium in 31 B.C.
Since a f te r th i s important event there was no large-scale naval f i gh t ing
going on, th i s sort of warfare f e l l into disuse. During the Empire the
large ship that was used in pitched sea-battles was abandoned in
favour of the smaller, faster l i bu rn ian . Zosimus' account of the
bat t le between Constantine and L i c i n i u s (cf. Hist. Nov. 2.23) i s rather
sketchy, but i t shows that the ar t of naval warfare had taken a step
backward; L i c i n i u s ' f l e e t , on the one hand, r e l i e d on the use of the
ram, while Constantine's men in the i r f re ighters made every e f f o r t to
grapple and board them. In these circumstances a man in Vegetius '
91
pos i t ion would inev i tab ly have recourse to more ancient sources in
order to learn how proper batt les were fought in ships. For th i s
reason, Vegetius ' comments have much in common with those of other
ancient authors dealing with naval ba t t l e s , espec ia l l y the bat t le of
Actium. Thus i t i s hardly surpr is ing that t he i r accounts should
have a s im i l a r r ing . For instance, the sentences with which we are
dealing seem to echo passages in Dio 's account of Actium: 50.33.8
{cf. also 50.23.3) e'xicaaev a v x i s i6oov x a yxyvo\ieva , cos y i x p a y e y a A o i s
oyoxcoaou xe ixecu x i a t v r\ K C U v r f a o i s T T O A A O U S K C U T T V K V O U S CK 0aAaaans
TroAiopicouy even s , ouxoos ox yev e-rriBnvca xe xtov amcjxov wcmep n f re ipou K C U
Epuyaxos x i v o s eTreipwvxo , KOL\ Travxa xa Is xouxo cj)epot/xo cmoi/5n i r p o a n y o v
o i d£ aTTeco8ouvxo ocuxous , o x i T T O X £ ev xoo x o i o u x w ^xXci 6 p a a 9 a i y n x a v w y e v o i .
"Anyone watching the event might compare i t , l i ken ing small things to
great, to walls or to many islands close together under siege from seaward.
Thus the one side would t ry to scale the boats as i f storming a fort ress
on land and earnestly brought forward a l l the weapons used fo r t h i s ,
while the others t r i ed to repel them using whatever engines are employed
in such a case."
162.8. Quid - flammis. This comment adds nothing to our knowledge
of ancient sea ba t t l e s , but i t transmits the same sense of horror as
Dio 's account of Actium - - bat t le on land is quite dangerous, but in a
sea ba t t l e those who escape being disembowelled by hooks and swords or
crushed by stones shot from catapults may yet perish by drowning or
burning {cf. Dio 50.35).
92
162.11. catafracti - oereis. Our author l i s t s these same items as
infantry equipment {cf. 23.10).
The body armour worn by Roman so ld iers was not the same in a l l
periods, but was changed according to need. There were three types
used in the legions: hardened leather je rk in s with metal shoulder
plates, the lovioa segmentata and the cataphraotus, or lorica squamata
{of. G. Webster, The Roman Imperial Army [Oxford, 1969] pp. 29,124-127).
By the f i r s t century A.D. the lorica segmentata was the standard
cuirass of the miles gregavius, or common so ld ie r . This was composed
of metal s t r i p s and p lates , some r iveted to leather and some hinged
in order to give the wearer freedom of movement. In the th i rd and
fourth centur ies, however, the lorica segmentata gave way to the
cataphraotus, or coat of ma i l , which gave much better protect ion; cf.
Ammianus Marcell inus 24.4.15 Romani hostem undique lamminis ferreis
in modum tenuis plumae oonteotum, fidentemque quod tela rigentis ferri
lapsibus impaota resiliebant . . . laoessebant ''The Romans were
attacking the enemy, who were covered completely with plates of iron
that gave the appearance of a thin cover of feathers and who were
confident because the miss i les bounced o f f as they struck the hard
i r o n . " This kind of armour seems to have been known at Rome from
at least the second century B.C. {cf. Webster, op. cit., p. 29) but
was not commonly used un t i l there was a greater need for better
protection against the enemy's weapons. Daremberg and Sagl io
{Diotionnaire des antiquites [Par i s , 1904] s.v. lorica) observe that
th i s superior armour was f i r s t adopted by senior so ld iers such as
centurions and Pretorian Guardsmen {cf. Dio 79.37) and l a t e r became
93
the standard issue of the Imperial armies. The cataphvactarii, f o re
runners of the medieval knights, wore th i s sort of armour, and the i r
horses as well wore body protect ion.
162.13. scuta . . . valldiora . . . et ampliora. Larger and heavier
shields could eas i l y be adopted by marines since in a naval bat t le there
i s no need to march about carrying the equipment.
162.15. harpagones. These devices are not the same as the contrivance
mentioned in Book 1 (60.19) which is elsewhere (144.19-20) described
as a s c i s s o r - l i k e device ca l l ed a lupus.
Although Appian {B.C. 5.118)credits Agrippa with the invention
of the naval apTrct?, he probably merely revived i t s use, for Livy (30.10.
16-17) in fac t shows that i t was employed as ear ly as the F i r s t Punic
War. This piece of equipment was actua l l y an improved grappling device
for catching hold of the enemy and pu l l i ng him alongside. With the
grapple mounted on an iron-bound shaft to f a c i l i t a t e launching from a
catapult i t was possible to hook the enemy from a fa r greater distance.
To the butt of the shaft a chain was attached instead of a rope, so
that once grappled the enemy could not sever the l i n e . Moreover, even
i f the device f a i l e d to catch hold of the ship i t would often wound and
k i l l enemy marines, since i t was launched with tremendous force.
Lucan (3.635-46) describes the bloody death of an unfortunate so ld ie r
standing in the path of such a weapon:
Fevrea dum puppi rapidos manus inserit uncos,
Adfixit Lyoidan. Mersus J'oret ille prof undo,
Sed prohibent socii suspensaque crura reteriknt.
Scinditur avolsus, neo, sicut volnere, sanguis
Emicuit lentus; ruptis cadit undique venis,
Discursusque animae diversa in membra meantis
Interceptus aquis. Nullius vita perempti
Est tanta dimissa via. Pars ultima trunci
Tradidit in letum vacuos vitalibus artus;
At tumida quia pulmo iacet, qua viscera fervent,
Haeserunt ibi fata diu luctataque multum
Hac cum parte viri vix omnia membra tulerunt.
"Thus Lycidas was pierced by a grappl ing- i ron
that hurled i t s swi f t hooks on board. He would
have sunk in the sea, but for his comrades who
seized his legs as they swung in the a i r . He
was torn asunder, and his blood gushed out, not
t r i c k l i n g as from a wound, but ra in ing on a l l
sides from his severed a r t e r i e s ; and the free
play of the l i f e coming through the d i f f e ren t
limbs was cut o f f by the water. No other v i c t im ' s
l i f e escaped through so wide a channel. The lower
ha l f of his body resigned to death the limbs
that contain no v i t a l organs; but where the lungs
were f u l l of a i r and the heart of heat, there
death was long baf f led and struggled hard with
th i s part of the man, t i l l with d i f f i c u l t y i t
mastered the whole body " (Duff 's t r an s l a t i on ) .
162.14. Praeter - saxa. Vegetius ' syntax i s b a f f l i n g . The
accusatives are eas i l y understood to be dependent upon praeter;
c l ea r l y iaoula and saxa are nominative, subjects of diriguntur. In
the l ines between these words, however, our author accumulates a
catalogue of words i n the ab lat ive case, comprising both the mis s i les
[sagittis, missibilibus, plumbatis) and the means fo r hurl ing them
[fundis, fustibalis, onagris, ballistis, scorpionibus). The l a t t e r
could well be regarded as ablat ives of means or instrument, but
th i s ce r ta i n l y does not account fo r the former. No adequate explana
t ion has yet been of fered, nor can I produce one.
162.16. fustibalis. Vegetius describes th i s device as a s t i c k
four feet long with a s l i ng attached (98.21) so that a man could launch
stones onager-fashion using his arms. I t has a greater range than
the ordinary s l ing (58.5 sqq.).
162.16. plumbatis. Lewis and Short {s.v. plumbata) suggest that
these are lead b a l l s . This meaning, however, suggests s l i ng b u l l e t s ,
the word for which i s glandes. Nor i s Vegetius l i k e l y to mean
catapult b a l l s , for the ancient references c i t ed by E. Marsden in his
excel lent work [Greek and Roman Artillery': Historical Development
[Oxford, 1969] Index, s.v. "shot") usual ly mention stone p r o j e c t i l e s ,
although metal ones are also known.
Schwebel [op. cit., p. 178) describes them as " j a v e l i n s , or
arrows combined with lead and feathers" and G.R. Watson [op. cit.,
p. 69) c a l l s them "loaded j a v e l i n s . " By Vegetius 1 own statements we
96
can see that they were hand-thrown miss i les (148.15 sqq.) which in f l i g h t
resembled arrows (20.11 prope sagittariorum scutati imitari videntur
officium); and they were also ca l l ed mattioharbuli (19.21; 49.7; 98.9).
162.16. onagris. The onager or "wi ld ass" was the one-armed, to r s i on -
powered stonethrower djovayKooVj of. Phi Ion, Pol. 91.36; Apollodorus,
Poliorcetioa W 188.2 sqq.). I t consisted ba s i ca l l y of a heavy oak
frame held together in the fashion of a frame saw by twisted ropes of
sinew. In the centre of the twists of sinew was placed a beam
resembling a yoke pole. At the end of th i s shaft was a s l i ng of tow
or an iron cup for the stone. The arm would be lowered, the stone
inserted in the s l i n g , and the whole assembly released; the twisted
sinews would then snap the arm upwards, launching the stone [of.
Ammianus Marcel 1 inus 23.4.4-6; E. Marsden, Greek and Roman Artillery:
Technical Treatises[ Oxford, 1971 ] Plate 14 , Figures 1—6 ).
Ammianus Marcell inus refers to the same engine also as a
catapult (cf. 24.2.13) and th i s name has been applied to the stone-
throwing onager since the Middle Ages. I t should be noted, however,
that e a r l i e r catapult or KaxaTTeAxris denoted a two-armed arrow
f i r e r .
Because of i t s reco i l the onager had to be set on a very
stable pad {cf. Ammianus Marcell inus 23.4.5). Moreover, i t s heavy,
horizontal wooden frame made i t cumbersome to move and operate {cf.
Marsden, op. cit., p. 264; these observations are based on experience
with working models). It i s obvious that such pieces could not be
used in smaller ships, such as Liburnian biremes; considerable space
97
would be required not only for the mounting and operating of the machines,
but also for the storage of p r o j e c t i l e s . Even in the case of the
quinqueremes of the second century the rowers had to s t a b i l i z e the
ships with the i r oars when the a r t i l l e r y was being discharged {cf. Livy
36.44.8). .
Sometimes heavier pieces were set on the spec ia l l y constructed
a r t i l l e r y platforms amidships {cf. Athenaeus, Deipnosoph. 5.208c).
Possibly the more cumbersome pieces, onagers e spec ia l l y , were set on pads
f i t t e d with bearings which allowed the "gunners" to swivel and aim them
in any d i rec t i on quick ly and ea s i l y (Figure 6 shows plans of such pads
recovered from the wrecks at Nemi, in which they were probably used for
some less warl ike purpose).
162.16. ballistis. V i t ruv ius {De Arch 10.10-11) gives deta i l ed
inst ruct ions fo r bui ld ing these engines and I re fe r the reader to
Marsden's very deta i led discussion {op. cit., pp. 194-205).
This engine consisted of a ve r t i c a l wooden frame having two
springs of twisted sinew and two arms which were strung together giving
the impression of a giant crossbow. A ve r s a t i l e piece of a r t i l l e r y ,
i t could be made to f i r e e i ther stones or bolts {cf. Caesar, B.C. 2.2).
Smaller arrow f i r e r s made on the two-armed pattern were ca l l ed
scorpiones {cf. Vegetius 144.7-9; V i t ruv iu s , De Arch. 10.10.1). As
Marsden's i l l u s t r a t i o n s show {Greek and Roman Artillery: Historical
Development [Oxford, 1969] Plates 4,6,7,8), weapons of th i s type were
much less clumsy than onagers, being mounted and balanced on an up
r ight base.
98
Marsden {op. cit., p. 171) calculates that a quinquereme
could carry three large ballistae, two comparatively small onagri,
"gunners", ammunition for these pieces and fo r ty marines in addit ion to
the sh ip ' s company. Larger vessels, of course, such as Antony's
dekaremes, could carry even more armaments.
169.19. pontibus. Verbal s i m i l a r i t i e s show that th i s passage may
have been borrowed from Frontinus,, Strategemata 2.3.24: hostilem
apprenderet navem, superieoto ponte transgrediebatur Romanus et in
ipsorum ratibus comminus eos trucidabat. The two passages are iden
t i c a l in sense and they are f i rmly connected by the word pons. Although
i t has commonly been translated as "boarding bridge" in both instances
there i s no evidence for the use of such devices in an t iqu i t y , except
perhaps the sambuca {of. J.G. Landels, "Ship-Shape and Sambuea -
Fashion," JHS 86 [1966] pp. 69-77), a large ramp used at sieges of
maritime c i t i e s .
Since Frontinus in the passage c i ted describes Roman t ac t i c s
of the F i r s t Punic War, i t i s l i k e l y that f o r pons we ought to under
stand that he speaks of the oorvus {of. Polybius 1.22). Although the
corvus was pr imar i ly a grappling device {cf. Athenaeus, Deipnosoph 208d,
KopctKes) i t was also equipped with a deck and r a i l s so that on those
few occasions when necessity arose, i t could be used as a bridge {cf.
H.T. Wall inga, The Boarding-Bridge of the Romans [Groningen, 1956] pp.
54-57; J.H. T h i e l , A History of Roman Sea-Power Before the Second Punic
War [Amsterdam, 1954] pp. 101-128).
Being well aware that structures resembling siege-towers were
commonly i n s t a l l ed on the decks of f i gh t ing ships {cf. 5-8, 21 sqq.)
99
Vegetius could eas i l y have assumed that pons in Frontinus meant the
same sort of bridge that was incorporated in siege engines {of. 142.13
sqq.).
162.21. pvopugnacula. The "battlements" of a ship would be the r a i l s ,
constructed e i ther as a s o l i d wooden wall or as a frame upon which
shields could be hung. The well-known Praeneste r e l i e f (of. Casson,op.
oit.3 Plates 130,132) shows the r a i l as a s o l i d wall with shields that
seem to be purely ornamental. The r e l i e f also shows a narrow deck or
f i ght ing platform extending outside the r a i l and h u l l , but i t i s
d i f f i c u l t to t e l l whether the r a i l ' s uprights would be continuations
of the sh ip ' s r ibs or whether the r a i l i s set inboard from the sh ip ' s
s ide.
162.21. turresque. These towers, resembling wooden siege engines,
were erected in the bows - - compare the English " f o reca s t l e " - - amid
ships and in the stern. So that they would not cause a hindrance to
the sa i l o r s or obstruct the helmsman's v i s ion they were taken down when
not needed for f i gh t i ng . Assembled, moreover, they could eas i l y over
balance the ship i f the water were at a l l rough, and espec ia l l y during
a bat t le a l e r t , when they would be f i l l e d with stones (cf. Athenaeus,
Deipnosoph. 5.208c) in the same way as the c i t y wal ls i n Vegetius '
t reat i se on sieges (cf. 133.19 sqq.). Athenaeus Mechanicus (27.7) and
Polybius (8.4.3-11) describe a tower- l ike device (actual ly a covered
ladder) used in sea-borne sieges of coastal c i t i e s . Carried in a
horizontal a t t i t ude , these were raised when the c i t y wall was reached
T O O
and the so ld iers would climb through them to the battlements.
163.1. excelsioribus tabulatis. At several points in his account of
Actium Dio emphasizes the advantages of f i gh t ing from the t a l l e r ships
{cf. 50.18.4-6, 23.2-3, 29.1, 32.8). Antony's speech before the bat t le
explains the matter p l a i n l y : 50.18.6 T T O U 6n. K C U X O £ O X O J V K C U ac))£v6ovnxu)v
xoaouToov eTTiirAeovTcov, K C U f r poaex i K C U C O T O T O O V Trupyoov avwOev auxoov
ecjuKVooyevoov Suvriaexai T X S 0<b\o\ Trpoayi^ai; "Where w i l l anyone be able
to come to g r ips , with so many archers and s l ingers on board, and what
i s more, s t r i k i n g from above in the towers?"
163.2. Oleo - succendunt. Presumably the same sort of incendiary
devices are used in naval warfare as in seige warfare {cf. 140.13 sqq.).
Nothing could be more devastating to ancient ships than f i r e ,
since they were not only made of wood but were also smeared with wax
and p i t ch . From very early times, therefore, men sought to destroy
the ships of the i r enemies,f i rst by burning them on the beaches {cf.
Homer, It. 15.701-702,718), then by carrying the flame against them
at sea. In 190 B.C. the Rhodians became the f i r s t to use the simple
f i r e - po t suspended on the end of a long pole ready to be dropped on
the deck of any enemy ship that came near enough {cf. Polybius 21.7;
Suidas, Lexicon, s.v. Tnjp<j)opos; Casson, op. cit., Plate 115, a g r a f f i t o
from an Alexandrian tomb). F i re ships, too were used in ant iqu i ty
{of. Thucydides 7.53.4; Frontinus, Stvategemata 4.7.14). The ultimate
incendiary weapon of ancient times, apparently more deadly than the
flaming miss i les Vegetius mentions, was "Greek f i r e , " a sort of flame-
101
thrower developed in the Byzantine f l ee t s {of. R.H. Dolley, "Naval
Tactics in the Heyday of the Byzantine Thalassocraty" Atti 8° Congr.
Stud. Biz., v o l . 1 [Roma, 1953] pp. 330-331; Casson, op. cit., pp. 152-
153).
163.6. saxo. As Vegetius has said previously (133.19 sqq.) stones
may be hand-thrown, dropped, or launched from s l i ng s , s t a f f - s l i n g s and
a r t i l l e r y . In naval warfare large stones and lead weights ca l l ed
"Dolphins" sometimes were suspended from the yard ends so that they
could be dropped upon the enemy i f he came alongside [cf. Thucydides
41.2; Diodorus 13.78.7, 79.3).
163.7. inter - corpora. The very thought of bodies being
devoured by "sea monsters" in the aftermath of a naval engagement i s
the f i n a l horror for both Vegetius and Dio (of. 50.35.3). The ancient sources
show that the Mediterranean i s the home of many carnivors {e.g.
P l i ny , N.H., 9.78; Athenaeus, Deipnosoph. 330a; A r i s t o t l e , Hist.
Anim. 540bl7). P l iny mentions that f i s h known to have eaten human
f lesh were a sought-after del icacy {N.H. 12.4). Oppian names the Ox
ray as a man k i l l e r {cf. Halieutica 2.141 sqq.). D'Arcy Thompson
{A Glossary of Greek Fishes [Oxford, 1947] l i s t s at least f i f t e e n
denizens of the Mediterranean that may be regarded as man eaters.
These are for the most part sharks and dogfish, scavengers rather
than predators.
A geometric vase found at Pithekoussai, dating to the
eighth century B.C. {cf G. R ichter, A Handbook of Greek Art" [London,
102
1965] PI. 402, p. 283) shows a hapless, shipwrecked s a i l o r being eaten
by a monstrous f i s h .
163.11. insidiae. Lying in wait for an unsuspecting v i c t im was the
standard pract ice of pirates both ancient and modern {of. H.A. Ormerod,
Piracy in the Ancient World [London, 1924] Chapter 1). This, one would
th ink, i s hardly the sort of t a c t i c the serious admiral would employ
because of the apparent d i f f i c u l t y of carrying i t o f f on a large sca le.
Imagine try ing to conceal a large f l e e t behind a small i s land! Never
theless, Octavian's naval forces surprised Antony's on several occasions
before the bat t le of Actium {cf. Dio 50.11.1-3, 12.5, 14.2). In a
much e a r l i e r ba t t l e , the famous Persian d i saster at Salami's, the Greeks,
by Aeschylus' account, seem to have taken the enemy by surpr ise {Persai
384-405). This was not what could be ca l l ed an ambuscade, but none
theless the Greek f l e e t was out of the Persians ' s ight u n t i l the l a s t
moment before the engagement, and were attacking instead of f l ee ing as
the Persians had expected.
163.12. si longo remigio fatigati sunt. Sander ( Mus- 99 [1956], p.
165 ) suggests that th i s i s based upon Frontinus, Strategemata 2.1.1 and
3.2.14; dealing with land warfare, these passages are not at a l l relevant.
What Sander suggests, then, i s that Vegetius has adapted the strategem
of ambush on land to naval warfare. This i s implausible since Vegetius,
not having any d i rec t knowledge of seamanship and naval t a c t i c s , would
probably not be competent to make such an app l i ca t ion . I t i s much more
l i k e l y that he i s reporting something that he has read or heard of in
103
connection with an h i s t o r i c a l event (some examples are c i ted above,
note to 163.11 insidiae).
The same objection applies to Sander's attempt to l i n k Vegetius '
next comment {si pro rostris est rhewna) with Frontinus, Strategemata
1.5.12, 2.1.15 and 2.2.8.
163.15. si statio - habet. In the preceding condit ional clauses
Vegetius has out l ined opportune occasions fo r engaging the enemy. This
clause and the next, si dimicandi, e t c . , describe circumstances under
which there w i l l ce r ta i n l y be a f i g h t . A wise admiral would not j o i n
bat t le with his men fatigued or with the wind and current opposing him;
but i f he i s "cornered" he must f i g h t his way past the blockade. This
was the pos i t ion in to which Themistocles manoeuvred the Greek f l e e t
at Sal amis and the predicament in which Antony found himself at
Actium.
163.19. acies3 non directae . . . sed inourvae. A concave ba t t l e
l i n e f a c i l i t a t e s turning the enemy's f l anks , p a r t i c u l a r l y i f he i s
drawn towards the deceptively y i e l d i ng centre. I t i s important also
to match the length of the enemy's l i n e , l e s t he execute a f lanking
manoeuvre; the l i n e , moreover, ought not to curve back too sharply or
deeply, but ought to describe an arc somewhat less than a semic i rc le
{of. Syrianus Magister, Naumach. 9.26, 31).
The acies inourva was such a standard strategem in the
popular impression that i t became v i r t u a l l y a commonplace in Roman
accounts of naval engagements. In Lucan's rhetor i ca l version of the
104
bat t le against the Massaliotes (Phavs. 3.514-752) i t i s mentioned,
while Caesar (B.C. 1.56-58) gives i t no place in his factual account of
the same engagement. S im i l a r l y , Plutarch [Aug. 65) says nothing of
a curved ba t t l e l i ne in connection with the bat t le of Actium, despite
i t s appearance in Dio 's deta i led account (50.31.5 sqq.; of. Propertius
4.6.25). Indeed, there i s good reason fo r doubting that the curved
formation was employed on th i s occasion (of. W.W. Tarn, "The Bat t le of
Actium," JRS 21 [1931] pp. 173-199; J.M. Carter, The Battle of Actium
[London, 1970] p. 220).
164.5. alto et libevo mavi. The loss of " f i gh t i ng thrust " i s unim
portant in comparison with two other possible resu l t s of taking up an
inshore ba t t l e pos i t ion . The f i r s t i s the loss of more ships on the
rocks of a lee shore than in the actual f i gh t ing - - the very d i saster
which be fe l l L i c i n i u s ' f l e e t in A.D. 324 (cf. JZbsimus Hist. Nov.
2.24.2). Vegetius has elsewhere recommended that the deep water i s
safer (161.17). The other i s the psychological advantage given to
the enemy in the offshore pos i t i on ; those nearest the shore may be
tempted to break o f f the engagement and take refuge on land, p a r t i c
u l a r l y i f i t i s a f r i end l y shore (cf. Leo, Peri Thai, in A. Dain,
Naumachia [Par i s , 1946] p. 26). This i s a further i l l u s t r a t i o n of
the general p r i n c i p l e stated e a r l i e r (146.6-8) that the enemy should
always be l e f t an avenue of escape as a temptation to cut and run.
105
164.10. assev. No such weapon i s mentioned by other ancient author
i t i e s . Dio mentions that the Veneti joked about Caesar's f leet , say ing
that they would sink the Roman gal leys with the i r "poles" (39.41.2 =
Caesar, B.G. 3.14) probably meaning boat-hooks. C lea r l y , however, the
point of the joke i s that the Roman ships seemed very weak and f l imsy ,
almost oversized canoes, in comparison with the heavy-timbered G a l l i c
c r a f t .
The assev and the falx described here bear the same r e l a t i o n
ship to one another as the avies and the falx of siege warfare {of.
137.10 sqq.); the one is a heavy instrument which del ivers forcefu l
blows with i t s blunt end, and the other, a shaft with a blade mounted
at i t s t i p .
Vegetius ' naval ram, or assev, seems a very unwieldy weapon;
a beam of any considerable s ize or weight swinging on a mast would
ce r ta in l y cause the ship to rock, possibly to capsize.
164.15. falx. In Homer {of. II. 15.388,677) we read of long pikes
used for cutt ing the enemy's r igging and wounding his men. Caesar's
men found them pa r t i c u l a r l y useful in action against ships that could
outsa i l t he i r own:
B.G. 3.14.5-7 = Dio 39.43.4. Una evat magno usui ves
pvaepavata a nostvis, faloes pvaeacutae insevtae adfixaeque
longuviis, non absimili fovma muralium falcium. His cum
funes qui antemnas ad malos destinabant comprehensi
adductique evant, navigio vemis incitato pvaecidebant, ut,
cum omnia Galliois navibus spes in velis avmamentisque
106
consisteret, his eveptis, omnis usus navium uno tempore
eriperetur. "One thing prepared by our men was of
great use - - sharp, hooked blades combined with and
f ixed to long poles, a device not unl ike the hooks used
against wa l l s . When the ropes fastening the yards to
the masts were seized by these, and pul led as the ship
was driven forward by the oars, they cut them; and so
since a l l the hope of the G a l l i c vessels lay in t he i r
s a i l s and r igg ing, once these were snatched away a l l the
usefulness of the ships was removed at a st roke. "
Since mast and s a i l were usually l e f t ashore or taken down in
bat t le s i tua t i on s , the falx was probably not widely used in m i l i t a r y
f l e e t s . However, Phi lostratus (imagines 1.19.3 Speuava em 6opaxojv)
mentions i t s use by p i rates . Undoubtedly the falx was e f fec t i ve against
merchantmen which r e l i ed ch i e f l y on t he i r s a i l s fo r power.
164.17. chalatorios. This emendation i s favoured by Ke l l e r , Turnebus
and others as well as by Lang. Subst i tut ing the Greek l e t t e r x fo r
Lat in o or chy we may eas i l y derive an adject ive chalatorius from xaAaoo,
to loosen or l e t f a l l . In our text i t would be a substantive (funes
chalatorios) meaning "ropes fo r lowering."
Since neither chalatorios nor collatorios i s otherwise known
in the Lat in vocabulary of seafaring there i s no reason for favouring
the one more than the other. Nevertheless, i t i s possible to i den t i f y
the part of the r igging which they denote; namely, the ropes that support
the yard and s a i l .
107
Casson suggests that Vegetius means " l i f t s " (cf. "Studies in
Ancient Sa i l s and Rigging," American Studies in Papyrology, v o l . 1
[New Haven, 1966] p. 56). This seems an un l i ke ly in terpretat ion since
when the s a i l i s set the l i f t s would be high a l o f t , out of reach of the
falx (see Figure 7); nor does i t seem possible that the man with the
falx would have time to cut them a l l , for in some ancient representations
there are as many as eight (e.g. Casson, Ships and Seamanship, P late
141). Moreover, according to Casson's in terpretat ion of a sh ip ' s
r igging (op. cit. , Plate 171; Figure 7b) the s a i l would be supported
by the halyards even a f te r a l l the l i f t s were cut. I t i s also important
that Casson's immoveable l i f t s do not allow fo r the lowering of the
s a i l .
J . Rouge ("Recherches sur 1 'organisation du commerce marit ime,"
Ec. prat, hautes et., 6 m e sec. Cent. rech. h i s t . , etc. 21 [Par i s , 1966]
p. 52) i s probably correct in suggesting "halyards, " the ropes used for
lowering and ra i s ing the s a i l and yard. Certa in ly i t would be easier
to cut these l ines than the l i f t s since they descend along the mast to
the deck (see Figure 7a).
165.4. minoribus - gubernaoula. This, must have been an extremely
peri lous operation; a small boat close alongside a large ship would be
completely at i t s mercy i f seen by the enemy crew.
165.8. lusoriis. This word, coming from lusus, means l i t e r a l l y
"pleasure boat," as in Seneca (De Benef. 7.20.3). This does not mean
that the "cutters on the Danube" were luxury yachts, but that they were
108
not intended for naval batt le - - i.e. they lacked rams. Thus the
word lusoria may denote any of the various kinds of c r a f t that might be
put to m i l i t a r y use, such as lembi in Ammianus Marcell inus (17.13.17).
The Theodosian Code (7.17) mentions judiciariae and agrarienses, names
that refer probably to the ships ' business rather than t he i r class or
design.
These lusoriae const i tuted a separate branch of the armed
services which Vegetius passes over with a mere mention here (see note
on 165.9 reticendum puto)although he has e a r l i e r indicated that there
are two naval serv ices, unum liburnarum, aliud lusoriarum (34.13-14).
165.8. in Danubio. The f i r s t permanent r i ve r f l e e t s , l i k e the deep
sea f l ee t s were founded by Augustus. Throughout the imperial period
the squadrons on the. Rhine, the Danube, the Euphrates, the N i le and
other r i ve r s formed an important t a c t i c a l arm of the landward defences,
"spying out c on f l i c t s or an opportunity for expedit ions" {Theodosian
Code 7.17), transporting supplies and sw i f t l y carrying troops to troubled
areas (of. Tacitus, Ann. 13.53).
The Danube f l e e t comprised f i f t e e n separate commands accord
ing to the Notitia Dignitatum, compiled perhaps in Vegetius ' own
l i f e t i m e .
165.9. vetioendum puto. Hitherto Vegetius has been dealing with
the ancient m i l i t a r y organisat ion. In th i s s ing le instance he
indicates that he knows more of current practices than he i s prepared
to divulge. Several possible explanations for th i s present themselves.
109
Possibly he avoids such an up-to-date subject as being out of place in
th i s work which was to be based on the t reat i ses of more ancient
author i t ies (cf. 5.3 sqq.); nor, indeed, had any of these much to say
about r i v e r f l e e t s . Perhaps, on the other hand, our author restra ins
himself out of prudence from commenting on the reigning emperor's
d i spos i t ion of the Danube f l e e t s , l e s t he appear to o f fe r unwelcome
c r i t i c i s m . Again, we might guess that his s i lence has been brought
on by a reluctance to discuss pub l i c l y any de ta i l s of the operations
of th i s important arm of the empire's defensive forces, l e s t such
information reach an enemy outside the f r on t i e r .
1 1 0 a
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no*
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ADDENDA
Ancient Sources:
Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum, edited by A. Boeckh et al. ( Be r l i n , 1828- ).
Inscriptiones Graeoae, ed i t i o mi nor ,vo l . 14 = Inscriptiones Italiae et Siciliae, edited by G. Kaibel ( B e r l i n , 1890).
Modern Sources:
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FORSTER, J.W., Quaestiones Vegetianae (Program, Pheydt, 1895).
PLANCK, M. "Der Ve r f a l l der romischen Kriegwesens am Ende der v ierten Jahrhundert nach Chr i s tus , " Zeitschr. zur vierten s'akularfeier der Univ. Tubingen ( S tuttgart , 1877).
SCHWEBEL, De Be Militari (Argentour, 1806).
125
I L L U S T R A T I O N S
126
Figure 1. Map of the A d r i a t i c Basin.
127
Aparctias (Septentrio)
Thrascias (Circius)
Boreas (Aquilo)
Iapyx (Favonius)
Zephyrus (Subvespertinus)
Lips (Africus)
Kaikias (Euroborus)
Apheliotes (Subsolanus)
Eurus (Volturnus)
Libonotus (Corus)
Leukonotus (Albus Notus)
Notub (Auster)
Figure 2. Vegetius' Windrose.
Vegetius Seneca P l i n y Suet/lsid. Vitruvius G e l l i u s A r i s t o t l e N.Q. V,xvi N.H. 11,119-121 Rer.Nat.37 1,6,4-5,10 11,22 Meteor.363a-364a
Caecias (Euroborus)
Kaikias Caecias Vulturnus (Caecias)
Caecias Aquilo (Boreas)
Apheliotes (Subsolanus)
Subsolanus (Apheliotes)
Subsolanus (Apeliotes)
Subsolanus (Apeliotes)
Solanus Eurus (Apheliotes, ^nhsr&l /arm c ̂
» , * a7tr)Aia>Tri<;
Eurus (Vulturnus)
Eurus (Vulturnus)
Vulturnus (Eurus)
Eurus Eurus Volturnus
Volturnus (Euronotus) eupoq
Leukonotus (Albus Notus)
Leukonotus Phoenix
Euronotus
Euroauster Leukonotus <po; v i Kia.<g
Notus (Auster)
Notus (Auster)
Auster (Notus)
Auster (Notus)
Auster Auster (Notus) vorocj
Libonotus (Corus)
Euronotus Libonotus Euronotus Libonotus
Lips (Africus)
Africus (Lips)
Africus (Lips)
Africus . (Lips)
Africus Subvesperus
Africus (Lips)
Zephyrus (Subvespertinus)
Favonius (Zephyrus)
Favonius (Zephyrus)
Zephyrus (Favonius)
Favonius C i r c i a s
Favonius (Zephyrus) ^ecpupoc,
Iapyx (Favonius)
Corus (Argestes)
Corus (Argestes)
Corus (Argestes)
Caurus Corus
Caurus (Argestes, T flnvv^ (o\up.Triac,, CKI pt
Thrascias (Circius)
Thraskias Thrascias C i r c i u s (Thrascias)
Thracias —^ r J /
Aparctias (Septentrio)
Septemtrio Septentrio (Aparktias)
Septentrio (Aparctias)
Septentrio Septentrionarius (Aparktias) Bopeaq f
(a;rapHT ia<;) Boreas (A.quilo)
Aquilo Aquilo (Boreas) Meses
Aquilo (Boreas)
Supernas
129
CIG vol.14.1308. ORI SEP o c c , M E RI
T E N ENS T R ) 0 DENS DIES
A<|>H KAIKI B0P6 A r w 0PA i A nY = ze<J>Y AIY AIBO NO 6YPO CY Al (0 AC AC tic KIAC KIAC CHO POC AFRI NOTOC TOC NOTOC POC TH C UUL AQVI SEPTEN CIR RVS FAVO CVS AVSTRO AVSTER EVRO EV SOLA TUR LO TRIO CIVS NIVS AFRI AVS
RVS NVS NVS CVS TER
RVS
b. CIG 518. c. CIL vol.8 .26652
l O P E A E K A I M A E A P H A i n T H Z E Y P O Z N O T O Z A I t _ E < t > Y P O Z Z K i pan
Boreas Kcuxlae
NO'TO? A A J /
Zlcpvgoe
SEPTENTRIO
uuLTVRNTS
9
A V S T E R
k FAONI
6 A Q V I L O
e EVRVS
L I B O N O T V S
ARGESTES
E V R O A Q V I L O
L E V C O N O T V S
A F R . C V S
m CIRCIVS
Figure 4. Wind L i s t s from i n s c r i p t i o n s .
o ®
o ® o ®
o ® o ® 0 1 9
o ® o ® o ® o ®
Figure 5. Diagram i l l u s t r a t i n g the p r i n c i p l e of multiple-rower oars.
131
Figure 6. Revolving pads from the Nemi Shi p s ( U c e l l i , F i g . 211,213).
132
Figure 7. Running rigging.
