"Vegetius' late Roman text became a well known and highly respected 'classic' in the Middle Ages, transformed by its readers into the authority on the waging of war. Christopher Allmand analyses the medieval afterlife of the De re militari, tracing the growing interest in the text from the Carolingian world to the late Middle Ages, suggesting how the written word may have influenced the development of military practice in that period. While emphasising that success depended on a commander's ability to outwit the enemy with a carefully selected, well trained and disciplined army, the De re militari inspired other unexpected developments, such as that of the 'national' army, and helped create a context in which the role of the soldier assumed greater social and political importance. Allmand explores the significance of the text and the changes it brought for those who accepted the implications of its central messages"--

"Little is known about Publius Vegetius Renatus. He was probably born in the mid fourth century AD, possibly in Spain. Although familiar with the language of the army, it is unlikely that he was ever a soldier or had practical military experience. He was, rather, a member of the bureaucratic elite at the imperial court, bearing the title 'Flavius', which identifies him as a public servant, as does the title 'comes', found in one branch of the manuscript tradition. It is likely, however, that he had experience of the recruitment, administration and provisioning of armies, for these receive much of his attention. From the Mulomedicina, a work on veterinary medicine which he almost certainly wrote, we learn that he was a much travelled man. From the evidence of the De re militari, it appears that he also appreciated literature, as his references to the works of Virgil and Sallust testify"--