“On Warfare” [1] ( lat. De rebus bellicis ) - an anonymous ancient Roman military treatise relating to the second half of the 4th century .The author in the scientific literature is often conditionally referred to as an anonymous reformer, since the treatise contains proposals of a military-technical and domestic political nature to increase the defense capability of the empire .
Writing Backgrounds
The 3rd – 4th centuries is a period of rapid weakening of the Roman Empire, which survived the crisis of the 3rd century and then the migration of barbarians at the borders. Reforms of Diocletian and Constantine only delayed this process for a short time, but could not reverse it. The catastrophic fall of Roman military power was acutely felt by contemporaries, so the era of the late empire became the time of the appearance of a number of works that somehow affected the problems of military organization ( Vegetius , Themistius , Sinesius Kirensky , Ambrose Mediolansky , Claudian ). Among them is the treatise “On Military Affairs”, which proposes a series of reforms that, in the opinion of its author, can “support the strength of military power and the entire state” (Introduction, 10).
Dating
The lowest dating of the treatise can be considered with confidence the year 337 , since it recalls the reign of Emperor Constantine (II, 1). The author clearly has not lost faith in the attacking potential of Roman weapons and characterizes the barbarians as enemies who are only threatening the borders of the empire, so it can be assumed that the work was written before 378 , that is, before the catastrophe at Adrianople . The author’s appeal to emperors with sons (Introduction, 5) can narrow the chronological framework to 366-375, since only during this period the Romans had two co-emperors (brothers Valentinian I and Valent II ) with sons-heirs. This point of view currently dominates historical science. An alternative point of view put forward by the publisher of the treatise Z. Gelenius (mid- sixteenth century ) dates back to the reign of Theodosius I (392–395).
Authorship and Genre
Ancient authors do not have a single mention of this treatise, and nothing is known about its creator. This can be explained by the fact that, being addressed to the Roman emperor in the form of a memorandum, he was “put on the cloth” by officials, where he lay in complete obscurity until the first edition more than 1000 years later. An indirect confirmation of such a definition of the genre of work can serve as a brief summary and reference to the attached illustrations, that is, it is not a detailed scientific work, but rather a prospectus with vivid drawings and a minimum of text, designed to attract the attention of the emperor [2] . Thus, all information about the treatise and its author are derived from the context of the work and are hypothetical in nature.
According to one version, the fact that the treatise is written in Latin indicates the origin of the anonymous author from western rather than eastern provinces. His undoubted interest in strengthening the borders of the eastern part of the empire can be explained by the fact that he lived in one of the most eastern Latin provinces, possibly in the Illyrian prefecture [3] . According to another version, the author of the treatise was a Greek who chose Latin because he could not count on the emperor's good knowledge of the Greek language [4] . Researchers note the “terrifying tongue-tied” of the anonym and his apparent love for the Greek names of the models of military equipment that he offers. But the author could well have been a barbarian, an indirect proof of which is the phrase in the Introduction: “After all, barbaric peoples are by no means alien to inventiveness, supported by natural qualities ...” (Introduction, 4) [5] .
In terms of social status, the anonymous reformer most likely belonged to the middle strata of the population and was a wealthy person, having free time for his scientific research (Introduction, 10), but at the same time disapproving of excessive wealth (II, 5). At the same time, the anonym was not a military man, because in one of the passages, as evidence of his innocence, he refers to the opinion of people “familiar with military practice”, which suggests that he himself is nothing more than a civilian, well aware of the problems weapons of the imperial army (XII, 1).
It is suggested that the author of the treatise could be not only one person, but at least two, one of whom was a mechanic-inventor, and the other put literary designs on the projects, not always capturing the principle of the mechanisms. To some extent, this can explain the heavy style of describing inventions and the frequent transition in the presentation of material from the singular to the plural (Introduction, 7 onwards).
Contents and views of the author
The main message of the anonymous reformer is the desire to protect the interests of the bulk of taxpayers , to the maximum extent possible to protect them from the burden of government spending. Reducing the size of the army by replacing personnel with military vehicles, limiting imperial distributions, building border fortifications with the help of local landowners, combating the abuse of provincial governors and tax collectors - these are the anonymity of the government’s primary measures in favor of taxpayers, whose welfare he sees as the key to prosperity and success of the empire .
The treatise contains a description of 12 military vehicles and devices, most of which in one form or another were previously known, but are offered by an anonymous reformer for use in the army, taking into account design improvements.
Notes
- ↑ Also in Russian-language literature there is a version of the translation “On military affairs”.
- ↑ Oliver , Commentary on De rebus bellicis.
- ↑ Tompson EA A roman reformer and inventor. - Oxford, 1952, p. four.
- ↑ Seek O. Anonymi (3) // RE.— 1894. - Bd. I. - Sp. 2325; Neher R. Der Anonimus de Rebus Bellicis. - Tubingen, 1911, S. 58; Muller BA Review of Schneider's edition // BPhW. - 1911.— Bd. XXI. - P. 235.
- ↑ Muller BA Review of Neher's Dissertation // BPhW. - 1916.— Bd. XXXVI. - P. 1593.
Literature
- Anonymous Reformer. About military affairs . Introductory article, translation from Latin and notes by S. A. Lazarev . Site "History of Ancient Rome" . Date of appeal May 21, 2018.
- Oliver, Revilo. Comment on De rebus bellicis . Translation by I.F. Kayumov . Portal "XLegio" . Date of appeal May 21, 2018.
- Serafimov M. N. The economic program of the anonymous treatise "De rebus bellicis" // Mnemon. Studies and publications on the history of the ancient world / Edited by E. D. Frolov . - St. Petersburg: Center for Antiquity, St. Petersburg State University, 2003. - Vol. 2 . - S. 279-286 . - ISSN 1318-193X .
- Mehamadiev E. A. Anonymus de Rebus Bellicis and the Latin inscription from Aquileia: on the formation and development of senioresiuniores units in the late Roman army of the 4th century // Mnemon. Studies and publications on the history of the ancient world / Edited by E. D. Frolov . - St. Petersburg: Center for Antiquity, St. Petersburg State University, 2013. - Vol. 13 . - S. 277-292 . - ISSN 1318-193X .