Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus, commonly referred to simply as Vegetius, was a writer of the Later Roman Empire . Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what is contained in his two surviving works: Epitoma rei militaris , and the lesser-known Digesta Artis Mulomedicinae, a guide to veterinary medicine. The long-held conclusion that nothing is known of Vegetius' life has recently been challenged. New research suggests that ample evidence exists to elucidate his background, but it has been simply overlooked.The latest event alluded to in his Epitoma rei militaris is the death of the Emperor Gratian ; the earliest attestation of this work is a subscriptio by one Flavius Eutropius, writing in Constantinople in the year 450, which appears in one of two families of manuscripts, suggesting that a division of the manuscript tradition had already occurred. Despite Eutropius' location in Constantinople, the scholarly consensus is that Vegetius wrote in the Western Empire. Vegetius dedicates his work to the reigning emperor, who is identified as Theodosius, ad Theodosium imperatorem, in the manuscript family that was not edited in 450; the identity is disputed: some scholars identify him with Theodosius the Great, while others follow Otto Seeck and identify him with the later Valentinian III, dating the work to 430-35. Vegetius identifies himself in the opening of his work Epitoma rei militaris as a Christian.
Wikipedia
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?? – 450
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Other names
Flavius Vegetius Renatus,
Флавий Вегеций Ренат
