Vegetius in print-on-demand

[Renatus]

In an idle moment recently, I searched online to see which of the works of Vegetius were available as print-on-demand books. Here are some of those that I found. There are others and these can be located on such sites as http://bookfinder.com and http://usedbooksearch.co.uk (I recommend looking on both). I have chosen those that I think may be of use to members or that simply strike me as interesting. I found them on AbeBooks.co.uk and the prices are their "lowest total price", including postage within the UK. Prices elsewhere can be found on the sites mentioned above. I have not seen any of these books and cannot speak to their quality. Those that are simple facsimiles should be all right (what the scanner sees is what you get); where an attempt may have been made to create a new book by OCR, there could be scanning errors.


Epitoma Rei Militaris (ed. Carl Lang); published by Nabu Press; ISBN 1-142-06107-8; £16.53

Lang's first edition of the Epitoma was published in 1869, with a revised edition in 1885 (reprinted 1967). It is not clear which of them this is. The latter was the standard edition for over 100 years, until superseded by those of A. Önnerfors in 1995 and M.D. Reeve in 2004 (I say nothing of the heavily criticized edition of L.F. Stelten, published in 1990). The advantage that both of Lang's editions have over their successors is a splendid index verborum, listing and referencing by page and line number virtually every word in the text. I find this absolutely invaluable for navigating my way about the work. I would not be without it, although I use Reeve for the purposes of quotation. This volume seems a relatively cheap way of acquiring a still serviceable text with a valuable tool that can be used in conjunction with more modern editions.


Military Institutions of Vegetius, in five books, translated from the original Latin, with a preface and notes, by Lieutenant John Clarke; published by Gale ECCO, Print Editions; ISBN 1-140-87092-0; £14.61

Until the publication of the translations of Stelten (1990) and Milner (1993; revised edition, 1996), the only translation of the Epitoma available in English was Lt. Clarke's and that only in abridged form. This puts his full version on the market for the first time since its original publication in 1767. The problem with translations of this age is that they are only as good as the texts upon which they are based and some of those are pretty poor. Reeve comments that all editions of the Epitoma before Lang's derive from an edition published in Rome in 1487 which is so corrupt that it is "a travesty of what Vegetius is likely to have written." Consequently, they are "quite unsafe to use". Inevitably, Clarke will have used such an edition. He refers in his preface to the commentaries of Stewechius and Scriverius from which I infer that he was probably using one of Scriverius' 17th century editions. I had often wondered why his description of cataphracti equites in Veg.3.23 differs so markedly from later translations in that he completely reverses Vegetius' assessment of their efficacy against scattered infantry. Having now viewed Scriverius' 1607 edition online, I see that the fault lies in the Latin text not, as I had thought, in a mistranslation by Clarke. If, therefore, the text from which he worked was "unsafe to use", so must be his translation. In his preface, he comments upon the previous translation of John Sadler (1572) that "his Work has little Value but that of Antiquity". Alas, the same may now be said of Clarke's.

This title is not to be confused with Military Institutions of the Romans, itself available as a print-on-demand book as well as in a number of cheap editions and online. This is the abridgement of Clarke's translation that I referred to above. It originally appeared in 1940 as one of a number of military classics published under the overall title of Roots of Strategy, edited by Maj. (later Brig. Gen.) T.R. Phillips of the U.S. Army, and was later published on its own. It consists of only the first three books of the Epitoma and, in these, some passages have been edited out. One chapter in Book 2 has been reduced to a single sentence. Frankly, there is no longer any point in bothering with this abridgement. There is a better modern translation in Milner and, if one really wants to have Clarke's version, it is now available in its entirety.


Institutions Militaires de Végèce (1759); published by Kessinger Publishing LLC; ISBN 1-104-77230-2; £16.80

In his preface and notes, Clarke frequently refers to an unnamed "French Translator." He can be identified as Claude Guillaume Bourdon de Sigrais (1715-1791) whose Institutions Militaires de Végèce was published anonymously in Paris in 1743, with later editions published in Amsterdam in 1757 and in Paris again in 1759. This would seem to be the last of these. If so, it will be possible to cross-refer Clarke's comments to the French text and to the Remarques sur la Traduction annexed to it. It will be noted that Clarke's title is a straight translation from the French.


Knyghthode and Bataile (ed. R. Dyboski); published by Boydell & Brewer Ltd.; ISBN 0-85991-694-4; £29.54

This is a curiosity. It is a paraphrase of Vegetius' Epitoma in verse. It dates from 1458 and is written in Middle English, the language of Chaucer. It is unlikely to be of much use to the military historian but it no doubt has its place in the study of medieval poetry and the development of English.


P. Vegeti Renati Digestorum Artis Mulomedicinae Libri (ed. Ernst Lommatzsch); published by Nabu Press; ISBN 1-145-69791-7; £17.76

Ernst Lommatzsch's 1903 edition of the Mulomedicina has been long out of print. It is available online but it is good to have it in book form. Reeve describes it as "very unreliable" but, until someone produces a modern edition, it is all we have and we will have to make do with it.


Vegetius Renatus of the distempers of horses, and of the art of curing them: as also of the diseases of oxen, and of the remedies proper to them; and of the best method to preserve them in health; published by Gale ECCO, Print Editions; ISBN 1-171-00750-7; £19.58

If those seeking an English translation of the Epitoma might have felt hard done by until the 1990s, pity the student of the Mulomedicina. As far as I know, this is the only translation of the Mulomedicina into English and it was published in 1748. Again, it can be found online but it is useful to have it in print. The Mulomedicina is essentially a lengthy catalogue of the ailments of horses and remedies to cure them and it has to be admitted that, unless one is a student of ancient veterinary practice, it is likely to become somewhat tedious to the general reader. Nevertheless, it should not be neglected. The remedies are of the type of herbal medicine which, I imagine, would have been commonplace in rural societies before the introduction of antibiotics. They also seem to include a certain amount of old wives' tales, folklore and superstition: see, for example, the measures recommended against the bite of the allegedly venomous "shrew-mouse" in Bk.3, Chap.82 (2.146 in Lommatzsch). That said, there are also nuggets of useful information. Chaps.6 & 7 in Bk.4 (Lommatzsch 3.6; 3.7) deal with the characteristics of various breeds of horse, including the Hunnic which is considered the best for war, and I hope that close examination of the text will disclose remedies that might have been used by the army to treat the sorts of ailment encountered in the field. Anyway, it is worth the effort of looking.

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

Happy Face

[Valentinian Victor]

The Clarke translation suffers in many parts, and is heavily abridged, I have the 1940's American Military edition.

The acknowledge best latin translation is that by M.R. Reeves- 'Vegetius: Epitoma rei militaris (Oxford Classical Texts)'.

I personally would avoid like the plague those print on demand type books. Most if not all are based on editions found for free on the internet. They are also quite old editions that contain often dubious translations.

For Vegetius you really need Milner, with Reeves for cross-referencing the Latin.

[Renatus]

The Clarke translation suffers in many parts, and is heavily abridged, I have the 1940's American Military edition.

The acknowledge best latin translation is that by M.R. Reeves- 'Vegetius: Epitoma rei militaris (Oxford Classical Texts)'.

I personally would avoid like the plague those print on demand type books. Most if not all are based on editions found for free on the internet. They are also quite old editions that contain often dubious translations.

For Vegetius you really need Milner, with Reeves for cross-referencing the Latin.

It might help if you read my post a little more carefully. I make the following points upon your reply:

1. The Clarke translation that I cited is clearly not the abridged version and I acknowledge its weaknesses. The version that you have is the abridgement that I say is not now worth bothering with.

2. Reeves' edition is not a translation; it is the Latin text only. I agree that this and Milner's translation is the best combination.

3. I think that you are too harsh on print-on-demand books; they can be a valuable source, if treated with care. For instance, the text and translation of the Mulomedicina that I mentioned may be old but they are all that there is. Both can be found online but only Lommatzsch's text can be easily downloaded. Personally, I prefer to have a book in my hand to which I can refer whenever I like.

[Valentinian Victor]

It might help if you read my post a little more carefully. I make the following points upon your reply:

1. The Clarke translation that I cited is clearly not the abridged version and I acknowledge its weaknesses. The version that you have is the abridgement that I say is not now worth bothering with.

2. Reeves' edition is not a translation; it is the Latin text only. I agree that this and Milner's translation is the best combination.

3. I think that you are too harsh on print-on-demand books; they can be a valuable source, if treated with care. For instance, the text and translation of the Mulomedicina that I mentioned may be old but they are all that there is. Both can be found online but only Lommatzsch's text can be easily downloaded. Personally, I prefer to have a book in my hand to which I can refer whenever I like.

The Clarke full translation is frankly no better than the abridgement, Milner's has faults but is a far better work. Reeves is a better copy of the latin version than that found on the internet, but granted the internet latin copy will suffice if you cannot afford to buy the book.

The problem with the older books, printed early this century, last century or even the one before that, are that modern research allows a better understanding and therefore translation than was available to the old translators. Take Younge's translation of Ammianus. I used to swear by that one, and still think its a jolly good read. But since taking possession of the Rolfe three volume Loeb translation, not perfect by any means, I realise how inperfect in parts the Younge translation is.

I have access to printers elsewhere to be able to print off volumes of material from the internet, if you get my drift ;-)

[Renatus]

The Clarke full translation is frankly no better than the abridgement, Milner's has faults but is a far better work. Reeves is a better copy of the latin version than that found on the internet, but granted the internet latin copy will suffice if you cannot afford to buy the book.

The problem with the older books, printed early this century, last century or even the one before that, are that modern research allows a better understanding and therefore translation than was available to the old translators. Take Younge's translation of Ammianus. I used to swear by that one, and still think its a jolly good read. But since taking possession of the Rolfe three volume Loeb translation, not perfect by any means, I realise how inperfect in parts the Younge translation is.

I have access to printers elsewhere to be able to print off volumes of material from the internet, if you get my drift ;-)

We are not necessarily in disagreement. Certainly Milner's translation is better than Clarke's for the reasons that you mention. The point that I make about Clarke's full translation as opposed to the abridgement is that it is, at least, complete. It also has his preface and notes, which are idiosyncratic but fun. (I think that I have the same affection for him that you have for Yonge.) Reeve's text is to be preferred to any other, in print or online, if only because he has examined more witnesses than anyone else.

I agree that one has to be careful about using old texts. Ideally, one should use the most recent. However, the older editions can still have their uses, as I mentioned in relation to Lang's. Also, it can be helpful to go back to see how earlier translators have tackled a particular problem.

As to your last paragraph, I cannot think what you can possibly mean!