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The name, title, literary persona and office of Vegetius are discussed in ch. 1, and although a firm decision is unjustified, comes stabuli seems bettter-attested than praefectus praetorio, come sacrarum largitionum or comes rei privatae. It is suggested that 'Vegetius' is only a cognomen to a true gentilicium 'Flavius'. The author's self-presentation as the Emperor's director of studies-cum-secretary is noticed. Ch. 2 provisionally locates Vegetius in Spanish horse-breeding senatorial circles, and treats his conventional Latin education with little or no Greek, his Vergil-reverence and orthodox Christianity. The date of Vegetius' Epitoma Rei Militaris is analysed in ch. 3 as being before the sack of Rome but in the aftermath of the battle of Adrianople. The Emperor-dedicatee is provisionally identified as Theodosius I. Scholarly debate on the question is thoroughly aired. The genre, literary persona and date of the Anonymus De Rebus Bellicis are argued in ch. 4 against the comparison of Vegetius. The Anonymus is characterized as a thaumaturgical sophist who complied his 'inventions' from older mechanical sources. A late-4th. or early 5th. century date is supported in opposition to the A.D. 360's. Ch. 5 argues that Vegetius' Epitome was intended to describe a Republican legionary organization adapted to late-antique Field armies with the unstated aim of reversing in detail and with specific advantages in mind the rapidly increasing barbarization of the army. Ch. 6 addresses the extent to which tactics and strategic constraints, arms and equipment and siegecraft were understood by Vegetius in contemporary terms, particularly as shown by Ammianus Marcellinus. It is argued in ch. 7 that the sources Vegetius used were late epitomes of the named sources, Cato, Celsus, Frontinus and Paternus, apart from Varro whom he used directly. Massive authorial intervention by Vegetius in the organization and content of the text is analysed.

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The frontier systems considered in the following work are defined as deliberately arranged preclusive cordons of forts and minor installations, generally supplemented in the second century by continuous barriers. It is argued that such systems only existed in the provinces of Britain, Upper Germany, Raetia and Dacia. Dacia is not treated in detail. The first chapter considers the date of origin and stages of development of the Upper German and Raetian land frontier before the Hadrianic period. Chapter 2 reviews the evidence for the daXe and existence of linear frontiers in Britain before Hadrian. A comparative study in Chapter 3 suggests the function and the historical significance of these earl .y linear systems. Chapter 4 discusses aspects of the Continental linear frontiers of the second century and presents a sector by sector description of the setting and distribution of their installations. This is complemented in Chapter 5 by a discussion of the Hadrianic and Antonine Walls in Britain. In particular the evidence for two periods of occupation in Antonine Scotland is examined in detail. It is concluded that the Antonine Wall was held for a single period. on the basis of the conclusions of Chapters 4 and 5, in Chapter 6 the second century frontiers are classified into types geared to varying intensities of frontier infiltration. Functions are suggested for individual frontier installations. The significance of the second century frontier walls is discussed, centring upon the question, broached in recent works on the subject, of whether these systems possessed any defensive or political rationale or were merely random by-products of aggressive Roman imperialism, military blunders and apathy. In Chapter 7 frontiers elsewhere in the empire are briefly examined to establish that (excepting Dacia), none displays a truly linear frontier system of the type characteristic of the provinces of northwest Europe.

Cicero‘s value as a military commentator has traditionally been obscured by his reputation as an unmilitary figure. This focus ignores the considerable quantity – and quality – of references to military matters in his writings, as well as the engagement demanded by his public profile as a senior senator and advocate during the war-torn final decades of the Republic. As a participant-witness writing as events unfolded, he provides unrivalled insight into developing contemporary issues from an equally unrivalled civilian/domestic perspective. Far from precluding meaningful discussion, this perspective draws attention to the wider consequences of the activities of the army, from their symbolic representation of Rome‘s might to their impact on domestic stability and role in imperial expansion. This thesis explores Cicero‘s contribution to the militarized culture of the late Republic, bringing together his military-themed comments in the first major study of its kind. Chapter 1 sets the scene with an examination of his military service, demonstrating that it met the standards of the day and identifying characteristics of his outlook that can be linked directly to his experience. Chapter 2 investigates his engagement with Rome‘s military heritage by way of his use of military exempla, specifically the priorities indicated by his choice and description of these figures. Chapter 3 presents a similar assessment of his relationships with contemporary military figures, noting the effect of their political influence on the interest he took in their military responsibilities. Chapters 4 and 5 assess his theory concerning military matters in the domestic and foreign spheres, respectively. Both highlight the focus on ethics which sets Cicero‘s theory apart from that of his contemporaries. Finally,chapter 6 addresses the tension between civic and military values in the previous chapters, contextualizing his pro-civic bias as a reaction to military despotism rather than anti-militarism for its own sake. The analysis of these themes confirms Cicero‘s awareness of military matters as well as his contemporary authority as a commentator. It moreover highlights the historical value of his remarks as the rhetorical product of a civilian context and an alternative discourse about the relationship between the army and the state. Although his views are broadly comparable to those of contemporary authors, his coverage of associated domestic concerns is not. The end result is an account of military matters which complements conventional military histories and manuals of military science, and deserves to be taken seriously as military commentary.

This thesis will argue that the development of early Rome can be described using a sequence of large, socio-political dichotomies based on Rome's activity in the sphere of warfare. The use of dichotomies in early Roman history is not new,and indeed the confrontation between two opposing groups, typically the patricians and plebeians, can be found at the heart of even the earliest extant histories of the period. The problem which plagued these early models, and indeed many subsequent models based on their premise, is that they assumed that the same prescriptive set of social and political divisions which existed in the late Republic and early Empire also existed in early Rome. This study will discard this highly anachronistic assumption and redefine the dichotomies present in early Rome using active characteristics (i.e. behavior), rather than the prescriptive labels assigned by late republican authors. In particular, this study will attempt to view early Rome through the lens of warfare, where the formation of distinct 'in-group' and 'out-group' biases is most evident, in an effort to redraw the divisions of early Roman society. The end result of this redefining process will be an entirely different, albeit related set of socio-political groupings; for example 'mobile' vs. 'sedentary' and 'Roman' vs. 'Latin', whose interaction is visible behind much of Rome's early development.

The funerary grave stelae of the Roman cavalrymen are large, impressive monuments set apart from their military counterparts by the ornate relief carvings which they exhibit. The two most common motifs featured on these tombstones are the rider relief motifs and the totenmahl motifs. Aspects of both the reliefs and the inscribed epitaphs are distinctly characteristic of the Roman military. Throughout the history of the Roman Empire, men in the auxiliary cavalry units were recruited from non-Roman allied tribes. These recruits brought with them foreign languages, customs, and beliefs. Through a comparative study of Roman cavalry tombstones found in Great Britain, Germany, and Syria, I have attempted to identify iconographic and epigraphic elements that are evidence of the ethnic origins of the cavalrymen who are commemorated on these funerary monuments.

This work is dealing with individual phases of Roman occupations of Scotland, namely with the Flavian, Antonine and Severan ones. The assessment of these occupations is based on both historical and especially archeological sources and particular attention is paid to those sites, where the presence of Roman occupation forces can be proved in above mentioned periods. The content of the dissertation is put into historical, political and military context of Roman presence on territory of nowadays Scotland. The goal of this study is linking up of already available information and researches into coherent view of patterns of Roman occupation and administration in Flavian, Antonine and Severan periods of government. Keywords Roman Scotland Limes Romanus Military occupation Obsah Abstrakt.......................................................................................................................................4 Klíčová slova ..............................................................................................................................4 Abstract.......................................................................................................................................5...

This thesis examines the cultural and social relationships cultivated by ethnically diverse auxiliary soldiers in the western Roman empire. These soldiers were enrolled in the Roman auxilia, military units that drew primarily on the non-Roman subjects of the empire for their recruits in numbers that equaled the legionaries. I argue that auxiliary soldiers could and did maintain large families, and demonstrate, from epigraphic data collected and presented in my dissertation, how foreign ethnic and religious identities were variously integrated into Roman military culture by both individual auxiliaries and the Roman state. The history of the auxilia in Germany from the time of Augustus and in Britain from the time of Claudius is discussed, with extensive reference to epigraphic material provided in appendices to this work. Analysis of military diplomas from across the Roman empire demonstrates a significant phenomenon of auxiliary family creation that helps to contextualize the diploma data from Germania and Britannia. Research on further epigraphic evidence from Germania and Britannia demonstrates a marked diversity in religious dedications by auxiliary soldiers and further evidence for auxiliary families. From a discussion of the history of the concept of ‘Romanization’ and other theoretical models that can be applied to the study of the auxilia, the continued usefulness of the evolving concept of ‘Romanization’ to our understanding of auxiliary cultural integration is assessed. Auxiliary service is shown to have provided many non-Roman ethnic groups avenues of cultural and legal inclusion that each soldier, surely in his own way, could exploit.