De re militari
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"An indication of the frequent occurrence of camp disease in the Roman armies is found in Vegetius’s Re Militari dedicated to Valentinian about 375 a.d. “An army must not use bad or marshy water; for the drinking of bad water is like poison and causes plagues among those who drink it.” And, at the end of the chapter: “If a large group stays too long during the summer or autumn in one place, the water becomes corrupt, and because of the corruption, drinking is unhealthy, the air corrupt, and so malignant disease arises which cannot be checked except by frequent change of camp.”" --Rats, Lice and History (1935) by Hans Zinsser |
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De re militari (Latin "Concerning Military Matters"), also Epitoma rei militaris, is a treatise by the Late Latin writer Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus about Roman warfare and military principles as a presentation of the methods and practices in use during the height of the Roman Empire and responsible for its power. The extant text dates to the 5th century.
