Editing Vegetius (section)

==Dating of work==
The latest event alluded to in his ''Epitoma rei militaris'' is the death of the Emperor [[Gratian]] (383); the earliest attestation of the work is a ''subscriptio'' by Flavius Eutropius, writing in [[Constantinople]] in 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 Roman Empire]].<ref name="Walter Goffart pp 49-80">Walter Goffart. "The date and purposes of Vegetius' ''De Re Militari''". In ''Rome's Fall and After'', chapter 3, pp. 49–80. Hambledon Press, 1989. {{ISBN|1 85285 001 9}}.</ref>  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 I]] ({{reigned|379|395}},<ref>N. P. Milner sets forth the argument for Theodosius in ''Vegetius: Epitome of Military Science'', second edition (Liverpool: University Press, 1996), pp. xxxvii ff; T. D. Barnes, "The Date of Vegetius" ''Phoenix'' '''33'''.3 (Autumn 1979), pp. 254–257, makes the case for Theodosius.</ref> while others follow [[Otto Seeck]]<ref>Seeck, "Die Zeit des Vegetius", ''Hermes'' '''11''' (1876), 61–83. Seeck's conclusions changed the mind of Karl Lang, who twice edited the Teubner ''De re militaria'', and adopted Seeck's ascription.</ref> and identify him with the later [[Valentinian III]], dating the work to 430–35.<ref>G. R. Watson, ''The Roman Soldier'' (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1969), p. 26.</ref> Goffart agrees that the later date is likely, suggesting that the work may have been intended to support a military revival in the time of [[Flavius Aetius|Aetius]]'s supremacy.<ref name="Walter Goffart pp 49-80"/> Rosenbaum also argues that he wrote in the early 430s; [[Theodosius II]] might then have been the dedicatee. Rosenbaum uses allusions from Vegetius's works and relationships to the work of [[Merobaudes (poet)|Merobaudes]] to suggest that Vegetius was a senior court official, ''primiscrinius'' to the [[praetorian prefect]], who had been an [[agens in rebus]].<ref>Rosenbaum, S; "''Who was Vegetius?''" published on Academia.edu 2015 https://www.academia.edu/5496690/Who_was_Vegetius</ref>