Medieval warfare is the warfare of the Middle Ages. Technological, cultural, and social advancements had forced a severe transformation in the character of warfare from antiquity, changing military tactics and the role of cavalry and artillery. In terms of fortification, the Middle Ages saw the emergence of the castle in Europe, which then spread to the Holy Land.
Gladius is a Latin word properly referring to the type of sword that was used by ancient Roman foot soldiers starting from the 3rd century BC and until the 3rd century AD. Linguistically, within Latin, the word also came to mean "sword", regardless of the type used.
PubliusVegetius Renatus, known 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. He identifies himself in the opening of his work Epitoma rei militaris as a Christian.
Perizonius was the name of Jakob Voorbroek, a Dutch classical scholar, who was born at Appingedam in Groningen.
In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word castrum was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form castrum meant 'fort', while the plural form castra meant 'camp'. The singular and plural forms could refer in Latin to either a building or plot of land, used as a fortified military base. In English usage, castrum commonly translates to "Roman fort", "Roman camp" and "Roman fortress". However, scholastic convention tends to translate castrum as "fort", "camp", "marching camp" or "fortress".
Maniple was a tactical unit of the Roman Republican armies, adopted during the Samnite Wars. It was also the name of the military insignia carried by such units.
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire.
Si vis pacem, para bellum is a Latin adage translated as "If you want peace, prepare for war." The phrase is adapted from a statement found in Roman author Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus's tract Dē Rē Mīlitārī, in which the actual phrasing is Igitur quī dēsīderat pācem, præparet bellum. The idea which it conveys also appears in earlier works such as Plato's Nomoi (Laws). The phrase presents the insight that the conditions of peace are often preserved by a readiness to make war to defend said peace when the need arises.
The comitatenses and later the palatini were the units of the field armies of the late Roman Empire. They were the soldiers that replaced the legionaries, who had formed the backbone of the Roman military since the late republic.
An optio, was a position in a centuria (century) of a Roman army similar to that of an executive officer. The main function of an optio was as an optio centuriae, the second-in-command of a century, although there were many other roles an optio could adopt.
Plumbatae or martiobarbuli were lead-weighted darts carried by infantrymen in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. They were used to inflict damage on enemies at a distance before engaging in close combat. Roman soldiers in some legions carried plumbatae inside their shields, which allowed them to have ranged weapons similar to arrows, according to Vegetius in his 4th-century military treatise De re militari.
Sagittarii is the Latin term for archers. The term sagittariorum in the title of an infantry or cavalry unit indicated a specialized archer regiment. Regular auxiliary units of foot and horse archers appeared in the Roman army during the early empire. During the Principate roughly two thirds of all archers were on foot and one third were horse archers. Mercenary foot archers already served with the Roman republican army, but horse archers were only introduced after the Romans came into conflict with Eastern armies that relied heavily on mounted archery in the 1st century BC, most notably the Parthians, whose mounted archers were decisive for Crassus's major defeat in the Battle of Carrhae. Since the time of Augustus however, Romans and Italians were also levied as dedicated archers. In the early 1st century BC horse archers were already in widespread use and even supported Roman campaigns against the Germanic tribes in the Central Europe.
Tirones were new recruits in the armies of the Roman Empire. A tiro could take up to six months before becoming a full miles (infantryman/private).
Bellifortis is the first fully illustrated manual of military technology, written by Konrad Kyeser and dating from the start of the 15th century. It summarises material from classical writers on military technology, like Vegetius' De Re Militari and Frontinus' anecdotal Strategemata, emphasising poliorcetics, or the art of siege warfare, but treating magic as a supplement to the military arts; it is "saturated with astrology", remarked Lynn White, Jr. in a review of the first facsimile edition.
Droungos or drungus is a late Roman and Byzantine term for a battalion-sized military unit, and later for a local command guarding mountain districts. Its commander was a "droungarios" or "drungarius" (δρουγγάριος), anglicized as "Drungary".
A military treatise or treatise on war is any work that deals with the "art of war" in some basic aspect. Fundamentally military treatises are treatises on military strategy. Other works may also be included in the definition that, although they deal with other topics, include sensitive information about military matters. These may include, among others, description of specific battles, sieges, general campaigns, reports of military authorities, and commented works about ground or naval battles.
The gens Tarrutenia or Tarutenia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Only a few members of this gens are mentioned in history, but others are known from inscriptions. The most illustrious of the Tarrutenii was probably Publius Tarrutenius Paternus, a jurist of the late second century, who was praetorian prefect during the reign of Commodus.
Classiarii referred to all military personnel and personnel assigned to the maneuvering of ships or their construction/maintenance, as part of the Roman navy, an integral part of the Roman army.
The Libellus de vocabulis rei militaris is a Latin military treatise in the form of a collection of excerpts from the first three books of the Epitoma rei militaris of Vegetius. The author is conventionally known as Modestus and most probably worked between the 9th and 12th centuries. His work is known from over 30 manuscripts and was printed six times before 1500. It was one of the canonical "old" military treatises of the 16th and 17th centuries. There is a late translation into Italian.
Barritus (barrītūs) is a battle cry documented in writing since the 1st century among Germanic tribes. The technique of Barritus later became popular among Germanic auxiliary troops in the Roman Army. In the 4th century, Ammianus Marcellinus describes Barritus as typical for Germanic auxiliary troops. Publius Cornelius Tacitus describes the Barritus in his work Germania .
