THE ANCIENT ART OF ARMATURA

From the seventeenth century down to this day, many attempts have been made to reconstruct the art of combat in ancient Greece and Rome. So far, no accurate reconstruction of the ancient Greek or Roman art of fencing has been made. We need to turn to the evidence, starting with Vegetius.

By Evan Schultheis

Vegetius, writing during the reign of Theodosius I or of Valentinian III, composited a treatise from multiple earlier sources to create the model of an ‘ideal legion’ in keeping with the expectation of innovation seen in contemporary treatises. His description of legionary training, however, does not appear to be borrowed, and certain claims he makes suggest that it was contemporary to the time of his writing. He states: The recruit should be taught the type of drill known as armatura, handed down by drillmasters (campidoctoribus). This practice even partly survives. For it is well-known that even now armaturae fight better than the rest in all battles. Hence it should be appreciated how much better is a trained soldier than an untrained, when armaturae, whatever their proficiency, outstrip the rest of their…

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Ancient Warfare (Digital) - 1 Issue, AW XV.3

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