Aelianus tacticus

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Aelianus Tacticus ( Greek  Αἰλιανὸς ὁ Τακτικὀς , * 1st century ; † 2nd century ) was an ancient Greek military writer.

Aelianus wrote under the emperor Trajan (ruled 98-117) in Rome the work Taktika , which explains the basics of warfare after a foreword and an introduction, then describes the troops in relation to the equipment used (infantry, cavalry) and in detail the organization the army as well as formations and the use of troops in battle. It concludes with explanations of troop movements and marches as well as orders.

The work is related in content and structure to the writings on the tactics of Asklepiodotus and Arrianos and, like these, is probably based on a lost book that Poseidonius wrote on ancient tactics, which in turn goes back to a likewise lost work by Polybius .

Since the Middle Ages, Aelianus has been confused with Claudius Aelianus , a sophist not until the late 2nd century AD.

Lore

  • Τακτικά (Tactica, Latin also: De instruendis aciebus)

The oldest version is preserved in Codex Laurentianus LV 4. There are two later interpolated versions that were translated into Latin and Arabic and form the basis of the German translations by Johann Jacobi von Wallhausen (1617) and Albrecht Heinrich Baumgärtner (Frankenthal and Mannheim 1779, Mannheim single edition 1768). An edition of the oldest version with translation was presented in 2017 by Erfurt ancient historian Kai Brodersen .

literature

  • Karl Konrad Müller : Aelianus 10 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, Col. 482-486.
  • Albert M. Devine: Aelian's Manual of Hellenistic Military Tactics. In: Ancient World. Volume 19, 1989, pp. 31-64.
  • Christopher Matthew: The Tactics of Aelian. Barnsley 2012; but see the rightly very critical review by Everett L. Wheeler: Aelianus Tacticus: A phalanx of problems. In: Journal of Roman Archeology. Volume 29, 2016, pp. 575-583.
  • Ailianos: Ancient Tactics / Tactics. Bilingual edition by Kai Brodersen. Marixverlag, Wiesbaden 2017, ISBN 978-3-7374-1071-7 , pp. 7–24 (introduction to the bilingual edition).

Web links

Wikisource: Aelianus Tacticus  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ AM Devine: Polybius' lost "Tactica": The ultimate source for the tactical manuals of Asclepiodotus, Aelian, and Arrian? In: Ancient History Bulletin. Volume 9, Number 1, 1995, pp. 40-44.
  2. ↑ Ailianos: Ancient Tactics / Tactics. Bilingual edition by Kai Brodersen. Marixverlag, Wiesbaden 2017, ISBN 978-3-7374-1071-7 . Compare the collective review by Sven Günther on H-Soz-Kult ( online ).
personal data
SURNAME Aelianus tacticus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ailiano's tactics; Älianus the tactician
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek military writer
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century
DATE OF DEATH 2nd century