Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus

Vegetius wrote in the Later Roman Empire's closing decades, identifying himself as a Christian in the opening of his Epitoma rei militaris. That text—a distillation of Roman military practice—survived him by centuries, becoming required reading for medieval commanders who'd never seen a legion. His other work, Digesta Artis Mulomedicinae, compiled veterinary medicine for horse care. Of his life, his station, where he lived or whom he served, the texts reveal nothing. He exists only as the voice behind two manuals, one on war and one on horses, written as Rome itself was coming apart.