PATRIZI, Francesco.

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La militia romana di Polibio, di Tito Livio, e di Dionigi Alicarnaseo. First edition of this Renaissance study of ancient Roman warfare, with detailed engraved illustrations. Writing one generation after Machiavelli and influenced by him, Patrizi advocates for the adoption of the "marvellous" Roman tactics in modern warfare as the sole effective strategy against the Ottoman Turks. Patrizi (1529-1597) was a Neoplatonic philosopher and scientist from the Republic of Venice, known as a leading opponent of Aristotelianism. This is one of several works he wrote on ancient military theory. "The dedicatory epistle to Alfonso II [duke of Ferrara] outlines an ambitious intellectual and practical program: to reform military art based on rigorous principles and axioms drawn from the ancients (Polybius, Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus), with the conviction that firearms have not rendered these teachings obsolete. Another source of inspiration, though not explicitly mentioned out of caution, is Machiavelli, making the treatise a covert vehicle for the dissemination of Machiavellianism in the Tridentine period" (trans. from Ricci, p. 66). The treatise comprises 15 chapters describing the organization and internal hierarchy of the Roman army, the setting and dismantling of the military camp, the soldiers' equipment (weapons and armour), and their pay. The engravings depict legionaries in full attire, the layout of military camps, and various attack formations of both infantry and cavalry.

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