Onasander or Onosander ( grc-gre, Ὀνήσανδρος ''Onesandros'' or Ὀνόσανδρος ''Onosandros''; fl. 1st century AD) was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
philosopher. He was the author of a commentary on the ''
Republic'' of
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
, which is lost, but we still possess his ''Strategikos'' (Στρατηγικός), a short but comprehensive work on the duties of a
general
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
. It is dedicated to
Quintus Veranius
Quintus Veranius (died AD 57) was a distinguished Roman general around the mid-first century CE. He was ''III vir monetalis'', tribune of Legio IV ''Scythica'' and quaestor under Tiberius. He was appointed tribune of the plebs in 41 and praetor i ...
, consul in AD 49, and legate of Britain. It was the chief authority for the military writings of the emperors
Maurice Maurice may refer to:
People
* Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr
* Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor
*Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...
and
Leo VI, and
Maurice of Saxony
Maurice (21 March 1521 – 9 July 1553) was Duke (1541–47) and later Elector (1547–53) of Saxony. His clever manipulation of alliances and disputes gained the Albertine branch of the Wettin dynasty extensive lands and the electoral dignity.
...
, who consulted it in a French translation and expressed a high opinion of it.
Onasander's ''Strategikos'' is one of the most important treatises on ancient military matters and provides information not commonly available in other ancient works on Greek military tactics, especially concerning the use of the light infantry in battle.
References
Further reading
Greek Text and Translations
*''Aeneas Tacticus, Asclepiodotus, and Onasander''. Translated by Illinois Greek Club. Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge MA, 1923
*
Kai Brodersen
Kai Brodersen (born 6 June 1958) is a contemporary ancient historian and classicist on the faculty of the University of Erfurt. He has edited, and translated, both ancient works and modern classical studies. His research focuses on "Applied Scie ...
: ''Onasandros: Gute Führung / Strategikos.'' (Greek and German). Marix, Wiesbaden 2018 .
* Corrado Petrocelli, ''Onasandro, Il generale: Manuale per l’esercizio del comando'' (Greek and Italian). Dedalo, Bari, 2008
Studies
*
Alphonse Dain, ''Les manuscrits d’Onésandros'' (Paris 1930)
* Marco Formisano, "The Strategikós of Onasander: Taking Military Texts Seriously", ''Technai'' 2 (2011) 39–52
* Philip Ranc
"The Ideal of the Roman General in Byzantium: the Reception of Onasander's ''Strategikos'' in Byzantine Military Literature" in: S. Tougher and R. Evans (eds.), ''Generalship in Ancient Greece, Rome and Byzantium'' (Edinburgh 2022) 242-263
*
Christopher J. Smith, "Onasander on How to Be a General", in: M. Austin, J.D. Harries and C.J. Smith (eds), ''Modus Operandi: Essays in Honour of
Geoffrey Rickman'' (London 1998) 151–166
External links
Onasander(complete text of the English translation, from the Loeb edition)
Ancient Greek military writers
Commentators on Plato
Middle Platonists
Roman-era philosophers
1st-century philosophers
1st-century Greek people
{{AncientGreece-philosopher-stub