Western military scholarship has a long and distinguished history, beginning with the classical Greeks themselves. Originally fourth-century BC essays such as Xenophon’s Cavalry Commander or Aeneas Tacticus’ On the Defence of Fortified Positions were probably intended as pragmatic guides for commanders in the field. These works were not – as was often true of contemporary military writing in the non-Western tradition – integrated within larger religious or philosophical concerns. Nor were they subject to political censorship by the state. The popularity of such treatises apparently hinged on the degree to which they met real needs and were found useful by generals and military planners of the city-state.

By Hellenistic and Roman times formal contemplation about war-making became more academic and theoretical, both in the scientific realm (Heron and Philo on the construction of war-catapults) and on matters tactical (Posidonius and Asclepiodotus concerning the Macedonian phalanx) – in addition to becoming simply antiquarian, such as the collections of stratagems by Frontinus and Polyaenus. Most Roman handbooks are lost, but Vegetius’ Epitoma Rei Militaris, written sometime around AD 400, survives and provides some idea of the level of practical detail and standardization with which such manuals sought to provide Roman officials.