Consideraciones sobre el autor del De Rebus Bellicis y su valoración en la historiografía contemporánea

the de rebus bellicis is a small text of petition addressed by an unknown author to a late antique emperor. it contains a list of proposals for economic, political and military reforms with the purpose of improving the roman empire's de fensive capacity in front of the barbarian invaders. contemporary historiography has valued these reform projects variously and in some cases even expressed opposing views. equally different are the interpretations made of the author on ground of the text. the present article, after briefly reviewing the text and structure of the treatise, compares it with other written material of its time with the purpose of placing it in context. this analysis proves the de rebus bellicis to be a typical product of its own time. finally, a new interpretation of two doubtful fragments shows that modern evaluations of the text and its author have not always been solidly founded.