Note 312 — THE AUXILIA DURING THE FIRST TWO CENTURIES A.D. (continued 2)

He was not, however, an ‘unmilitary historian’ in the sense that, for instance, Ephoros was. Ephoros made elaborate accounts of military operations an important feature of his work, although he was quite lacking in military knowledge (Polybius, xii. 25); Tacitus never pretends to concern himself with more than the moral and social aspects of war. The same attitude may be observed both in Dio and Herodian (ii. 15, 6). This attitude was perfectly justifiable, since there existed, as we learn from this passage in Herodian and from Lucian (De Hist. Conscrib.), a technical literature which would probably satisfy our needs. That we do not possess it is the fault, not of Tacitus and Dio, but of the Middle Ages.