626–27 To rede a thinge withoute intelligence, / As seith Cato the wise, is negligence. The Latin form of this proverb, Legere et non intelligere neglegare est, concludes the preface to the Distichs of Cato (ed. and trans. Chase, p. 12), a collection of sayings on wisdom and morality. Written in the third or fourth century by Dionysius Cato (not the more famous Cato the Elder, as often assumed), the Distichs of Cato was enormously popular throughout the Middle Ages and well into the eighteenth century.↩back to note source

633–34 As myghti herte . . . metris springe. This statement on knights appreciating poetry has many echoes in courtly poetry of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.↩back to note source

640 Crede. That is, the Apostles’ Creed, a brief statement of Christian faith that, by tradition, goes back to the Twelve Apostles of Jesus.↩back to note source

642–43 The reference is to the first line of Vergil’s Aeneid: arma virumque cano (I sing [of] arms and a man).↩back to note source

651–53 In too maner . . . up and doun. The two kinds of vessels, according to Vegetius, are liburnae and lusoriae, but which English equivalent terms the poet thinks are so well known that they need not be mentioned is unknown to us now. D&A suggest barge and balinger, which are possible but by no means certain (p. 123n652).↩back to note source

660–62 Confederat men . . . we in Fraunce. Both in Roman times and in the Middle Ages, it was a widespread practice to increase the size of the army by employing mercenaries, sometimes from quite foreign shores indeed. Here, the poet remarks on how this could mean Frenchmen fighting for the English and vice versa.↩back to note source

672 diagalange. This term typically means a type of medicine, made primarily from galangal and sugar, that produced warmth and was employed to treat a variety of symptoms, including general illnesses, epilepsy, dropsy, and other excesses of cold humors (Ed. Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, 1:288). The term is used figuratively here to mean superfluous detail (s. v. diagalange; see also MED diagalange). Writers were familiar with such medical terms, as they were found in a number of sources, especially in herbals and collections of medical recipes, that were commonly included in unrelated manuscripts.↩back to note source

673 not worth a pulled hen. Proverbial; see Whiting H347, and compare Chaucer, whose Monk so disregarded the Benedictine Rule that “He yaf nat of that text a pulled hen” (CT I[A]177).↩back to note source

716 chivalers . . . the flour. It is a late-medieval commonplace to refer to the best example of something as its “flower,” but referring to the finest knights as the flower of chivalry or knighthood became particularly popular during the Hundred Years War (see MED flour [n.1], senses 5a, 5c). See, e.g., Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale, in which Arcite is referred to as “of chivalrie flour” (CT I[A]3059).↩back to note source

718 VIIIXX and VI of wight horsmen. ‘Eight twenties and six’ (=166) cavalrymen differs from the expected count of 136 (the total for the entire legion being 730, as the poet confirms in line 749). As D&A rightly observe, manuscripts of Vegetius vacillate between 132 and 136, but none agree with the poet’s number here (p. 124n718).↩back to note source

749 VII C . . . and XXX. The best Latin copies of Vegetius, as used by Reeve in his critical edition, record 730 here, as the poet does. Milner’s translation, however, follows a different family of manuscripts that record 726.↩back to note source

782–88 The clarioner . . . it prevaile. Vegetius names three different kinds of horns — tuba, cornu, and buccina — along with three corresponding players for them, and the poet gamely tries to translate these Latin words into English, but it seems clear that he was unsure exactly what Vegetius intended. Modern scholars are in no better position. How these instruments ought to be defined is much disputed, including whether there were even three different instruments in the first place. Our glosses try to reflect this vague differentiation. On the general concept of using musical instruments for signaling in medieval battles, see Contamine, “La musique militaire.”↩back to note source

797–98 and so to IIII and V, / That hadde wage, uche aftir his estate. Vegetius lists single, double, and pay-and-a-half for various ranks of torquati; the poet’s furthering of the principle here may have more to do with rhyme schemes than reality.↩back to note source

the souldeours, uch othrys mate. The poet appears to collapse the final rank of the officer class, Vegetius’s munera, with the common soldiery.↩back to note source

803 principal prince of the legioun. Vegetius refers here to the primus princeps, typically meaning the most veteran of the centurions.↩back to note source

845 Not LX. The various figures given above suggest that this was supposed to be 50, not 60, and that LX is a scribal error followed also in C and R (leaf missing in A).↩back to note source

852 consulys. Whether for poetic reasons or out of ignorance, the poet fails to note that the legates sent by the emperor are ex-consuls, not current ones.↩back to note source

869 in payne or deth t’anende. It was becoming more common to have ordinances for English armies from the end of the fourteenth century onwards. These listed illicit behavior and the sorts of punishment that could be expected. In some cases, such as desertion, pillaging, and killing fellow soldiers, men could be executed. See Curry, “Military Ordinances.”↩back to note source

927 by rowe. That is, the ensigns for each century had markings to indicate both the cohort and the placement of the men within it.↩back to note source

930–31 in their salet / That had a creste of fetherys or lik flourys. The poet is here using sallet to mean a general type of helmet, not the specific variety that we might use the word for, in order to fit the meter.↩back to note source

946 spende his wepon wel withoute waste. Where Vegetius observes that a good centurion is properly trained in a set of martial drills, the poet translates this theoretical art into its practical effects: a warrior relying on trained skills is more efficient in his actions.↩back to note source

977–78 The poet omits Vegetius’s chapters 15–25, a large portion of Book 2. D&A suggest that this may be due to “an accidental gap” in the surviving manuscript record, though the initial line of Book 3 “would rather seem to point to intentional condensation” (p. 129n977). The omitted chapters provide details on the ancient legion: its battle-order (chapters 15–18) and administration (chapters 19–25). The poet may well have regarded this material, which was not in full use even in the time of Vegetius, as having particularly little contemporary value.↩back to note source