() was most probably a Greek, but not
the same as Claudius Aelianus. He lived in Rome.
Works
On Military Tactics (Περὶ Στρατηγικῶν
Τάξεων Ἑλληνικῶν)
Aelian wrote a work in fifty-three chapters on the Military Tactics of the Greeks
(Περὶ Στρατηγικῶν Τάξεων Ἑλληνικῶν, which he
dedicated to the emperor Hadrian. He also gives a brief account of the constitution of a
Roman army at that time. The work arose, he says (Dedic.), from a
conversation he had with the emperor Nerva at Frontinus's house at Formiae.
Other works
Aelian promises a work on Naval Tactics also; but this, if it was
written, is lost.
Editions
The first edition of the Tactics (a very bad one) was published in 1532; the
next, much better, was by Franciscus Robortellus, Venice, 1552, 4to., which
contains a new Latin version by the editor, and is illustrated with many cuts. The best
edition is that printed by Elzevir at Leyden, 1613. It is usually found bound up with
Leo's Tactica [LEO].
Translations
It was translated into Latin first by Theodorus of Thessalonica. This translation was
published at Rome, 1487, together with Vegetius, Frontinus, and Modestus. It is printed also
in Robortellus's edition, which therefore contains two Latin versions.It has been translated into English by Capt. John Bingham, Lond. 1616, fol., and by
Lord Dillon, 1814, 4to.