Asclepiodotus

Asclepiodotus was a Greek philosopher and military writer of the first century BC. The Suda identifies him as a student of the Stoic philosopher Posidonius of Apamea, which would place him in the early-to-mid first century BC.

His surviving work, the Tactica (Tactics), is a concise treatise on Greek military formations and tactics. It describes the organisation of the phalanx, the arrangement of cavalry, light infantry, and war chariots, and the various formations and manoeuvres used in battle. The work is essentially a textbook — systematic, clear, and entirely impersonal. It draws heavily on earlier military writers, particularly Aelianus Tacticus (not to be confused with Claudius Aelian the naturalist), and may reflect the military theory taught in philosophical schools.

The Tactica is valuable less for originality than for preservation. It gives us a clear, organised account of Hellenistic military practice that might otherwise be scattered across dozens of fragmentary sources.