Si vis pacem para bellum

“If you want peace, prepare war.” This is the translation from Latin of the saying “Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum”, which means “aiming for peace, preparing for war”. The phrase is taken from the III Book “Epitoma rei militaris” of Publio Flavio Vegezio Renato, a Latin writer who lived at the end of the IV century and the first half of the V century A.D. The four books of this treaty expose the Roman military culture. Substantially the author was trying to revive the greatness of the Roman army, lost in the latest times. Among the advice revealed, this one is mostly used to justify the existence of the military institutions and the escalation of weaponry.