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42-611: According to the Suda , he was a Platonic philosopher who, in addition to his surviving military work, Strategikos , or The General, also composed a commentary upon Plato's Republic . The only details known about Onasander's life are from his own work, the Quintus Veranius to whom he dedicated the Strategikos to was the consul of A.D. 49, who died while in command in Britain ten years later, so

84-550: A consolatio on the death of Valerio Marcello, the young son of Jacopo Antonio Marcello . Sagundino made Latin translations of the ancient Greek writers Arrian , Demosthenes , Onesander and Plutarch . He also wrote treatises on philosophy, theology and rhetoric. He dedicated a work on the doctrine of the Trinity , De deo, de unitate essentiae eius et de trinitate personarum , to Febo Capella , and another on philosophy, De origine et sectis philosophorum , to Fantino Coppo ,

126-450: A Venetian citizen employed in the government secretariat. Their three sons, Marco , Paolo and Pietro, also entered service in the Venetian government; Marco's son, Niccolò Aurelio , eventually rose to the supreme non- patrician office, that of grand chancellor . Sagundino received a classical education . He was at Thessaloniki, possibly already in the employ of the Venetian state, when

168-483: A lexicon by " Eudemus ," perhaps derived from the work On Rhetorical Language by Eudemus of Argos. The lexicon copiously draws from scholia to the classics ( Homer , Aristophanes , Thucydides , Sophocles , etc.), and for later writers, Polybius , Josephus , the Chronicon Paschale , George Syncellus , George Hamartolus , and so on. The Suda quotes or paraphrases these sources at length. Since many of

210-426: A long and valuable passage, and he lays uncommon stress upon ethical and religious considerations... there is nothing very philosophic nor technically military in the treatise, which is intended to give merely the broad principles of generalship (στρατηγικαὶ ὑφηγήσεις, prooem. 3), and lays no claim to originality. According to Oldfather: Traces of Platonic philosophy have been sought in the [Strategikos], especially in

252-525: A secretary to the Doge of Venice . In this capacity he returned to Naples in late 1455 to convey letters from the Venetian government to Alfonso, and stayed there until August 1456, making contact with the numerous humanist scholars resident in the city. In summer 1456, as the plague raged in Venice, he sent his wife and children back to Chalkis. In spring 1457 Sagundino was again sent on diplomatic missions on behalf of

294-408: A specific person. The work deals with biblical as well as pagan subjects, from which it is inferred that the writer was a Christian . In any case, it lacks definite guidelines besides some minor interest in religious matters. The standard printed edition was compiled by Danish classical scholar Ada Adler in the first half of the twentieth century. A modern collaborative English translation,

336-663: A surviving notice of his death bearing a date of either 22 or 24 March. His son Giovanni having died in the shipwreck of 1460, his heir was his son Alvise (Ludovico) and grandson Niccolò. Most of Sagundino's writings are in Latin. Few have been published. He left behind 66 letters to his family and other Italian humanists, one of them describing the shipwreck to Cardinal Bessarion , a fellow Greek Catholic. Among his notable correspondents were Ulisse degli Aleotti , Bishop Ermolao Barbaro , Antonio Beccadelli Panormita , Andrea Contrario , George of Trebizond and Zaccaria Trevisan . He wrote

378-809: Is an encyclopedic lexicon , written in Greek , with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often derived from medieval Christian compilers. The exact spelling of the title is disputed. The transmitted title ( paradosis ) is "Suida", which is also attested in Eustathius ' commentary on Homer 's epic poems; several conjectures has been made, both defending it and trying to correct it in "Suda". Other suggestions include Jan Sajdak's theory that σοῦδα / σουίδα may derive from sanskrit suvidyā (which he translated into Latin: perfecta cumulataque scientia , "collected and systemized knowledge"); Giuseppe Scarpat's link to an unidentified Judas,

420-401: Is cattle, but cattle with a golden fleece] The Suda is somewhere between a grammatical dictionary and an encyclopedia in the modern sense. It explains the source, derivation, and meaning of words according to the philology of its period, using such earlier authorities as Harpocration and Helladios . It is a rich source of ancient and Byzantine history and life, although not every article

462-552: Is no real parallel in Plato, whereas an almost exact counterpart exists in Aristotle.... such definitions, however, were the stock in trade of philosophers, and do not presuppose a specific source unless there is some marked similarity in expression. On the contrary, one would rather be inclined to wonder that, in an ethical study of warfare like the present, a commentator upon Plato's Republic should have failed to show at any point some trace of

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504-493: Is of equal quality, and it is an "uncritical" compilation. Much of the work is probably interpolated, and passages that refer to Michael Psellos (c. 1017–1078) are deemed interpolations which were added in later copies. This lexicon contains numerous biographical notices on political, ecclesiastical, and literary figures of the Byzantine Empire to the tenth century, those biographical entries being condensations from

546-469: The Ottomans captured the city in 1430 . He was wounded in the assault and taken prisoner with his family, remaining in captivity for 13 months. After his release, he returned to Chalkis, where from 1434 until 1437 he served Venice as advocatus curiae . Possibly already in 1437 he left Greece for Italy, staying either in Venice or Rome; in 1438, because of his fluency in both Greek and Latin, Sagundino

588-729: The Suda On Line, was completed on 21 July 2014. The Suda has a near-contemporaneous Islamic parallel, the Kitab al-Fehrest of Ibn al-Nadim . Compare also the Latin Speculum Maius , authored in the 13th century by Vincent of Beauvais . Niccol%C3%B2 Sagundino Niccolò Sagundino (1402 – March 1464) was a Greek -born Venetian secretary, diplomat and humanist . He wrote numerous letters, as well as religious and philosophical treatises, mostly in Latin . Originally from Euboea , he

630-732: The Venetian Senate , but then immediately sent to Rome on the express wish of Pope Nicholas V to inform him on Ottoman intentions, and from there to Alfonso V of Aragon , the King of Naples , for the same purpose. In January 1454 Sagundino, while still in Naples, wrote a report on his observations of the Ottomans ( Oratio Nicolai Sagundini édita in Urbe Neapoli ad Serenissimum principem et novissimum regem Alfonsum ). At some point thereafter, Sagundino became

672-564: The terminus ante quem for the composition of the treatise is 59. The only other references to Onasander from antiquity are in Johannes Lydus , who names an Ὀνήσανδρος among Greek military writers, and in the Tactica of the so‑called Leo . Onasander's Strategikos is one of the most important treatises on ancient military matters and provides information not commonly available in other ancient works on Greek military tactics, especially concerning

714-503: The Republic's friendship and goodwill. Sagundino was to sail first to the Venetian outpost of Modon ( Methoni ) and then, on board a war galley to Ainos ( Enez ) and thence over land to Constantinople. Few details are known about his mission. Based on a letter by Sagundino from 1462, where he reports having crossed most of Anatolia , the Venetian envoy likely journeyed east to meet the Sultan, who

756-738: The Venetian Senate came to his aid, voting him with overwhelming majority a gift of 600 ducats, his reappointment as secretary to the doge with a salary of 200 ducats, and the assurance that Alvise would be employed by the Venetian state. Following the Ottoman conquest of the Morea and the rapidly progressing conquest of Serbia during the previous years, in March 1461 the Venetian government again resolved to send Sagundino, as an expert of Ottoman affairs, as envoy to Mehmed II to spy out his intentions and assure him of

798-595: The Venetian government, first to Siena , and then to the Pope in Rome and the King of Naples, where he remained for several months, reporting on Alfonso's Italian policies and military preparations, before returning to Venice in early 1458. An envisaged extension of his mission to the King of Navarre did not come to pass. In June 1458 Sagundino undertook yet another mission to Rome, conveying Venice's reasons for its reluctance to participate in

840-660: The admonition that friends should fight beside friends (Ch. 24), and in the distinction made between φθόνος and ζῆλος (Ch. 42.25). But the essence of the first idea is as old as Nestor 's advice in the Iliad (Β 362 f.); it was practised among the Eleans , Italic Greeks, Cretans , and Boeotians , being characteristic of the Sacred Band of Thebes , and something similar may not have been unknown at one time in Sparta, hence it can hardly have escaped

882-408: The attention of military writers. The same topic is treated also in extant literature from before the time of Onasander by Xenophon in his Symposium, VIII.32, 34, 35, so that, although Onasander can hardly have been ignorant of the famous passage in Plato (Symposium, 178E ff.), it is hardly necessary to assume that this was its immediate source. As for the discrimination between φθόνος and ζῆλος there

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924-521: The common body of military science. Towards the end of the next century the first edition of the Greek text, by Rigaltius , appeared. Suda The Suda or Souda ( / ˈ s uː d ə / ; Medieval Greek : Σοῦδα , romanized :  Soûda ; Latin : Suidae Lexicon ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world , formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas (Σουίδας). It

966-459: The end of Eugene's pontificate is not documented, but he is still attested as an apostolic secretary under Pope Nicholas V in December 1452, which means he likely served in the same post throughout the period in question. At the same time, however, he is also attested since 1440 for a ten-year-tenure as chancellor ( cancelliere ) to the bailo of Negroponte , the Venetian governor of Chalkis; and he

1008-410: The enemy, and his fellow-citizens; the morale of the troops, the effect of particular policies and tactics upon morale, and the like; together with much sound advice about elementary matters.... In two respects Onasander differs markedly from other Greek and Roman military writers. He regards everything from the point of view primarily of the commanding officer, to the question of selecting whom he devotes

1050-424: The entry under " Adam " which is appended with a brief chronology of the world. At any rate, the work must have appeared by the 12th century, since it is frequently quoted from and alluded to by Eustathius who lived from about 1115 AD to about 1195 or 1196. It has also been stated that the work was a collective work , thus not having had a single author, and that the name which it is known under does not refer to

1092-462: The history of Greek, distinct diphthongs or vowels) according to a system (formerly common in many languages) called antistoichia ( ἀντιστοιχία ); namely the letters follow phonetically in order of sound according the pronunciation of the tenth century, which was similar to that of Modern Greek. The order is: α, β, γ, δ, αι, ε, ζ, ει, η, ι, θ, κ, λ, μ, ν, ξ, ο, ω, π, ρ, σ, τ, οι, υ, φ, χ, ψ In addition, double letters are treated as single for

1134-548: The latter in a large measure paraphrases Onasander. In the Renaissance he enjoyed a remarkable popularity. Translations, beginning with the Latin translation by Niccolò Sagundino in 1493, appeared in rapid succession in Spanish, German, French, Italian, and English, and such a demand, for these were no mere philological exercises, shows that many a practical soldier took to heart his counsel, and that much of it has passed thereby into

1176-516: The libertine morals prevailing in some Venetian monasteries, but chiefly to sound out the Pope's plans for a new crusade and the role of the King of Hungary , Matthias Corvinus , in them. No reports about Sagundino's life survive between the end of his mission to the Papal court in August 1462 and his death at Venice in March 1464, the exact day being uncertain. It is variously reported as 22 or 23 March, with

1218-478: The not infrequent references to war and its basic cause, the character of the good soldier, the need of constant military exercise, the style of life of the soldier, the professional aspect of successful military preparation, mathematics as a necessary element in an officer's education, proposals looking toward the elimination of certain of the more cruel aspects of warfare, at least between civilized states, and similar topics discussed in that great work. Such silence on

1260-453: The originals are lost, the Suda serves as an invaluable repository of literary history, and this preservation of the "literary history" is more vital than the lexicographical compilation itself, by some estimation. The lexicon is arranged alphabetically with some slight deviations from common vowel order and place in the Greek alphabet (including at each case the homophonous digraphs , e.g. αι, ει, οι , that had been previously, earlier in

1302-534: The part of Onasander, although not sufficient, perhaps, to cast doubt on the identity of our author with the writer mentioned by [the Suda], would more naturally suggest that in The General we have a study anterior to a period of preoccupation with Plato. According to Oldfather, the influence of Onasander in antiquity was considerable. Most subsequent military writers are indebted to him, notably Maurice and Leo VI , of whom

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1344-548: The planned anti-Ottoman crusade of Pope Callixtus III . While still at Rome, in September 1458 Sagundino was appointed chancellor to the Duke of Crete . Sagundino returned to Venice before sailing for Crete; no reports survive on his activity for the year 1459, which he may have spent either in Venice or in Crete. In July 1460, Sagundino decided to bring his family to Crete, but the journey

1386-443: The purposes of collation (as gemination had ceased to be distinctive). The system is not difficult to learn and remember, but some editors—for example, Immanuel Bekker – rearranged the Suda alphabetically. Little is known about the compiler of the Suda . He probably lived in the second half of the 10th century, because the death of emperor John I Tzimiskes and his succession by Basil II and Constantine VIII are mentioned in

1428-454: The supposed author of the Lexicon; and Hans Gerstinger's explanation which points at Russian sudá "here", as the answer to the question "τί ποῦ κεῖται;" "what is it and where is it?". The most recent explanation as of 2024 has been advanced by Claudia Nuovo , who defended Σοῦδα on palaeographical, philological and historical grounds . pecus est Suidas, sed pecus aurei velleris [Suidas

1470-399: The use of the light infantry in battle. According to Oldfather, the burden of the treatise is really ethics, morale, and the general principles of success in arms.... The treatise consists of forty-two chapters upon various aspects of a commander's duties, notably ethical considerations regarding the character, social status, bearing, behaviour, and attitude of a general towards his troops,

1512-525: The works of Hesychius of Miletus , as the author himself avers. Other sources were the encyclopedia of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (reigned 912–959) for the figures in ancient history, excerpts of John of Antioch (seventh century) for Roman history , the chronicle of Hamartolus ( Georgios Monachos , 9th century) for the Byzantine age , the biographies of Diogenes Laërtius , and the works of Athenaeus and Philostratus . Other principal sources include

1554-652: Was at the time campaigning to conquer the Empire of Trebizond . When he met the Sultan, likely in June or July 1461, Sagundino protested the seizure of some border lands in the Morea, but the Ottoman ruler rebuffed this, saying that the territories in question were originally part of the Despotate of the Morea , and thus rightfully his. In March 1462, Sagundino was sent to the court of Pope Pius II in Rome and Viterbo , ostensibly to report on

1596-485: Was born in 1402 to a Greek family in Chalkis , the capital of the Venetian kingdom of Negroponte . His father's name was Manuel. His mother's name is unknown. His family was originally from Constantinople , where they are attested since the 13th century. It had two branches, one at Chalkis and another at Thessaloniki . They were citizens of Venice. His sister or aunt, known only as "R. Sagundino", married Niccolò Aurelio,

1638-609: Was confirmed in office for another decade in 1450. Sagundino was certainly in Chalkis in 1453, where he received the news of the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans. From Chalkis he was sent to accompany the Venetian ambassador, Bartolomeo Marcello , who was sent to Constantinople for negotiations with Sultan Mehmet II . His stay in Constantinople was apparently brief, and he returned to Venice in autumn, bearing letters from Marcello to

1680-400: Was cut short by a shipwreck that took the lives of his pregnant wife, two sons (including his favourite, Giovanni) and a daughter and destroyed his books and many other possessions. Sagundino himself and five daughters and his son Alvise barely survived by clinging to the side of the vessel that remained afloat. Left destitute and with five unmarried daughters to support and provide dowries for,

1722-555: Was in Venetian service when he was wounded and captured by the Ottomans at the fall of Thessaloniki in 1430. He favoured the union between the Catholic and Orthodox churches and worked for the Papacy . He undertook several Venetian missions to the Ottoman court and to Greek lands, on one of which he suffered a shipwreck that killed several of his immediate family. He died in Venice . Sagundino

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1764-576: Was sent to the Council of Ferrara as an official translator. He remained through 1439, impressing the assembled clergy by his grasp of theology. He favoured the cause of church union . At the conclusion of the council, the Venetian-born Pope Eugene IV employed Sagundino as an apostolic secretary and from 1441 on as an envoy ( nuncio ) on missions in Italy and Greece. His activity from 1441 to

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