The two Vegetii

[Nathan Ross]

It might as plausibly be held... that his office had been that of count of the sacred stables.

Hi Michael - apologies for the delay in answering this.

Some interesting points, but I think the extra information would seem to count against the idea that Vegetius was comes sacri stabuli.

One thing we do know about V is that he was not a military man, or had no military experience anyway. Of the known C.S.S listed, however, Stilicho and Aetius were certainly soldiers, Valerianus died in battle at Adrianople and Hermianus was killed fighting the Visigoths. Cerealis is not specifically noted as a soldier, but seems to have taken a rather active role in the promotion of Valentinian II. I'm not sure that Ptolemaus was ever a comes - Claudian just called him miles stabuli - a soldier, again.

So it seems like the position was principally a military one, perhaps a sort of senior staff officer or quartermaster-general, rather than a civilian post having to do with horses!