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06-13-2002, 11:03 PM

I've heard alot about the Western empire's army, yet what about the byzantine's army and tactics. Can someone enlighten me or point me in the right direction?

Caius Fabius · 06-14-2002, 02:40 AM

What time period are you studying? 
 
Several well written books are available about various time periods. There are some primary sources as well as other work. "Just before class started, I looked in the big book where all the world's history is written, and it said...." Neil J. Hackett, PhD ancient history, professor OSU, 1987

06-14-2002, 07:37 AM

Salve, 
 
These titles on the Byzantine military are in print and readily available in stores. Treadgold deals largely with issues of pay and numbers and has only limited information on the rest. Haldon's book gives a more general and balanced overview. 
 
Haldon, J., Warfare, state and society in the Byzantine world 565-1204 (London 1999) 389p. 
Haldon, J., The Byzantine wars (Stroud 2001) 160p. 
Treadgold, W., Byzantium and its army 284-1081 (Stanford 1995) 249p. 
 
There are a number of military manuals surviving from the Byzantine era. Recently reprinted was: 
 
Dennis, G.T., Maurice's Strategikon. Handbook of Byzantine military strategy (Philadelphia 1984) 178p. 
 
Among the Osprey titles there are several relevant books, thought they vary in quality. In my opinion the ones by MacDowall are above the average in the format, while the one in the MAA series by Nicolle was not up to scratch. 
 
MacDowall, S., Late Roman Infantryman Warrior 9 (London 1994) 64p. 
MacDowall, S., Late Roman Cavalryman Warrior 15 (London 1995) 64p. 
Nicolle, D., Romano-Byzantine Armies 4th-9th centuries Men-At-Arms 247 (London 1992) 48p. 
 
For more extensive lists on the subject, use Hugh Elton's site with bibliographies. 
 
Warfare in the Byzantine World 
Military history of the Byzantine empire 
Byzantine fortifications 
 
Regards, 
 
Sander van Dorst

06-15-2002, 12:42 PM

For a comprehensive view of the byzantines, "History of the Byzantine Sate", by George Ostrogorski still remains a must. 
It dates back from the fifties but according to our favorite on-line bookstores, it's been updated recently. 
Also: it is a little bit dry. Take a lot of liquids with you..

Goffredo · 06-15-2002, 04:57 PM

I wish there were less-specialistic books on the 
evolution of the roman army in the very late empire and then the eastern half called Byzantium. I find it difficult to didicate time and money to specialistic and frequently fragmentary works, always expensive. In particular there are many things that a larger public should be able to re-evaluate; past biases are still strong. 
 
I remember reading the East Romans kept the Huns from Constantinople after a very bloody battle, more a stalemate than a roman disaster, with the eastern roman general killed. There was even an unfavorable diplomatic solution (roman territory to huns in pannonia) but the Huns were essentially checked militarily. They tuned back not simply because Constantinople had good walls or were bought off by the Byzantines but because they had suffered losses and they could not do what they pleased, even if only momentarily. I wish I knew more about what happened but as usual our history is western biased. We all read and talk about Aetius. His army was a big gathering of "roman" and foederati. What was the composition of the Eastern army at the time of the confrontation with the huns? The eastern attitude towards germanic "allies" was, from what I gather, significantly different so the question is, in my eyes, a very interesting one. The East survived, the West fell. We live in the West and lost contact with the East a long time ago. I understand the origin of the bias. But the East survived not only by buying off the enemy but also by fighting it with energy and ability. I am interested in reading modern ideas and am tired of the usual crap about decadent "Byzantinisms".

Caius Fabius · 06-16-2002, 12:11 AM

well, I won't mention The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (part 2) by Greatrex and Lieu... unless you want tranlations of first person sources from this period on this topic.... ISBN 0-415-14687-9 Routledge, London, 2002 
 
My latest light reading on early Byzantium and Later Roman military topics.... ahhh, I need more book shelves! "Just before class started, I looked in the big book where all the world's history is written, and it said...." Neil J. Hackett, PhD ancient history, professor OSU, 1987

06-22-2002, 01:00 AM

Here are two recent books I've read that might be of help: 
Byzantium 3 volumes by John Julius Norwich 
Ancient and Mideval Warfare Thomas Griess Editor(this is part of the West Point Military series) 
Also there is the GMT game Cataphract which is a tactical game of several key battles of Byzantium, mostly by the famous Byzantine general Belisarius. 
Hope this helps! 
 
Tim

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