01-06-2008, 01:34 AM
I was going to end off on this whole discussion, when I realised that my earlier remark
is in Nikephoros Ouranos' Taktika, not in Phokas' Praecepta. In my earlier post, I got it the wrong way around. And as the Taktika is largely copied from the Praecepta, it makes a considerable difference.
Perhaps it *was* a scribal error, in what appears to be an addition by Ouranos aimed at boosting the morale of the kataphraktoi faced with attacking the enemy's infantry lines. Maybe a little carelessness by a scribe or underling not all that familiar with the overall picture?
Quote:the menavlia of their javeliners
is in Nikephoros Ouranos' Taktika, not in Phokas' Praecepta. In my earlier post, I got it the wrong way around. And as the Taktika is largely copied from the Praecepta, it makes a considerable difference.
Perhaps it *was* a scribal error, in what appears to be an addition by Ouranos aimed at boosting the morale of the kataphraktoi faced with attacking the enemy's infantry lines. Maybe a little carelessness by a scribe or underling not all that familiar with the overall picture?
"It is safer and more advantageous to overcome the enemy by planning and generalship than by sheer force"
The Strategikon of Emperor Maurice
Steven Lowe
Australia
The Strategikon of Emperor Maurice
Steven Lowe
Australia
