Byzantine Infantryman
Byzantine Infantryman

Author: Timothy Dawson

Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Published: 2007-06-19

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781846031052

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Osprey's survey of Byzantine infantrymen during the Middle Ages. Having been trained to operate in small, highly mobile eight-man units adept at living off the land whilst on campaign, the Byzantine infantryman was a formidable foe. Built on a strong belief system that emphasized stealth, surprise, swift maneuvering, and overwhelming force, the Byzantine infantryman was trained in survival, sword, spear and archery techniques, as well as land and sea combat and fighting within the foulkon "turtle" formation. This book, written by Timothy Dawson, an expert in the training and techniques of the Byzantine Army, details the everyday experience of the infantryman from his recruitment, through his twice-a-day training regime, to his encounters with his enemies.

Byzantine Cavalryman C.900–1204
Byzantine Cavalryman C.900–1204

Author: Timothy Dawson

Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Published: 2009-08-18

Total Pages: 68

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Osprey's study of the Byzantine cavalrymen, who were regarded as the elite arm of the military during the Middle Byzantine period (867-1204). The cavalry executed high speed reconnaissance, agile arrow barrages and crippling blows to enemy formations. Its ranks were filled primarily through direct recruitment or hereditary service by holders of military lands, but in times of crisis irregulars would be temporarily enlisted. Few books provide any accessible study of the medieval Romaic soldier's life, and this colorful addition to the Warrior series seeks to redress this imbalance. Offering a thorough and detailed examination of their training, weaponry, dress and daily life, this book re-affirms the importance of cavalry troops in military victories of the period. Making use of original Greek source material, and featuring unpublished manuscript images, this follow-on volume to Warrior 118 Byzantine Infantryman c.900-1204 brings the world of the Byzantine cavalryman vividly to life.

Byzantine Imperial Guardsmen 925–1025
Byzantine Imperial Guardsmen 925–1025

Author: Raffaele D’Amato

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2012-08-20

Total Pages: 66

ISBN-13: 1849088519

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The hundred-year period ending in 1025, from the reign of the Emperor Constantine VII to that of Basil II 'the Bulgar-Slayer', encompassed the last great era of Byzantine aggression and dominance in the Near East and Balkans. During that time, a succession of soldier-emperors hallenged and defeated an array of opponents on land and at sea and reconquered vast swathes of territory. At the heart of the Emperors' forces were the professional, highly mobile Tagmata or Imperial Guard regiments, originally formed to guard the Emperor1s person in the capital but invariably deployed as elite combat troops. Joining these heavy cavalry units, were a variety of exotic mercenary units recruited from foreigners, notably the legendary Varangians. Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork, this lively study sheds new light on the colourful regiments of the Byzantine Imperial Guard, the formidable warriors who provided the Byzantine emperors with an insurance policy in the capital, and the elite of their field armies when on campaign.

Byzantine Armies 886–1118
Byzantine Armies 886–1118

Author: Ian Heath

Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Published: 1979-07-05

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Byzantines had a remarkably sophisticated approach to politics and military strategy. Unlike most of their contemporaries, they learnt very early in their history that winning a battle did not necessarily win a war, and they frequently bought off their enemies with treaties and bribes rather than squander men and matériel in potentially fruitless campaigns. The Byzantine army of the 10th and early 11th centuries, at the height of its power and efficiency, was the best-organised, best-trained, best-equipped and highest-paid in the known world. This splendid book by Ian Heath examines the Byzantine Armies from 886-1118, including the lusty, hard-fighting, hard-drinking 'barbarian' Varangian guard.

Byzantine Cavalryman vs Vandal Warrior
Byzantine Cavalryman vs Vandal Warrior

Author: Murray Dahm

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-05-25

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13: 1472853695

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Fully illustrated, this enthralling study explores how the Vandals in North Africa attempted to defend their kingdom against the resurgent Byzantine Empire during 533–36. In AD 533, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I launched the first of his campaigns to reconquer the Western Roman Empire. This effort began in North Africa (modern Algeria and Tunisia), targeting the Vandal kingdom established there a century earlier, which also included Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearic Islands. Featuring full-colour artwork and mapping alongside carefully chosen archive illustrations, this book shows how the Byzantine general Belisarius established his formidable reputation in the lightning-fast campaign that ensued, exploring the origins, tactics and reputation of the two sides' forces as they fought for control of North Africa. The landing of Belisarius' forces took the Vandal king, Gelimer, completely by surprise; in September 533 the two sides met in battle near Carthage in an encounter known to posterity as Ad Decimum, with Gelimer ambitiously attempting to trap Belisarius' forces as they advanced. In December, the two sides fought again in a momentous clash at Tricamarum, where the fate of Gelimer's regime would be determined. A third battle ensued in 536, when the rebel Stotzas' Byzantine and Vandal troops confronted Belisarius' forces, the outcome sealing the Byzantine general's standing as the foremost soldier of his age. Featuring specially commissioned artwork and mapping alongside archive illustrations and photographs, this vivid account compares and assesses the two sides' fighting men as they vied for supremacy in North Africa.

Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081
Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081

Author: Warren T. Treadgold

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9780804731638

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this first general book on the Byzantine army, the author traces the army's impact on the Byzantine state and society from the army's reorganization under Diocletian until its disintegration in the aftermath of the battle of Manzikert.

The Late Byzantine Army
The Late Byzantine Army

Author: Mark C. Bartusis

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2015-12-22

Total Pages: 480

ISBN-13: 1512821314

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The late Byzantine period was a time characterized by both civil strife and foreign invasion, framed by two cataclysmic events: the fall of Constantinople to the western Europeans in 1204 and again to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Mark C. Bartusis here opens an extraordinary window on the Byzantine Empire during its last centuries by providing the first comprehensive treatment of the dying empire's military. Although the Byzantine army was highly visible, it was increasingly ineffective in preventing the incursion of western European crusaders into the Aegean, the advance of the Ottoman Turks into Europe, and the slow decline and eventual fall of the thousand-year Byzantine Empire. Using all the available Greek, western European, Slavic, and Turkish sources, Bartusis describes the evolution of the army both as an institution and as an instrument of imperial policy. He considers the army's size, organization, administration, and the varieties of soldiers, and he examines Byzantine feudalism and the army's impact on society and the economy. In its extensive use of soldier companies composed of foreign mercenaries, the Byzantine army had many parallels with those of western Europe; in the final analysis, Bartusis contends, the death of Byzantium was attributable more to a shrinking fiscal base than to any lack of creative military thinking on the part of its leaders.

The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire
The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire

Author: Edward Luttwak

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-11

Total Pages: 513

ISBN-13: 0674035194

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this book, the distinguished writer Edward N. Luttwak presents the grand strategy of the eastern Roman empire we know as Byzantine, which lasted more than twice as long as the more familiar western Roman empire, eight hundred years by the shortest definition. This extraordinary endurance is all the more remarkable because the Byzantine empire was favored neither by geography nor by military preponderance. Yet it was the western empire that dissolved during the fifth century. The Byzantine empire so greatly outlasted its western counterpart because its rulers were able to adapt strategically to diminished circumstances, by devising new ways of coping with successive enemies. It relied less on military strength and more on persuasion—to recruit allies, dissuade threatening neighbors, and manipulate potential enemies into attacking one another instead. Even when the Byzantines fought—which they often did with great skill—they were less inclined to destroy their enemies than to contain them, for they were aware that today’s enemies could be tomorrow’s allies. Born in the fifth century when the formidable threat of Attila’s Huns were deflected with a minimum of force, Byzantine strategy continued to be refined over the centuries, incidentally leaving for us several fascinating guidebooks to statecraft and war. The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire is a broad, interpretive account of Byzantine strategy, intelligence, and diplomacy over the course of eight centuries that will appeal to scholars, classicists, military history buffs, and professional soldiers.

Byzantine Armies AD 1118–1461
Byzantine Armies AD 1118–1461

Author: Ian Heath

Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Published: 1995-11-13

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781855323476

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Byzantine Empire's disastrous defeat by the Seljuk Turks at Manzikert in 1071 effectively marked the end of what is often described as the 'middle' period of Byzantine history. Thereafter, surrounded on all sides by younger, more vigorous nations, the once all-powerful Empire slipped into a steady decline which, ultimately, was to prove terminal. However, the Empire's demise was anything but peaceful, and, one way or another, for much of the last four centuries of its existence it was to find itself in a state of virtually constant war. This book examines the fascinating history of the Byzantine Empire and its armies from 1118-1461 AD.

Maurice's Strategikon
Maurice's Strategikon

Author: Maurice (Emperor of the East)

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 1984

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9780812217728

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

As a veteran campaigner, the Byzantine emperor Maurice (582-602) compiled a unique and influential handbook intended for the field commander. In this first complete English translation, the Strategikon is an invaluable source not only for early Byzantine history but for the general history of the art of war. Describing in detail weaponry and armor, daily life on the march or in camp, clothing, food, medical care, military law, and titles of the Byzantine army of the seventh century, the Strategikon offers insights into the Byzantine military ethos. In language contemporary, down-to-earth, and practical, the text also provides important data for the historian, and even the ethnologist, including eyewitness accounts of the Persians, Slavs, Lombards, and Avars at the frontier of the Empire.