Download BYZANTINE MILITARY SYSTEM developed after Constantine

BYZANTINE MILITARY SYSTEM developed after
Constantine moved the Roman imperial capital to
Constantinople in 330, when the Roman Empire
was divided into two parts in 376, and with the fall
of the western division of that empire a century
later. As a direct descendant of the Roman Empire,
the early Byzantine Empire largely followed the military precedents set by the late imperial emperors,
Constantine and Diocletian. These included establishing strong, fortified borders, utilizing standing
professional field armies, supplying them well, and
paying for all of this out of the public coffers. Initially, legions, auxiliaries, and cohorts continued to
exist as military units, although by the sixth century
the generic term for these units had become
numerus (in Latin) and arithmos or tagma (in
Greek), meaning "number" or "unit" of soldiers. By
the sixth century, Byzantine strategy and tactics had
also begun to change, having failed in numerous
military adventures, including defeats to the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Huns, Persians, and, most importantly, starting in the middle of the seventh century,
Arabs. These changes included frontier armies,
referred to as kaballarika themata, which were light
cavalry armies capable of skirmishing and hit and
run raids. The infantry continued to be used, but
they were less valued than during Roman times.
Their tactics were also altered to face the cavalry
threat of the Arab invaders. Provincial armies were
organized into tourmai, drouggoi, and banda (sized
from large to small units). Each tourma was based
in a fortress or fortified town and was led by an
important military administrator of the region, in
which the fortification was located.
With the decline of Islamic activity in the tenth
century, the Byzantine army began to adopt more
offensive strategies and tactics. They recruited more
professional soldiers, trained more heavy cavalry
and infantry units, and used more varied weapons
and armor. Armies were trained not only to be able
to march long distances for combat, but also to
serve as garrison troops. It was during this period
that several military manuals were also written, all
emphasizing training, discipline, and battlefield
warfare. In these battles cavalry and infantry were
used equally, with both working together in battlefield maneuvers. Perhaps the most innovative
among these changes was the appearance of heavy
cavalry known as kataphraktoi or klibanophoroi,
clad from head to toe in thick armor, mounted on
equally well armored horses. The purpose of this
unit on the battlefield was to form a wedge to
punch through an enemy defensive formation.
Overall, these changes brought success in several
engagements until the Battle of Manzikert in 1071,
when their defeat by a new enemy, the Seljuk
Turks, ushered in an era of Byzantine military
decline, leading eventually to the conquest and
occupation of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusaders in 1204.
With Constantinople's recovery by Byzantine
armies in 1261, a necessary reorganization of military forces followed. However, the Latin occupation
of Constantinople and its reconquest had sapped
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Byzantine resources, while the empire's borders had
shrunk over the same period, especially in Asia
Minor and Greece. Despite attempts to return to a
professional force, like those formed earlier in
Byzantine history, foreign mercenaries began to be
relied on more and more. Provincial militias continued to support the regular forces, but as enemies
began to develop around the empire and lack of
finances resulted in fewer mercenaries being purchased, these irregular units began to find themselves forced to defend their own regions against
invaders. Their effectiveness was limited. Within a
short time Serbs conquered Macedonia, Frankish
adventurers occupied Greece, and eventually
Ottoman Turks, who had arisen within Byzantium
itself overran the Balkans, Asia Minor, and, under
the leadership of Sultan Mehmed II in 1453,
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Constantinople itself. The Byzantine Empire had
fallen.
See also Cohort; Constantine
Legion; Manzikert.
I;
Constantinople;
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Bartusis, Mark C. The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society,
1204-1453- Philadelphia, 1992.
Birkenmeier, John W. The Development of the Komnenian Army,
1081-1180. Leiden, 2002.
Haldon, John. Byzantium at War, AD 600-1453. Oxford, 2002.
___________ . Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine
World, 565-1204. London, 1999.
McGeer, Eric. Sowing the Dragon's Teeth: Byzantine Warfare in
the Tenth Century. Washington, D.C., 1995.
Treadgold, Warren. Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081. Stanford, Calif., 1995.
KELLY DEVRIES