I felt like I was in this army

Maurice's Strategikon: Handbook of Byzantine Military Strategy by Maurice

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


It turns out that there is a sort of missing scene in Roman military history. At the end of the 4th century, the Romans still had the legendary legion at the heart of their military might. Foot soldiers in gleaming scale with tower shields and short spears and swords dominated the battlefield.

Fast forward to the early days of the 5th century and everything has changed. Cavalry equipped with stirrups are now the kings of the battlefield, with infantry serving a supporting role. How this change happened, and its evolution, are kind of a mystery. But how that new army fought is perfectly clear thanks to Emperor Maurice and his Strategikon. Maurice (539 – 27 November 602) was a very successful general before ascending to the throne in 582. The earliest known copies of the Strategikon date from 605, so it's possible that he wrote it, or ordered it written, and we only have later copies.

What is it? It's a Field Manual. It is literally how to train, equip, move, encamp, and fight a Byzantine army. There are chapters on choosing officers, how the army is organized, military law (some of which I recognized as still being part of the UCMJ,) scouts, spies, medics (who also are responsible for looting enemy bodies and turning over the spoils to their commander,) baggage trains, sieges, provisioning. . even how to cross a river in enemy-territory, something else that took me back to my days in the infantry. They used the same damn process!

Also included is a long list of maxims for the commanding general. All very good advice.

But what really got me were the diagrams of how to organize the army, from each tagma, or company, all the way up to a full army lined up for battle. Though the symbols are a little hard to make out at times, you really visualize how this army of cavalry, clad in mail, with bows and lances, would have looked as they moved.

This is a great book for anyone interested in military history.



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