Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: [Historiae] The Strategikon...about tactics and formations

  1. #1
    Pompeius Magnus's Avatar primus inter pares
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Frankfurt Main/Germany
    Posts
    5,364

    Default [Historiae] The Strategikon...about tactics and formations


    background: schematic of a deployed cavalry Moira as shown in the Strategikon - made by the AoD2 team
    foreground: Justinian; official symbol of AoD2 - made by Joar




    Chapter one - the Strategikon


    The Strategicon or Strategikon (Greek: Στρατηγικόν) is a manual of war by written in the late 6th century - mostly referred to emperor Maurice (with good cause).

    The dating is also debated; the Strategicon may have been produced to codify the experience of the Balkan and Persian campaigns; on the other hand, those campaigns may have been carried out in compliance with the manual. In any case it is considered one of the most important military texts of the medieval years, along with the 10th century military treatises attributed to the Byzantine emperors Leo VI (Tactica) and Nicephorus Phocas (De velitatione and Praecepta Militaria); Leo's Tactica in particular drew heavily from the Strategicon.

    The text consists of 12 chapters, or "books," on various aspects of the tactics employed by the Byzantine army of the 6th and 7th century A.D. It is primarily focused on cavalry tactics and formations, yet it also elaborates on matters of infantry, sieges, baggage trains, drilling and marching. Books VII and VIII contain practical advice to the General in the form of instructions and maxims. The eleventh book has ethnographic interest, with its portrayal of various Byzantine enemies (Franks, Lombards, Avars, Turks, and Slavs). The Strategicon also belongs to Byzantine legal literature, since it contains a list of military infractions and their suitable penalties.

    Due to many misinterpretations (even by George T. Dennis who translated the Strategikon into english) I prepared some schematics or plates. Furthermore I want give some discriptions about that what you see on those plates and how to handle and interpret them.

    Note: The shown plates are property of the Ages of Darkness group. Usage and publication for other mods and threads - as well as for other internet pages - can be given. However, a written request is essential.



    Arithmos and Bandon

    The following sentences were translated by myself.
    I tried to avoid a translation of terms which are, according my opinion, required to understand the full context.

    Book I 3
    line 14-15
    και μέρος ὲστὶ τὸ ὲκ τριῶν μοἰρῶν συγκείμενον ἅθροισμα ἤγουν δροῦγγος
    But the Meros is a sum, or rather Droungos, of 3 Moiron -

    μοἰρα δὲ τὸ ὲκ ταγμάτων ἤτοι ὰρἰθμῶν ἤ βάνδων συγκείμενον πλῆθος
    the moira however consists of (or: is composed by) Tagmaton - formed by the Arithmon or Bandon.







    chapter two - The Tagma


    The Strategikon starts its illustrations in Book III
    chapter: Formations of the Tagma
    It describes a battle field formation of a single Tagma assuming a Strength of 310 men.
    It implies in the first moment that it's valid for cavalry and infantry as well.
    Well, this might be correct, however, the given examples and the shown plates of the Strategikon are clearly referring to cavalry. Especially because the letter "k" is basically used for cavalry (or better said kavallarioi). And the example in the Strategikon (Book III 2) shows just K's in the plate.
    Also the described maneuvres and formations of the sub-chapters after III 2 are mainly describing cavalry tactics (e.g. outflanks)

    It is always important to read between the lines and to read all chapters to get an overview about the full context.

    Many chapters later we find some unmasking sentences - including descriptions about pure or mixed infantry formations:

    Book XII
    mixed formations, Infantry, camps, and Hunting
    part B
    sub-chapter 8
    about Organization of the Infantry Army and its officers
    the texts starts with the words "in the past, when the legions were composed of..."
    And then it describes the number of files and men in a single unit of the "past".
    Some sentences later we can read: "But since our present units are not even equal in strength, it is not easy to fix a definite number for a company."

    An interesting sentence. The upper shown plate shows probably an example of a cavalry Tagma, but new deployed infantry had probably a very similar formation, respectively number of soldiers.
    But what about the countless older units of Cohors, Numeri, Legions, Auxiliae?
    Obviously the numbers of the older units were not adjusted. It seems more likely that the old units still having 500 or even 800 men were pressed into the new system of the Strategikon without changing their numbers.

    Due to the detailed list of Maspero we know that even the units in Egypt (~600AD) had still a paper strength of 500 men.

    Ergo: Many new deployed cavalry as well as infantry units were deployed with numbers round about 310 men. That was the wished size.
    The number of 200 was according the Strategikon the minimum strength - 400 was the maximum strength. But the author of the Strategikon had obviously no problem with other numbers bigger than 400 concerning older units.




    chapter three - The Meros



    chapter 2 the various titles of the officers and the soldiers
    (...)First, the head and leader of the whole army is called the general (or Strategos), the man who ranks second after him is the lieutenant general (hypo-strategos).
    The merarch is the one entrusted with the command of a meros; the moirarch is the one entrusted with the commander of a moira and is called a duke (Doux).
    A meros or division is an assemblage or grouping composed of three moiras. A moira is madfe up of tagmatas, arithmoi or bandons.
    Illiarch is the term for the first of the (h)ekatontarchs, who is second in command to the count (komes) or tribune (tribunos).
    A (h)ekatontarch commands a hundered men (...)

    [1] Tagma implies a group drawn up in order or in formation. So, it is basically a term used for the battlefield.
    [2] Arithmos (latin Numerus) means a number of soldiers.
    [3] Bandon is the word for a banner, extended to designate the unit serving under that flag.

    If you start reading the Strategikon you get in the first chapter (about officers and units) the impression that all those terms (like Arithmos, Bandon etc.) are exchangable.
    However, if you continue reading the books about infantry and cavalry you can clearly observe that the bandon was used to designate cavalry, and the arithmos was used to describe infantry. As a nominal strength it is also advised that a troop should never have less than 200 men and never more than 400.
    In the Strategikon you find several battle field orders - suggesting the number of 310 as "normal".
    If a unit was smaller than 200, then the Strategikon explains that those soldiers should be shared or transfered to other units. But it was not allowed to them to fight under their own original banner.






    chapter four - The Line of Battle


    The upper shown plate is located in book III
    Formation of the Tagma
    sub-chapter 8
    formation of the entire "Line of Battle When the Baggage Train Also Has to Be Present"
    Missing in my plate is the flank guard (1-3 banda) and the outflankers (1-2 banda) on the left and right side of the First Battle Line. But that's just a minor issue.
    It shows a formation when the entire army is bigger than 15.000 soldiers.

    The regular soldiers of original plate are marked with a "k" - which suggests indirectly that we are speaking again about cavalry only.
    The text itself is also describing mostly cavalry attacks and tactics.

    But even if we have a closer look to the plate we see that the upper shown formation is composed by Meroi (plural!) of Vexiallatio, Phoideratoi, Optimatoi and Illyrikanoi. And all of them were pure cavalry units!

    Furthermore - between the single Meroi you see in the second battle line some single Tagmas. Those units had the duty to guard and lock the gaps. It is also highly noteworthy that one of the single Tagmas of the second Battle Line was guarding the Strategos. We know that the commander-in-chief was accompanied by mounted Bucellarii (Doryphoroi). So, even all of those single Tagmas were probably mounted.




    chapter five - The order of Battle called Mixed



    Continous reading of the Strategikon leeds automatically to the chapters about mixed or pure infantry tactics (incl. schematics).
    Book XII
    mixed formations
    sub-chapter 2
    The Order of Battle Called Mixed

    The first time in the Strategikon we see clearly that the author knows very well the difference between cavalry tactics, mixed formations and pure infantry formations (see Strategikon sub-chapter about infantry phalanx).

    To the upper plate:
    A clear distinction is made between Meroi (singular Meros) of Infantry and cavalry.
    Also interesting to see that it was obviously a common tactic to put spear-armed men to the left and right side to form a macedonian-like Phalanx.
    The first step into Roman Medieval - an evolution which ends in a common Roman soldier called (H)oplitos or Skoutaratos.





    chapter six - The Mixed Formation called Convex




    The next schematic shows the extensive mixed formation (but mainly formed by infantry) of the Strategikon.
    An interesting formation, especially for those who are claiming, falsely, that the cavalry was the main tactical force of the Romans of the 6th and 7th century.
    The formation, called Convex, appears - at first view - as a kind of "defensive" formation. But this is not correct.
    The single lines of infantry men provided frequently "gaps" which were used by the cavalry during the advancement... and were used for the tactical retreat and re-formation inside the Convex formation.
    This has a stunning similarity (concerning the appearance and usage) with the famous square formation of the 10th and 11th centuries - called Tetragonos.








    To the plate:
    • The soldiers in the first rows were called Antesignani (latin) or Promachoi (greek) - front line troops or 'grunts'. Provided with the best Roman equipment, armed with shield and spear.
    • The heavy armed infantry formed the bulk of this formation - probably composed by the last remnants of the old Legions or Cohors, and for sure provided by new Numeri/Arithmoi (the so called New-Legion; see my other threads).
    • The light armed infantry provided the archer service (or even many other tasks). It is important to note that those light armed troops were not necessarily light armed specialists. It is also possible that they were regular soldiers before the battle - and later ad-hoc delegated as light armed soldiers. Some texts of the Strategikon suggests to delegate half of the army (or at least 1/3) to the light armed soldiers.
    The Convex was composed by 2 parts of the so called "flank guards" (1200 men each) and one part of the so called "phalanx". The weakest point of the Convex was the lower part. This was guarded by 2 smaller square formations (500 men each). The center was used to organize retreating units or to re-organize cavalry as well as for the baggage train.


    A system which was still valid and improved in the Praecepta Militaria and the Taktika of Nikephoros Ouranos at the end of the 10th century(!).

    Last edited by Pompeius Magnus; April 04, 2012 at 09:46 AM.

  2. #2
    Pompeius Magnus's Avatar primus inter pares
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Frankfurt Main/Germany
    Posts
    5,364

    Default Re: [Historiae] The Strategikon

    thread opened
    Last edited by Pompeius Magnus; March 22, 2011 at 02:49 PM.

  3. #3
    SeniorBatavianHorse's Avatar Tribunus Vacans
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Glasgow, Scotland
    Posts
    5,160

    Default Re: [Historiae] The Strategikon...about tactics and formations

    Wonderful! I look forward to the next post.

  4. #4
    Constantius's Avatar Primicerius
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    England-Londinivm
    Posts
    3,383

    Default Re: [Historiae] The Strategikon...about tactics and formations

    Very nice PM, another very professional and thoroughly researched piece


    Signature made by Joar


  5. #5
    Pompeius Magnus's Avatar primus inter pares
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Frankfurt Main/Germany
    Posts
    5,364

    Default Re: [Historiae] The Strategikon...about tactics and formations

    Thanks a lot for your nice words. I see that plate #3 is a bit blurry. But imageshack has changed the size automatically (it was bigger before)

  6. #6
    Alkimachos's Avatar EoR Modeller
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    W. Macedonia, Greece/Hellas
    Posts
    5,361

    Default Re: [Historiae] The Strategikon...about tactics and formations

    Wow! Great prformance PM!

    East of Rome Co - Leader / Modeller of Asia ton Barbaron / Ex beta tester of Roma Surrectum

  7. #7
    juvenus's Avatar Campidoctor
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Belgrade, Serbia
    Posts
    1,526

    Default Re: [Historiae] The Strategikon...about tactics and formations

    There's no end to these great threads of yours! Keep it that way It seem as if you're a living library of great info. I placed them all in my bookmarks
    Last edited by juvenus; March 23, 2011 at 07:33 AM.


  8. #8

    Default Re: [Historiae] The Strategikon...about tactics and formations

    Quote Originally Posted by Pompeius Magnus View Post
    Thanks a lot for your nice words. I see that plate #3 is a bit blurry. But imageshack has changed the size automatically (it was bigger before)
    Did you choose the "optimize without resizing" option?

    Great work, by the way!


  9. #9
    Pompeius Magnus's Avatar primus inter pares
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Frankfurt Main/Germany
    Posts
    5,364

    Default Re: [Historiae] The Strategikon...about tactics and formations

    Thank you Joar,
    yes that was my mistake. I will upload the blurry stuff again.

  10. #10

    Default Re: [Historiae] The Strategikon...about tactics and formations

    How did I miss this? Great topic Pompei, you always outdo yourself.

  11. #11
    Pompeius Magnus's Avatar primus inter pares
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Frankfurt Main/Germany
    Posts
    5,364

    Default Re: [Historiae] The Strategikon...about tactics and formations

    after reviewing the original Greek version of the Strategikon I can now confirm 100% that the Tagma merely represents a general order of battle. Whenever the Strategikon goes into detail the infantry is referred to as Arithmos, and the cavalry is called Bandon.
    Therefore I have to improve post#1 a little. But the changes are minimal.

  12. #12
    AnthoniusII's Avatar Μέγαc Δομέστικοc
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Thessalonike Greece
    Posts
    19,045

    Default Re: [Historiae] The Strategikon...about tactics and formations

    Medieval Greek are a bit confusing.
    And my english are not the best in TWC unfortunatly...
    και μέρος ὲστὶ τὸ ὲκ τριῶν μοἰρῶν συγκείμενον ἅθροισμα ἤγουν δροῦγγος
    Meros is the sum of the 3 moiras that contane drougos
    μοἰρα δὲ τὸ ὲκ ταγμάτων ἤτοι ὰρἰθμῶν ἤ βάνδων συγκείμενον πλῆθος
    moira is the sum of tagmata otherwise known as arithmoi or banda [plural].
    A moira has 2-4 drougos
    A drougos or Taxiarcea (for cavalry) or hiliarchea has 3-4 tagmata or arithmoi or banda.
    Medieval Romans has the number 3 as the basis of creating units.
    But if sircumstances would be diferent a drougos could have 4 tagmata or a meros could have 4 moiras (also known as Tourma) etc...
    Medieval Romans had this "bad" habbit for us to use scimilar terms describing same or even diferent things.
    For example Tagma is a battalion but when it comes to Scholae units Tagma represents a whole army or better a meros!

    This is an exelent research PM!
    Last edited by AnthoniusII; September 02, 2011 at 07:10 PM.
    TGC in order to continue its development seak one or more desicated scripters to put our campaign scripts mess to an order plus to create new events and create the finall missing factions recruitment system. In return TGC will give permision to those that will help to use its material stepe by step. The result will be a fully released TGC plus many mods that will benefit TGC's material.
    Despite the mod is dead does not mean that anyone can use its material
    read this to avoid misunderstandings.

    IWTE tool master and world txt one like this, needed inorder to release TGC 1.0 official to help TWC to survive.
    Adding MARKA HORSES in your mod and create new varietions of them. Tutorial RESTORED.


  13. #13
    Pompeius Magnus's Avatar primus inter pares
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Frankfurt Main/Germany
    Posts
    5,364

    Default Re: [Historiae] The Strategikon...about tactics and formations

    Quote Originally Posted by AnthoniusII View Post
    Medieval Greek are a bit confusing.
    exactly.
    what you make is once more jumping back and forth in the times. I told you several times that the romans had a clear wording which enlights a lot if you have the greek written versions of those manuals.
    Depending on what time period - some terms disappear - other terms are transformed by the colloquial way to a generally valid expression. If you follow this flowing development from the 4th century and beyond that you get probably a better overview.
    One can therefore not be talking about a bad habit - which is purely a subjective perception.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •