[Bellum Crucis] HISTORIA RHOMAIKE - Chapter Twenty-Six

[Roman Heritage]

INTRODUCTION

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Hello all, fellow AAR readers and TW players! These words are meant to be both an introduction to the AAR you're hopefully about to read, and a disclaimer. First of all, I know the Byzantine Empire has been made to death as a faction for an AAR to be written about. And yes, I know I myself wrote an AAR about it - my first one, ended because my savegames were corrupted.
Then, a year passed, and I discovered a new mod. As soon as I landed on Bellum Crucis, the mod I'm using - and of which I'll briefly talk later - I realized I needed to play a campaign as Eastern Rome. This modification is so rich, and detailed, that a playthrough as Byzantium would have felt radically different from the Chronikon - and I myself decided I would write it in a slightly different style. New challenges await me and the Roman Empire - and the readers, if you'll be willing to read my writings.

ABOUT THE AAR

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The Historia Rhomaike - that is, Roman History - is a fictional account on the lives and exploits of a series of Emperors which succeeded Manuel Komnenos, and, as many other works of byzantine historiography, it is meant not only to narrate, but also to teach about virtues and how to run the Empire itself. In real History, Costantine VII Porphyrogennetos' work, De Administrando Imperio, served more or less the same role: to both narrate, and educate Costantine's heir Romanos. In this AAR you'll read two different accounts, both fictional: one is the medieval opera, the Historia Rhomaike, and the other is a commentary to the opera written by fictional 20th Century byzantinist Alexios Kiriopoulos. Everything you see in brackets and cursive is supposed to be an excerpt from the original opera; everything else is a modern reflection on the opera. I thought this style would allow me greater freedom, since it gives both the challenge of writing in a hopefully plausible XIVth Century style, and the occasion to analyze in depth the reasons for campaigns, battles, reforms and rebellions. As such, you will read of foreign peoples, as well as the byzantines themselves, as they would have likely referred; so, people of the steppes will likely be referred to as Skythians or Skythinkoi; there will not be an Holy Roman Emperor, but rather a King of the Germans or Western Emperor. Constantinople was usually referred to as the City or the Queen of Cities; citizens of the Empire called themselves Rhomaioi, that is Romans, and the Empire was usually referred to as the Basileia ton Rhomaion, Rhomania or Rhomais. Often, foreign titles were translated with their Greek counterpart; that is, a general would often be referred to as Strategos, and, as personal names were often hellenized, it is likely I will resort to the same habit, for the sake of authenticity. The Empire's currency, at the time, was the hyperperon, introduced by Alexios I, known in the West as bisant; all monetary gains will be listed in this same currency. Years will however be listed in Western datation, for simplicity's sake.
I will also roleplay a lot, so expect that, with the accession to the throne of a particularly incompetent ruler, the Empire would suffer setbacks or crysis. Generals will not always follow their directives, treachery and the shadow of civil wars will be a plague to in-game Basileia, and diplomacy will be truly used to wage and prevent war as much as brute force. I will also try to be as much historical plausible as I can - for example, when needed, I will refer to the Pope or Caliph of the moment with the one we have had in our own timeline, and I will also try to use at its best any historical info with which the game provides me every year. That is, hope you enjoy the read - and come to appreciate that stunning mod which is Bellum Crucis.

ABOUT BELLUM CRUCIS

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Bellum Crucis, currently at its 7.0 version, is a completely fan-made Italian modification for Medieval II Kingdoms. It has, pretty much as Stainless Steel, a big focus on historical autenticity, and realism, yet, in my humble opinion, it surpasses it in scope and lenght.
Bellum Crucis features - obviously - a complete, historically-based and HQ rendered roster for 28 factions, somehow reminescent of the first Medieval - ah, such lovely days... - spanning from the peak of the Feudal Era to Proto Renaissance: the official time span, in fact, is from 1155 to 1453, year of the fall of Constantinople and often credited as the real "end" of the Middle Ages.
But let's go to what really matters. Bellum Crucis implements a completely revised economy - yeah, actually, It's pretty tight on money -, improved diplomacy, the mechanics of internal strife and civil war, revolutioned building trees and guilds, implementation of tons of features such as technologies, religious conversions - yeah, you can change your faction's religion, under particular circumstances -, the scripted spawning of historical leaders - Richard the Lionheart, Frederick II Honenstaufen, Othman among many others -, undeniably upped graphics and textures, heraldry, merchantile fleets, acquisition of kingdoms through marriage, and many, many more improvements over both the vanilla and many mods.
Unfortunately, the English version of the mod is currently under development: a WIP translation should be already out, but it is only halfway finished. There are, however, already a Spanish and Polish translation available, so...whoever can, just give it a try. It is worth it, seriously. Even just to take a look at the units, they're just stunning.
I'm playing with the official version of the mod, just with some changes to the descr_strat, the battle_config, the EDB and the EDU as to achieve longer, more realistic and tactical experience on campaign map and in battles - perhaps just a tiny little bit shorter than EB II's battles, just for a comparison; this will sometimes force me to take riskful decisions, as not rarely it will be a battle against time, too; whoever got interested in this mod, and is interested in playing with these files, just PM me!

ABOUT THE IMPERIAL ARMY

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The following is meant to be a guide to Bellum Crucis' byzantine army. First of all, let me begin with a disclaimer: as Bellum Crucis is a modification for an essentially sandbox game, and so, essentially, the player is left with the freedom to take his choices as he wishes also concerning military matters, this is not meant to be a guide to the Komnenian, and later Palaiologan army - though my armies are largely inspired on the former model. For all those interested in the matter, I dare to suggest Birkenmeier's "The Development of the Komnenian Army", an excellent piece on the subject.
PS: the list is meant to be constantly updated as the campaign progresses.


INTRODUCTION

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Since the VIIth Century, the fundamental entity on which Eastern Roman military relied was the so-called thematic system, introduced by Emperor Eraklios' successors as a mean to improve the State's military in the face of Arab aggression. According to the thematic system, the Empire was split in a number of regions - 33 at its height in the late 900's - each ruled by a Strategos who combined in his person civil and military responsabilities. Such themes were garrisoned and defended by military colonists who served into the army in return for allotments of land and lower taxes. Border regions were instead called Doukates, as they were led not by a Strategos but rather by a regional commander called Doux: these were the Doukate of Vaspurakan, Armenia, Antioch and Chaldia.


This system, purely defensive in its organization, did not fit with the renewal of Byzantine expansionism in the late 800's; following the reforms of Emperor Nikephoros Phokas, thematic armies were subordinated to the tagmata, the capital's forces, which included regiments as diverse as the various Varrangoi, Scholarii Kataphraktoi, the Hikanatoi and so on. It was at the head of such large, permanent and professional armies which the warrior-Emperors of the late 900's and early 1000's - Nikephoros Phokas himself, John Tzimisces, Basil II Bulgaroctonos - led the Empire to its apogee.


All of this, however, was cause of incredibly large State expenses. Basil's mediocre successors curbed military expenses, leading to the disruption of the thematic armies and an increasingly important role of mercenaries in the tagmata and the army in general. This was the kind of military which faced the Seljuks in 1071, and was defeated at Mantzikert.


Following Mantzikert, the Komnenian Emperors - Alexios I, John II and Manuel I Komnenos, the latter being the Emperor whose reign is depicted in the first chapters of this AAR - reformed the army from scratch. The core of the army was formed by the Basileus' oikeioi, members of the nobility and his extended family, followed by their retainers, fighting as heavy cavalry. Alongside them, fought the regiments of the Imperial Guard, and indigenous units recruited through what remained of the thematic system - which more or less survived, keeping its administrative and bureaucratic raison d'etre but with provincial forces' importance diminished. Mercenaries, nonetheless, remained an important component of the army, serving both in the Guard regiments, or on occasional basis. The army which the Komnenian Emperors fielded - and which form the basis of the in-game byzantine army - were professional, large, well drilled and trained, and an instrumental tool in what came to be known as the Komnenian Restoration.


Units or statements marked with an * are fictional, or introduced in my Roman army as a result of in-game events.

GUARD UNITS

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Throughout all of the Empire's history, sovereigns had been escorted and protected, in battlefield as in their Great Palace, by picked regiments of various ethnicity - mercenaries playing a prominent role since the inception of such corps. These Guard units are now listed in order of their prominence and seniority.


Oikeioi: these are not specifically members of the Palace Guards, but rather, under the Komnenian Emperors, a heavy cavalry unit escorting the Basileus into battle, made up of members of his extended family connection, and their armed retainers. Serving as cataphracts - fully armoured riders, mounted on armoured horses - these men went into battle with armour and weapons of the finest quality: they usually wore klivanioi and lorikioi, meaning scale or mail armour, sometimes combined with a bambakion - padded armour which could also be worn alone by lesser troops, or a surcoat. Their defensive equipment was completed by a kite-shield, while offensive equipment consisted in a kontos, a long spear designed for charging, swords and, eventually, maces. Their horses were armoured, too, as they wore scale or mail armour on their forequarters, neck and head; for a long time after the deafeat of Mantzikert and the ensuing civil war, these were the only cataphract forces deployed by the Empire.


Varrangoi: the Varangian Guard, established under the reign of Basil II from a regiment of 'Rus soldiers sent him by his brother-in-law Vladimir the Great of Kiev, is perhaps the most famous unit to have served under the Byzantine Emperors. Made up of Anglo-Saxons, Normans, Scandinavians and Russians, these foot warriors carried their distinctive two-handed axes and were entrusted with the safety of the Emperor and his family both at home and on campaign. By the reign of Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180's) they had access to the best byzantine armour, wearing lavishly decorated scale armour, helms of both Roman and Russian style, shields painted with religious or geometric motifs - which they carried on their shoulders - and wearing swords as their side weapon. They were famous for their scandalously high wages, and for them being utterly loyal to the Emperor, fighting to the death if necessary - but keen enough to swear oaths to their new master as soon as their previous one was dead.


Vardariotai: as the Varangians, these men served the Emperor both in the Palace, as security staff during ceremonies, and on the field of battle, as lightly armoured horse archers: they were, after all, drawn from those Magyars whom had been settled in the Vardar Valley in Makedonia by the VIIIth Century Emperors. Established as a regiment during the latter part of Manuel I Komnenos' reign, they rode to battle on fast ponies, carrying composite bows and sabres, and wearing black or dark red silk robes. They proved their valour in many occasion, most relevantly in the 1225 AD Battle of the Shipka Pass*, when they all fell in meleè against Vlach and Bulgarian forces rather than whitdrawing from the field of battle.

ETHNIC "ROMAN" UNITS: INFANTRY

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"Ethnic" Roman infantry forces were raised by Komnenian Emperors, and their successors, on the basis of the strateia and pronoia systems. These were, basically, the remnants of the old thematic system: soldiers were granted plot of lands or reliable sources of income (such as taxation rights) in exchange for them fighting in the Empire's armies, or helping fund the Basileus' campaigns with money with which to raise mercenary forces. According to the size of the plot of land, or the value of the granted source of income - which, anyway, was not hereditary: the Basileus ultimately retained ownership of these assets - they would serve as more or less heavily armoured footmen; all of them, however, were efficiently trained and formed a reliable force, the very core of the Byzantine army, which Emperors such as John III Komneno-Doukas and his nephew Alexios III Palaiologos tried to preserve with their reforms*.


Psiloi: lightly armoured troops, serving either as javelinmen or bowmen. Despite their humble looks - their defensive equipment consisting of woolen or cotton clothes, a buckler shield and, in the best of cases, steel helmets of simple design - they are quite useful on broken ground, making them a valuable resource in border skirmishes and as support troops.


Stratiotai: being "holders of a strateia" these farmer-soldiers form the mainstay of provincial forces, serving as lightly armoured spearmen. They marched into battle wearing bambakion padded armour, steel helmets of simple design or turbans, kite shields and spears; their relatively light equipment allowed them high mobility, making them useful on broken ground as well as on flatter battlefields. They form the bulk of those garrisons employed in border stone castles, from which they can either sally out against enemy raiding parties, or slow down enemy advance.


Skoutatoi: these are heavily armoured infantrymen, made up from those who hold bigger strateias or pronoias, and as such rich enough to buy heavier and more effective armour than their poorer comrades. Their defensive equipment consisting in mail, scale or reinforced padded armour, helmets and kite-shields, they are the Basileia's armies' workhorses, well trained and armed with long and sturdy spears called kontarioi, and swords of the spathion or paramerion type, meaning straight or curved swords.

ETHNIC "ROMAN" UNITS: CAVALRY

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As with the infantry, Roman citizens were enlisted in the army's cavalry branch in exchange for the granting of strateias and pronoias; these "middle-class" soldiers, however, shared duty as cavalry forces with lesser nobles and the aristocracy's armed retainers, being organized in different units and classes according to their equipment and their role on the battlefield. These units are listed from the lightest to the heaviest.


Prokoursatores: lightly armoured cavalrymen, these men perform scouting and patrolling duties. They are armed with helmets, buckler shield, padded armour and long spears, and are particularly useful to chase down fleeing enemies, threaten enemy missile forces, and lure enemies into ambushes. They are also armed with paramerioi sabres should they be forced to fight, and javelins to fulfill their skirmishing duties.


Pronoiarioi: the holders of pronoias were often rich enough to serve either as lancers, or as mounted archers. Whatever their active role on the battlefield, they were compelled by Imperial laws to wear either klibanion or lorikion armour - scale or mail armour -, helmets of good quality, and a shield, either a kite-shield for lancers, or a buckler for the hippotoxotai. Lancers were, obviously, armed with a kontos - a charging spear - while hippotoxotai were to be skilled in the use of the composite bow; all of them wore, as sidearms, swords or sabres.


Kavallarioi: richer pronoiarioi and lesser noblemen served as heavily armoured cavalry, though not as heavily as the cataphracts of the Imperial oikos. Beginning with the reign of Manuel I Komnenos, byzantine nobility came to be greatly influenced by Western chivalric traditions such as jousting; as a result, these men came to fight in a style closer to that of the so-called Latins. Wearing mail or scale armour, helmets of the finest quality and strips of mail which protected their faces, these men rode into battle on top of fine steeds and fought as their Western brethens.

MERCENARIES

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During the Komnenian period, hiring mercenaries to fill in the roles left vacant by regular troops, or to bolster the army's numbers in occasion of certain campaigns, remained a valuable strategy. Service in the ranks of the prestigious Byzantine army attracted men from every corner of the known world, to serve in the most desparate of roles, and in varying numbers. These units are then listed according to their ethnicity and religion.


LATIN AND FRANKISH MERCENARIES


Italian Sailors: not really a mercenary force, but rather a force conscripted in times of dire need. Venetian, Pisan, Genoese and Amalfitan merchants residing on Imperial territory could occasionally be summoned either to serve in the Imperial fleet, or to act as a militia force, armed with whatever they could afford.


Latinikoi: a collective name given to those Westerners serving as heavy cavalry forces. Hailing from France, Norman Southern Italy, Langobardia (Northern Italy) and the Levantine Latin Kingdoms of Jerusalem, Tripoli and Antioch, these men are by far the most appreciated mercenaries in Byzantium's service, apart from the Varangians; Anna Komnena, daughter of Emperor Alexios and author of the Alexiad, described the Western knight as "irresistible; he would bore his way through the walls of Babylon".


Nemitzoi/Alamanoi: these are mercenary troops, hailing from the Kingdoms of Western Europe and more commonly from the so-called Holy Roman Empire - which Rhomaioi referred to as Kingdom of Alamannia, Kingdom of the Germans. Armed with heavy kite shields, mail armour, steel helmets of various sorts and offensive weapons such as swords and maces, they were quite useful both mounted and on foot.


SKYTHIAN, BALKANIC AND RUSSIAN MERCENARIES


Alanoi: Christian Orthodox people of skilled riders living on the Northern side of the Caucasus, the Alans were much praised as some of the best light cavalrymen to have ever rode on this Earth. They wore padded or brigandine armour, used shields of various forms, and protected their heads with characteristic hats: their main weapon was a charging spear lighter than the kontos, but longer.


Bulgarian and Vlach mercenaries: much appreciated by the byzantine military, these skilled warriors fought for the Empire both before and after the rise of the Second Bulgarian Tzardom following Koten's uprise in the 1220's*. Serving as either skirmishing troops or as heavier armoured spearmen, they were renowned for their sturdiness, and fighting skills which were best applied in wooded or montainous ground.


Crimean Goths: hailing from Chersonesos, these are the remnants of those Goths who did not flee westward under the pressure of Attila's Huns in the Vth Century. They fought on foot, wearing scale armour, large round shields, plumed helmets, axes and swords: they had such an outstanding reputation as fighters that they were often hired to serve in Cherson's garrison, and sometimes on offensive campaigns such as John Kantakouzenos' Anatolic campaign of 1233-1235 AD*.


Skithinkoi: a collective name given to those Cuman, Pecheneg and, more broadly, "Skythians" from the steppe, serving as mercenary light cavalry forces in Roman service. They rode into battle on swift and sturdy ponies, and comprised both lightly armoured troops - wearing little to no armour, partial brigandine armour in the best of cases - and heavier troops, scale armour being worn both by the rider and his steed. Whatever their armour, they were all skilled in the use of the Skythian composite bow, and used secondary offensive weapons such as spears, sabres and maces.


EASTERNERS


Armenians and Georgians: the Kingdom of Armenia had been the first to officially embrace Christianity as its State religion, in Late Antiquity. Since then, Armenia had always been the matter of contentious between Eastern Rome and its neighbours, from the Sassanid Persians, to the Arab Caliphate and the Seljuks; as such, Armenian forces had always played a prominent role in Roman armies, Armenia being one of the main recruiting grounds of the IXth-XIth Century Byzantium. People of the Caucasus had been known to Byzantium to field the cream of archer, cavalry and infantry forces: they are a resource not to be underestimated.


Tourkopouloi: meaning "Turks' sons", these men are the inevitable product of the Seljuk invasion of Anatolia, and Byzantine influence on the region. These Christianized Turks, first enlisted under Alexios I Komnenos, served in the Emperor's armies as mounted archers and skirmishing cavalry, and in the ranks of the Military Orders of Levantine Outremer as auxiliary troops.


Turkish mercenaries: following the battle of Mantzikert, Seljuk conquest of Anatolia was undertaken by a number of clans and tribes of Turkoman ancestry, which soon found their way into Byzantine service first as garrison troops - something which hastened the fall of Anatolia - and then as mercenaries in the decade-long civil war which then brought Alexios I Komnenos to the throne. Being muslims, on the contrary of their blood-related Tourkopouloi comrades, their use as mercenaries was seen with suspicion by Alexios' successor John II, but it was resumed by Manuel I Komnenos as a result of his early reign's entente with Sultan Kilij Arslan II and continued well into Palaiologan era*.

GLOSSARY

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To enchance immersion in the AAR, I will often use a terminology that was characteristic of Late Byzantium; here you may find a useful, I hope, glossary of such terms - I tried to be as accurate as possible!


About surnames: byzantine surnames had two forms, one for the female and one for the male gender. Thus, the offspring of the Komnenid dinasty, for example, would be referred to as Komnenos in case of a son, Komnena when it was a daughter. Other examples may be found in Arbantenos/Arbantena, Doukas/Doukaina, Laskaris/Laskarina, Palaiologos/Palaiologina, and so on.


Basileia ton Rhomaion/Rhomania: the Roman Empire, the land of the Romans. These were the name with which the subjects of Constantinople addressed their country, they themselves being referred to as Romans or Rhomaioi. The term "byzantine" wasn't used at all until a century or so after Constantinople's fall to Mehmed II.


Basileus/Vasileios : the sovereign of the Basileia, the Roman Emperor, with the female form being Vasilissa. He was, according to byzantine belief, Christ's representative on this Earth and his mandate had divine origins. Because of this, any phisical imperfection was unacceptable in a wanna-be Emperor, since he had to be an image of divinity on Earth; political mutilation was accordingly used to get rid of potential pretenders, with the most infamous case being that of Romanos IV Diogenes, whom after the battle of Manzikert was blinded by the Doukas family and died as a conseguence. Any mutilation would make a pretender ineligible to the throne; the first to reign despite a mutilation was Justinian II "Rhinotmetus", or "slice nosed", who had had his nose cut off after his overthrowing and returned to rule after a decade-long exile.


Basilike Hetaireia: throughout its existence as a sovereign, the Byzantine Emperor enjoyed the protection of a large quantity of guard corps, the most famous one being the Varangian Guard. However, he was often escorted by a Palace Guard, the Basilike Hetaireia, which was made up of ethnic Roman aristocrats' sons.


Caesar: a dignity bestowed by the Emperor on prominent aristocrats. It used to be the second ranked in public acclamations, directly below the Basileus and his Synbasileus (Co-Emperor), until the creation of the dignity of Sebastokrator.


Catepan/Catepanate: a Catepan was a provincial governor which had both military and civil powers. Catepans were usually given power over a group of minor themes (the Catepanate of Italy is an example of this trend), but were anyway inferior in rank when confronted with the now vanished title of Exharc.
Domestikos: field commander, directly below the Megas Domestikos (commander in chief of the whole Roman army). Up to the XIth Century, and mayhaps throughout the reign of Alexios Komnenos, there were two distinct Domestikoi, one for the East (Anatolia) and the other for the West (Balkans and what remained of the Catapanate of Italy).


Droungarios: commander of a Droungos, equivalent to a modern battalion, within the system of a thematic army. There were two senior Droungarios which held however a far more important position of command: those of Kybirrhatoion and Samos kai Aigaion, which were responsible for the Empire's most important thematic fleets beside the Imperial one, led by the Megas Doux.


Eparch of Constantinopolis: the urban praefect of the capital. He was responsible for maintenance of public order and the satisfaction of the capital's enormous need for supplies from the outside.


Exarch: it was the governor of provinces which were particularly distant from Constantinople, and thus needed a particularly strong civil and military presence to be established. Exharcs acted as a kind of modern era viceroys, reporting directly to the Emperor. Famous Exharcates were those of Italy, based in Ravenna, and Africa, based in Carthage; the latter fell to the Arabs, while the former vanished as a result of the growing independence of Lombards and Venetians. The title has by the reign of Manuel Komnenos long lost any real power, but it may well be revived in case of an Imperial resurgence...


Great Schism of 1054: it is one of the events which forever altered relationships between Rhomania and the West, and a milestone in the History of Christianity. The Patriarch of Constantinople had always opposed the superiority which the Bishop of Rome, whom is known as the Pope, claimed over the whole Church; the Patriarchs of the East thought in fact of the five senior Patriarchs (Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, Carthage and Rome) as being equal in both religious and theological matters. The phenomen of Caesaropapism (basically, the Pope's pretense to hold both secular and religious power, claiming superiority as the most senior entity in Medieval world) led to a breaking point in 1054, when Patriarch Michael Cerularios and Pope Leo IX excommunicated each other, with the paradoxical result of the whole of Christendom nominally excommunicated. Since then, the Eastern autocephalous Churces of Greek rite have cut any tie with Western "Latin" Church; the Byzantines' standing among Western princes is largely affected by them being considered "Schismatics" and heretics.


Hagia Sophia/Aya Sofia: the Church of Holy Wisdom, Constantinople's most prominent liturgical site and one of the most famous cathedrals of the World. It was built by Justinian, and then underwent successive reparations and enlargements throughout its history; a particular mention has to be made of its dome, which was the most spectacular architectural opera built since the Pantheon and was surpassed in complexity and ambition only by Brunelleschi's Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, Firenze, in Renaissance. The way it was built allowed light to propagate throughout the Church and reflect over its golden decorations, a sight which must have been wonderous to see.


Hetairioi/Hetairiarches: these were the mercenary forces employed in Byzantine armies, led by a Hetairiarches whom was responsible for their hiring and command. These mercenaries were divided in ethnic battallions.


Kataphractoi: "cataphract" meaning "completely armoured", these were amongst Byzantium's most celebrated units, with their roots tracing back to the Late Roman Empire. They were revived under Nikephoros II Phokas in the Xth Century as a completely mail and scale armour clad cavalry, with armoured horses, carrying an heavy spear (kontarion or kontos), bows, javelins and maces. They were recruited out of the wealthy landowners of the Anatolic heartland, the loss of which has meant their disappearance as a numerous and elite force in Byzantium's heartlands; however, if Anatolia is recovered, their tradition could be restored.


Kavallarioi: basically meaning "horsemen", it will here be used to refer to byzantine heavy cavalry which Manuel Komnenos re-equipped and trained along Western knights' lines. A useful force, more mobile than the cataphract cavalry, but also less heavy and not as invulnerable.


Latins/Franks: a collective term used among Byzantines and Moslems to define Western Catholics, with the latter being preferred in the Islamic World. It is a referrence to them following the Roman "Latin" rite, as opposed to orthodox Greek rite, and of an equiparation of the whole of the Western world with the Franks led by Charlemagne and his heir, contesters of Constantinople's legacy as sole heir to the Roman Empire.


Megas Domestikos: equivalent to the contemporary Western rank of Grand Seneschal; basically, commander in chief of the army, second to the Emperor alone.


Megas Doux: Great Admiral, responsible for the tenure and command of the Imperial Fleet and entrusted with the governorship and defense of the Hellas and Peloponnesou theme, in Greece, along with much of the Greek archipelagos; these provinces, along with the themas of Kybirrhatoion (Southern Anatolic Coast) and Samos kai Aigaios (South-Western anatolic coast and Dodecanesos) were prevalently devoted to the construction, mantaining and manning of the Imperial Fleet and the thematic fleets.


Megas Konestaulos: a title which originated after contacts with Western feudal world. The holder was basically the responsible for the upkeep and lead of the Western mercenary heavy horse employed by Byzantium (chiefly, Normans and Franks, collectively known as Latinkon).


Megas Logothethes: the head of civilian administration of the Empire, similar to the contemporaneous islamic viziers.
Oikeioi: under the Komnenian dinasty, the Emperor's personal armed retinue, made up of his extended family relations and trusted followers; they were called upon in times of war and armed in the fashion of cataphract cavalry. The most senior nobles of the Empire were similarly followed by their own Oikeioi, though obviously of lesser quality and numbers.


Persians/Persioi: archaicism with which Byzantine historians referred to people who ruled into what had been ancient Persia: Abbasid Arabs, Great Seljuks, and later on Khwarezmians.


Porpyrogenneta/Porphyrogennetos: "Born in the Purple", an honorific title with which it was tradition to address Imperial offspring born in the Great Palace's delivering room, the Porphyra, which was, according to sources, decorated with purpur marbles and silks. It was meant to testify that the Emperor's son or daughter had been born after the accession of their father and thus a guarancy of legitimacy.


Sebastokrator: a court dignity created by Alexios I Komnenos to honour his brother Isaac. It is, in terms of prestige, directly below the ranks of the Emperor and his co-Emperor.


Skythians/Skythinkoi: Greek archaicism used to address peoples from the steppes, mainly of turkish stock: Pechenegs, Cumans, Oghuz Turks, Magyars. In time, each was finally referred to with a characteristic nomenclature (Pechenegs-Patzinaks; Cumans-Komanoi; Magyars-Magyaroi, and so on) though the collective name persisted.


Saracens: term in use in the whole of Christendom to define Islamic countries, without any distinction being made between Arabs, Berbers, and Turks, though the latter are characterized in Roman sources as "Turkoi".


Strategos: general.


Theme/Themata: following the losses in the Arabian-Byzantine wars, the Empire underwent a significant military reform which brought to the creation of part-time, professional quality defense forces known as Themata, each stationed in its own Thema. These were made up of small landowners, whose plots of lands had been granted by the State in return for their service and that of their descendants; some themas, such as the Kybirrhatoion and Samos kai Aigaion, also field thematic fleets. The battle of Manzikert and the losses in Anatolia shattered the thematic system, though its remains still constitute an important part of the Empire's military and administrative divisions.


Vardariotai: christianized Magyars of the Vardar Valley, serving in Byzantium's armies as an elite corp of horse archers, often associated with policy forces and the protection of the Emperor.


Varrangoi: Scandinavian, Rus' and Anglo-Saxon mercenaries, organized in the Tagma ton Varangon and dedicated to the protection of the Emperor. They were instituted as a corp under Basil II in the XIth Century, and have since then developed a reputation of fierce fighters, equipped with some of the finest byzantine armours and weapons, with scandalously high pays and a staunch loyalty to the throne.