byzantine empire army

byzantine empire army

The Byzantine-educated clergy and secularists perceived the war as a work of the emperor who was to be resorted to as a last resort when the imperial lands were invaded. This was theoretically valued solely by the expertise, strategy and tactics in technical matters that separated the Byzantines from the Barbarians with their understanding justifying defensive wars. The jihad in Islamic countries and the concept of sacred war, known as the Crusades in Western Latinos, never succeeded in settling in Byzantine. The army had to be in the service of the empire continuously, and the care of the troops was among the constant concerns of the Byzantine administration byzantine empire army

byzantine empire army

 The war between the 10th and 13th centuries was a monopoly of the state, which had to fight on two fronts, the Orient and Garp. Over time, the philosophies of war, the price of the dispute and the scene in which it took place changed. In the 960s, the guerrilla wars in the land of the land began to organize large imperial expeditions that resulted in the expansion of the imperial lands and the reorganization of the borders. byzantine empire army


The formation of a small city network surrounded by walls in the Balkans provided the opportunity to constantly control the area between the Adriatic and the Aegean Sea. This change of war practices was a response to the renewal of Byzantine military thought in the 10th century. We are witnessing tactical changes in the works of strategy experts of this period. Infantry units were mainly used for defenses (guarding the march of the army, the fortress of the castles), and in byzantine empire army support of horsemanships outside the battle.

byzantine empire army

The siege war was the main strategy adopted by the Byzantines. Evolution in tactics accompanied the adoption of the city walls, which were adapted to the new war conditions. Innovations in defense systems and ramparts can be seen between the 10th and 13th centuries as well as in the city walls (polyorsetical) artifacts and fortification systems.

War and peace in Byzantium
2Bizians viewed their war against their enemies as a defensive war to secure the empire's confidence. Emperor VI. In the doctrine of Leon in the foreword of Taktika in the tenth century:

No one among the people can pursue peace and prosperity of his subjects, and honor and honor it. Suret Every human being created in the image of God, who is the owner of common sense, should heartily wish (refah) and not find his hands against the blood. However, the demon and the showerer of the human species have driven the people from the beginning to the battle against their own species with the power of sin.

people must open up war against these games that the devil has revealed through people, they do not submit to the peoples who want war, they must provide their salvation with the science of strategy and they must guard against their enemies and attack them as they deserve. Thus, when people's relations with evil are cut off and everyone is bound by greeting, peace will be ensured and respected by all.

3Metin reflects the understanding of the Byzantines' war: As a work of Satan, war is banned by churchmen and orators. In the 11th century, Ioannes Mauropous underlined that if the barbarians violated the treaties and invaded the Byzantine lands, the emperor should resort to war. The Emperor should act with persuasion not by the uncertain result of violence and war.

4Therefore, the war is, above all, the war of defense in Byzantium. The strong city walls of Constantinople gave the residents a sense of security. In the 10th century, Ioannes Geometres devoted one of his writings to a tower on the walls of Constantinople. The poet underlined that God gave this tower to the people to stand up against the attacks and the siege devices of the Barbarians.

5The peaceful discourse of the Byzantines was in conflict with his military practices. As Gilbert Dagron shows, VI. Leon (886-912), in his Tactika, which he wrote at the beginning of the 10th century, suggested that a special religious rite be performed to commemorate the soldiers who died in the war by taking the model of Islamic jihad.


 Then Nikeforos Phokas (963-969) decided to give the martyrs to the soldiers who died in the war. However, his decision stuck to the exact opposition of the synod in Constantinople. To prevent the Emperor's project, the patriarch Polieuktos put forward the thirteenth law of Basileios of Kaisareia. According to this, in the 4th century the Christian community excluded the soldiers responsible for the death of the enemy from the community for three years.


Looking at how this law was used when the circumstances required, the prohibition of killing in the Old Testament (Exodus 20, 13) did not involve killing in battle. In contrast, Atanasios of Alexandria said that killing the enemy in the battle was correct and commendable. The 12th-century commentators like Theodoros Balsamon and Ioannes Zonaras have said that the Basileios law was simply an idea and that there was no order, and that the very strict implementation of this law meant that all the soldiers were out of the communal life.