Men, horses, fortresses and fleets carried the Eastern Roman Empire through more than five centuries of almost continuous military pressure. Behind the famous victories and disasters stood an army that repeatedly transformed itself to survive changing enemies, shrinking resources and an increasingly dangerous medieval world.
The Byzantine Army AD 527?1071 follows that transformation from the age of Justinian to the crisis of Manzikert, placing the reader inside the institutions, campaigns, weapons and battlefield systems that allowed Byzantium to remain one of the dominant military powers of its age.
You will discover:
How Justinian's armies fought wars of reconquest, and how commanders such as Belisarius combined cavalry, infantry, intelligence and operational mobility.
How the thematic military system emerged, connecting provincial defense, manpower, taxation and imperial strategy.
How cataphracts, horse archers, infantry and elite formations operated together, and how Byzantine doctrine adapted to Persians, Arabs, Bulgars, Rus, Normans and Turks.
How the Varangian Guard, frontier armies and imperial field forces evolved, culminating in the political and military pressures surrounding the road to Manzikert.
Kieran Goodwin combines campaign narrative with military organization, tactics, logistics, command and institutional change, creating a connected account of how Byzantine warfare actually functioned.
For readers of medieval military history, Byzantine history, ancient and medieval armies, weapons, tactics and campaign studies, this volume provides a vivid journey through an army that inherited Rome's military tradition and repeatedly reshaped it for a new age.
