Table Of ContentA Tenth-Century Byzantine
Military Manual: The Sylloge
Tacticorum
The Sylloge Tacticorum is a mid-Byzantine example of the literary genre of mili-
tary manuals or Taktika which stretches back to antiquity. It was one of a num-
ber produced during the tenth century CE, a period when the Byzantine empire
enjoyed a large measure of success in its wars against its traditional enemy, the
Arabs. Compiled to record and preserve military strategies, know-how, and tac-
tics, the manual discusses a wide variety of matters: battle formations, raids,
sieges, ambushes, surprise attacks, the treatment of prisoners of war and defec-
tors, distribution of booty, punishment of military offences, how to mount effec-
tive espionage, and how to send and receive envoys. There is even advice on the
personal qualities required by generals, on how to neutralize enemy horses, and
on how to protect the troops against poisoned food. The work culminates in an
account of the stratagems employed by great Greek and Roman military com-
manders of the past. While, like so much of Byzantine literature, the Sylloge often
simply reproduces material found in earlier texts, it also preserves a great deal
of information about the military tactics being developed by the Byzantine army
during the tenth century. It is the first Byzantine source to record the reappearance
of a specialized heavy cavalry (the kataphraktoi) and of a specialized infantry (the
menavlatoi) used to repel the attacks of the opposing heavy cavalry. There is also
a great deal of information on new infantry and cavalry formations and on the new
tactics that required them.
This is the first complete translation of the Sylloge into English. It is accom-
panied by a glossary of the specialised Greek military vocabulary used in the
work and by footnotes which explain obscure references and identify the author’s
classical and Byzantine sources. An introduction places the work in its historical
and literary context and considers some of the questions that have remained unan-
swered over the centuries, such as its authorship and the date of its composition.
Georgios Chatzelis is a PhD student at Royal Holloway University of London, UK.
Jonathan Harris is Professor of the History of Byzantium at Royal Holloway
University of London, UK.
Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman Studies
General Editors
Leslie Brubaker
Rhoads Murphey
John Haldon
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A Tenth-Century Byzantine Military Manual
The Sylloge Tacticorum
Translated by Georgios Chatzelis and Jonathan Harris
Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies
University of Birmingham
A Tenth-Century Byzantine
Military Manual: The Sylloge
Tacticorum
Translated by
Georgios Chatzelis and
Jonathan Harris
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 Georgios Chatzelis and Jonathan Harris
The right of Georgios Chatzelis and Jonathan Harris to be identified
as translators and authors of this work has been asserted by them in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Chatzelis, Georgios, translator. | Harris, Jonathan, translator.
Title: A tenth-century Byzantine military manual : the Sylloge tacticorum /
translated by Georgios Chatzelis and Jonathan Harris.
Other titles: Sylloge tacticorum. English | Sylloge tacticorum
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, New York, NY : Routledge,
[2017] | Series: Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman studies | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017002087 | ISBN 9781472470287 (hardback : alk.
paper) | ISBN 9781315565316 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Military art and science—Early works to 1800. |
Tactics—Early works to 1800. | Byzantine Empire. Stratos—Drill
and tactics.
Classification: LCC U43.B9 S95 2017 | DDC 355.4/749509021—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017002087
ISBN: 978-1-4724-7028-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-56531-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman Studies Volume 22
To Aristeides and Lemonia, for their sacrifices
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
List of abbreviations ix
Glossary x
Conventions used in the translation xii
Introduction 1
Translation 13
Notes 119
Bibliography 151
Index 165
Acknowledgements
The translators would like to express their thanks to Andy Antzara, Charalam-
bos Dendrinos, David Gwynn, Eirene Harvalia-Crook, and Chrysa Zizopoulou
for their help, advice, and information and to Michael Greenwood of Routledge
and John Smedley of Ashgate for facilitating the acceptance and publication of
the volume. When it came to the production stage, they were fortunate to have
the assistance of Sheri Sipka and her colleagues at Apex CoVantage whose hard
work and eye for detail smoothed the path to the press. Their greatest debt is to
John Haldon, whose careful reading of the translation and introduction yielded
numerous and extremely valuable corrections, suggestions, and improvements.
Lastly, they would like to record their appreciation to the late Frank Trombley
(1947–2015) who, by supervising Georgios Chatzelis’s MA dissertation, helped
to lay the foundations of this translation.
