Byzantine
Leo III the Isaurian (ca. 680–741)
Byzantine emperor. Leo III, whose original name was Konon, is popularly known as Leo the Isaurian. He was born possibly in 680 in Germanikeia, a city in the ancient country of Commagene in the Roman province of Syria (present-day Maras in southeastern Turkey). It is not clear when, but he entered the service of Byzantine emperor Justinian II (r. 685-695)…
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BATTLES OF KLEIDION–STRUMITSA
Just as with the infantry, the cavalry of the enduring Roman Empire had three classes of troops whose equipment reflected the nature, proximity and duration of the contact they were expected to have with the enemy. The lightest cavalryman was the archer (1). While he was equipped with a sword,…
Nicaea, 1097
“Battle of Nicaea (1097)”, Igor Dzis Pope Urban II’s call mobilised immense numbers of people from all social classes. The “People’s Crusade” of ordinary folk, who demonstrated their Christian fervour by massacring Jewish communities across Germany and Hungary, were slaughtered by the Seljuk Turks when they crossed the Bosphorus. The…
The Gasmouloi
The Gasmouloi were the product of mixed marriages between Byzantines and Latins. Pachymeres and Gregoras call them people of mixed race and excellent soldiers, whose military skills combined the prudence of the Byzantines with the boldness of the Latins. They manned Michael VIII’s fleet and they had considerable successes in…
Strategic Change: The East Roman Response
At the end of the Persian wars (c. 628/629) Heraclius had reestablished the pre-existing arrangements familiar from the end of the sixth century. Two changes seem to have been the merging of the two praesental field armies into one, and the disappearance of the army of Illyricum as the area…
The Wars of Justinian I
The Eastern Empire (from this time referred to as Byzantine) escaped the fate of the west, and continued to flourish under a series of capable emperors. In the first half of the 6th century, the Emperor Justinian even re conquered of some of the lost western provinces: North Africa, where…
The Wars of Justinian II
The Eastern Empire (from this time referred to as Byzantine) escaped the fate of the west, and continued to flourish under a series of capable emperors. In the first half of the 6th century, the Emperor Justinian even re conquered of some of the lost western provinces: North Africa, where…