Byzantine Cavalryman C.900-1204 (Warrior) [Paperback]

Timothy Dawson (Author), Giuseppe Rava (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Warrior | Publication Date: August 18, 2009

Osprey's study of the Byzantine cavalrymen, who were regarded as the elite arm of the military during the Middle Byzantine period (867-1204). The cavalry executed high speed reconnaissance, agile arrow barrages and crippling blows to enemy formations. Its ranks were filled primarily through direct recruitment or hereditary service by holders of military lands, but in times of crisis irregulars would be temporarily enlisted. Few books provide any accessible study of the medieval Romaic soldier's life, and this colorful addition to the Warrior series seeks to redress this imbalance. Offering a thorough and detailed examination of their training, weaponry, dress and daily life, this book re-affirms the importance of cavalry troops in military victories of the period. Making use of original Greek source material, and featuring unpublished manuscript images, this follow-on volume to Warrior 118 Byzantine Infantryman c.900-1204 brings the world of the Byzantine cavalryman vividly to life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Byzantine Cavalryman c.900-1204 takes a completely different look at the subject from light horse arches to the super-heavy, armored cataphracts... Author Timothy Dawson goes into great detail about Byzantine cavalrymen fro their recruitment to their training, equipment and campaigning... Illustrator Giuseppe Rava's excellent color plates are very clear and show a great amount of detail." -John Burt, Toy Soldier & Model Figure

About the Author

Dr Timothy Dawson gained his PhD in Classics (Byzantine Studies) from the University of New England, New South Wales, Australia in 2003. He has lectured for many years on Byzantine, Greek and Roman armies. He is currently editor of Medieval History Magazine and is a keen reenactor, particularly of the medival European period. He operated Australia's first historical European combat school, Amyna, near Sydney from 1984 to 1987, and in 1985 published a training manual embodying techniques practiced at that time. Timothy was also known as one of Australia's finest makers of swords and other military equipment. This activity embodied and informed his research and teaching in both arms and armor and combat. Since then he has gone on to be internationally recognized academically as an expert on certain forms of arms and armor. The author lives in Leeds, UK.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing; First Edition edition (August 18, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1846034043
• ISBN-13: 978-1846034046
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.2 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #866,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Roman/Byzantine fighting arm..., November 3, 2009

By 

Anibal Madeira (Lisboa Portugal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Byzantine Cavalryman C.900-1204 (Warrior) (Paperback)

Not to say that the infantryman of the period hadn't real importance; of course they had a vital role. But the author (and the manuals like strategikon or the Tactika) clearly shows us that Byzantine infantry of the time in study was a mobile fortress where the cavalry rallied and paused for the next attack. The author is a renowned academic and editor of a military medieval magazine that has a significant advantage of being an experienced reenactor and weaponsmith. The art by Giuseppe Rava is strong and full of passion like always (welcome to Osprey): detailed and accurate paintings.

From the sources of the recruits (Strateia and some garrisons, also from allied nations but integrated in the regular units), their maintenance, organization (Themes and Tagmas, and the subdivisions), training and experience of battle, the author gives a very good introduction. Not forgetting some issues that clearly are worth detailing a little bit more, like the several types of cavalryman: the archers, the Khoursores and the Katafraktoi and their evolution, weapons (subjects that the author has a great knowledge), and the very important questions of belief and moral (we must not forget that the eastern christhians had no concept of holy war...killing was a deadly sin in the eastern Roman empire).

Great book, with good art, photos, glossary and timeline. And the important reminder that the Byzantines and their neighbours considered themselves Romans (something that many forget that Byzantine empire is a quite "modern" idea from the XVI th century).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Byzantine Cavalryman 900 - 1204, September 24, 2009

By 

K. Murphy "Fortune favors the Bold" (The thriving metropolis of Masury, OH) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Byzantine Cavalryman C.900-1204 (Warrior) (Paperback)

Osprey's `Warrior 139 - Byzantine Cavalryman c. 900 - 1204' is intended to be a companion volume to 2007's title on the Eastern Roman infantryman of this same period.

The author, an expert in medieval armor and combat techniques, presents a convincing portrait of the cavalry of the Eastern Empire. They played a diverse number of tactical roles - many were equipped for skirmishing or scouting missions, while others were equipped for close combat.

The Byzantines copied the fighting styles of Turkish cavalry - fighting unarmored and with composite bows - but not with the same great effect. The tradition of the kataphractos - the heavily equipped lancer dating (in the Roman Army) to at least the 2nd Century AD remained in tact up to the beginning of the Empire's terminal decline in the early 13th Century.

This is a detailed and highly recommendable look into the cavalrymen of the Byzantine Empire, examining both the armor and the personal life of the man that wore it; it is a well-researched source on the elite defenders of a declining Empire that faced enemies as diverse as Turkish tribesmen and Frankish crusaders.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Caveat Lector, May 30, 2010

By 

Kirialax (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Byzantine Cavalryman C.900-1204 (Warrior) (Paperback)

Here Timothy Dawson has produced a follow-up volume to his 'Byzantine Infantryman'. As the title indicates, this concentrates on the cavalry arm of the Byzantine army. The main shortcoming of the previous volume was that it was highly theoretical and based largely on the 10th century military manuals with very little information on what actually happened as opposed to the theoretical version of events proposed in the military manuals. To be fair, most Byzantine chroniclers were more interested in campaigns than battles and thus the literature on military life is poor, but there are snippets available. This volume corrects that, and Dawson looks at a much wider range of literature, in part because more information is available on the cavalry, and in part because it seems that Dr. Dawson has become better acquainted with the material.

However, this volume has some serious flaws. It contains so many basic factual errors that I am forced to give it three stars. If it weren't for the fact that a number of renowned Byzantinists use Dawson's academic works on military equipment, I'd be inclined to never read anything of his again and drop it down to two stars. In this case, I suspect that Dawson does know what he is doing, but that does not excuse a sloppy book. For example, he claims that Constantine made a new imperial capital at Constantinople, but this is not the case. It was nothing more than a dynastic capital (see David Potter's `Roman Empire at Bay'). He also claims that Syria and Egypt fell due to religious dissatisfaction, but the situation is far more complicated than that, as Walter Kaegi has demonstrated. Dawson says in the text, despite contradicting his own chronological table, that Basil II took power in 975. He took power in 976. He also claims that civil war caused the loss of territory to the Turks after the battle of Manzikert in 1071, but Mark Whittow has demonstrated (in 'Alexios I Komnenos: Papers') that factionalism and the collapse of the thematic structures had a far greater impact. He also puts forward the idea that the archer/lancer unit as described in the 'Strategikon' of Maurikios were still active in the 10th century, but there is no evidence for this. I could go on, and if anyone wants further comments on the multitude of historical errors in this work, or wants to hear about some of the other ones that I have not mentioned here, please leave a comment on this review and I'll get back to you.

In sum, this book is rife with historical error, but represents a slight step forward for Dr. Dawson from his last book. Most of the mistakes could be cleared up by some better research, a proofread by a proper textual historian, and perhaps a better editor. This is not a bad book, but if you want to read, read it carefully, and use the good parts, like Dawson's research on the equipment, but ignore the rest.