Customer Reviews

Romano-Byzantine Armies 4th-9th Centuries (Men-at-Arms)

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I bought this one for the same reasons that I bought the title _Late Roman Infantryman_ which is also from Osprey military books, and one which I have also reviewed for Amazon.com. I do a lot of research on the historical origins of Arthurian myths, and books like these cover the right general areas of the world in roughly the right period (see also my review of Osprey's _Arthur and the Anglo-Saxon Wars_).

Osprey books offer a good ballance of text and illustrations to convey information to the reader in a way which is both efficient and entertaining. This is far preferable to books which have either too high a text-to-illustration ratio or too high an illustration-to-text ratio.

My only complaint about these books is that their photographs of period art are printed in black & white, so one often misses some of the spectacular color and detail found in ancient mosaics, frescos, or manuscript illuminations. Printing everything in color would, of course, make these books more expensive, but that might still be worth it depending on how you look at it. Each of these books does, however, feature a series of full color illustrations in the middle. These beautifully portray the appearance and activities of the troops under study.

I purchased this book as a supplement to my research on early Byzantine arms and armor. I got it specifically for the color plates in the hopes that they would help me visualize some of the descriptions that I had read in the historical sources. The book was at least somewhat useful from this perspective. The plates are fanciful but well executed. The photos included of Byzantine-era representational art and still-extant fortifications were also a welcome addition.

The actual text of the book was very disappointing. The author seems to have a greater affinity for the Islamo-Arabic and Persian peoples who lived on the frontiers of the empire, and it shows through time and again in the writing. He ascribes practically every Byzantine military accoutrement, weapon, unit organization, and tactic to foreign influence. Perhaps most annoying of all was the short-shrift given to the height of Byzantine military power under the emperor Justinian I. The author races right past this epic period to focus on the Arab invasions and Byzantine dark ages of the 7th and 8th centuries. There is no coverage in the text of Byzantine siege craft and fortification--two areas where the empire excelled.

I think the publisher would have been better served to have an actual Byzantinist write the text rather than someone whose familiarity with the subject seems tangential at best.

There is very little reason to recommend this book, especially when there are much better ones available. Nicolle tries to sum up far too much information into 36 picture-laden pages, and fails rather miserably. It is not that some of the information is wrong, it is just that 500 years of military history and change cannot be crammed into such a small book. As each section finally seems like it is going to finally say something of real substance, it just ends. He also distorts the record somewhat, as practically every piece of Byzantine military technology and every innovation of the period seems to be coming from the Arabs or Persians, at least according to David Nicolle. Angus McBride's illustrations are fantastic, but many of the other plates aren't all that great. They are frequently black and white, and often very grainy. Considering that many of these mosaics and manuscripts have centuries of deterioration on them already, lousy black and white reproductions do not help. If this books has one redeeming feature, it is Nicolle's description of the theme system. Admittedly, entire books have been written upon the topic, and it is still not all that well understood, but Nicolle seems to recognize this and leaves the reader with the ambiguity that the sources have left us. Considering the quality of the rest of the book, I was not expecting that.

There is no real reason to read this book. You're much better off with Haldon's 'The Byzantine Wars' for a brief (but far more substantial than anything in this book) treatment of the topic, or for a more in-depth understanding from his 'Warfare, State, and Society in the Byzantine World'. Walter Kaegi's 'Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquests' and 'Byzantine Military Unrest' are also important for this period, and far better than this book. Skip it.

This volume covers the development of Byzantine military power from the fall of the Western Empire through the revival in the 9th century. Dark days these were, yet the Empire survived for several more centuries. The tactics of the army changed as political upheavals and foreign threats shaped failures and successes. By the 4th century, the professionalism of the Roman soldier had eroded. The heavy infantry legion had given way to small tripwire garrisons ( limitanei ) and the larger field armies ( comitatenses ). The emphasis shifted towards more heavy cavalry, and wholesale recruitment of barbarians
( foederati ), to deal with the more and more numerous incursions by the nomadic peoples moving into the Roman sphere. Though the western Empire fell, the eastern Byzantium held on.
The more mobile enemies in the East influenced Byzantine thinking. Heavier cavalry was fielded, along with a strong line of infantry and an ever increasing number of horse archers. The fifth and sixth centuries saw the reclamation of some territory in the Italian peninsula, as well as islands such as Crete. The fortunes of the empire waned again in the seventh century, with the rapid expansion of the Muslim powers. Byzantium now stood as a Christian bulwark against the Muslim threat. Its influence through trade continued a presence in the Mediterranean after the initial successes of the Muslim Arabs. The Byzantines switched to a system of local armies ( thema ) and central armies based around the capital ( tagmata ). Their presence waned in the West, as locals asserted their independence in the pursuit of their self defence. Military disasters forced the Byzantines to switch tactics again, and by the 9th century the empire was on a roll of counterattacks. They recruited from their neighbors and enemies, especially in terms of light cavalry and infantry. The cautious approach of shadowing enemy forces, and setting up feints and ambushes, foreshadowed the strategies of later Western Medieval armies. Though the Carolingians would rise to power in Western Europe and eventually overshadow the Greeks, to them is owed much in terms of military thinking. David Nicolle's treatment is thorough as always. This Men-at-Arms title is a good introduction into the war machine of Byzantium, a state in perpetually precarious positions. The color plates are beautiful, and the period illustrations good, though often too small to recognize details. As usual, Osprey has failed to deliver a decent map. Nevertheless, a worthwhile addition to the medieval warfare library. I am looking forward to the next two volumes covering Byzantium through the Crusades and final, disastrous fall of Constaninople in 1453.

I did not buy this book for the text but for the illustrations of the change over of the Roman Empire Army to the Eastern Empire. For that alone it was worth the money!

Visually it is a good reference to the gear and costume of the late Roman army. Although there is nothing wrong with the text itself, this is way too little a book to cover the subject in detail.