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Sowing the Dragon's Teeth: Byzantine Warfare in the Tenth Century (Dumbarton Oaks Studies)

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This is an outstanding book of its' type. The translations are good and the transliterations very well done. It also provides a good background on not only the texts but also the events and institutions they discuss, making the book useful not only as a primary source, but also as a historical analysis in its own right. The commentary is also eminently readable and filled with information on not only the Byzantine army itself, but also those Asiatic enemies which it faced and bested. Honestly, I have yet to find a better text on this subject.

The successful resistance of the Later Roman Empire aka the Byzantine Empire to the powerful and relentless assault of nascent Islam is not only the foundation stone of Western civilisation but also a great mystery. Why should Rome, weakened as it was by the ravages of hordes of Northern and Eastern barbarians and a series of dreadful plagues, have survived the onslaught when the its great and ancient rival, the Persian Empire was so quickly overwhelmed? The financial and military rescources of the early Caliphs were vastly greater than those at the command of the Byzantine Emperor and the military enthusiasm of his subjects was intense - witness the constant attacks by the large number of volunteer Jihad warriors from all over Islam who based themselves in what is now Syria.

Part of the answer is to be found in this excellent book which affords the reader an insight into the detail of the military adaptations the Roman Empire made to cope with its dire problem. This scholarly, authentic account is an indispensible tool for those who wish to understand why it is that, to paraphrase Edward Gibbon, the inhabitants of medieval Oxford did not answer the Muezzin's call and worship Allah in the city of dreaming spires.

The tanslation of the texts are well done, but that is not the best thing about this book. It is the commentary that follows the translations (about half the book). The author does an excellent job of describing, in modern language, the items detailed in the translations, providing examples from Byzantine warfare to illustrate. The reader finally gets a detailed impression of Byzantine warfare in the age of its greatest triumphs.

This book provides a fascinating glimpse into a topic suppressed by Western Academia for centuries; a true historical conspiracy. The Eastern Roman Empire protected Western Europe and revitalized it at the time of the Renaissance. It was a modern state in every sense of the word. This book, concentrates on the Empires scientific approach to warfare.

For linguists providing opposite page translations of the original Greek indicates how little the language has changed in a thousand years. No other currently spoken European language can make that claim. Readers should compare the Beowulf book.

Das Werk "Sowing the Dragon's Teeth: Byzantine Warfare in the Tenth Century (Dumbarton Oaks Studies)" enthält die bisher einzig verfügbare englische Übersetzung der Precepta Militaria. Aufgrund seiner Bedeutung für die byzantinische Militärgeschichte ist diese Ausgabe somit ein absolutes Muß für jeden Byzanz-Fan.
Im Textteil wird dem griechischen Originaltext dabei jeweils auf der gegenüberliegenden Seite die englische Übersetzung gegenüber gestellt. Für Leser, die - wie ich - dem Alt-Griechische nicht mächtig sind, ist dies meist nur bei Fachausdrücken von Vorteil, die sich nicht immer 100%-ig übersetzen lassen. Zumal Begriffe im Laufe der Zeit durchaus die Bedeutung ändern können.
Darüberhinaus enthält das Buch analoge Textpassagen des späteren Taktika des Nikephoros Ouranos, die in gleicher Weise Griechisch/Englisch präsentiert werden.
Auch werden ausgesuchte Textpassagen mit ähnlich lautenden Passagen früherer Werke verglichen und Unterschiede in der Nomenklatura aufgezeigt.

Der zweite Teil des Buches enthält umfangreiche Informationen zum geschichtlichen Kontext und die Interpretationen des Autors zu den Traktaten.

Obwohl neuere Autoren die Qualität der Übersetzungen mitlerweile in Frage stellen und zum Teil zu gänzlich anderen Schlußfolgerungen kommen, bildet doch das vorliegende Werk eine unerlässliche Quelle and Informationen aus erster Hand.