Although the Byzantine Empire was a continuation of the Roman Empire and faced similar military problems, its solutions were very different. In North Africa, for example, Rome's large army concentrated on securing main roads and urban centres. Byzantium's smaller army built more fortifications and took a defensive stance. The most striking characteristic of later Byzantine military thinking was, however, the theme or provincial army system, which owed nothing to ancient Roman tradition. With eight superb full colour plates by Angus McBride, and many other illustrations, David Nicolle examines the history of Romano-Byzantine armies from 4th-9th centuries.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Good Pictures:
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.
Great illustrations:
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!
Decent plates, lousy text:
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.
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 (... more info
