Strategics

Strategika even (στρατηγικά) Taktika called, were military treatises in Byzantine Empire became popular.

Late antiquity Strategika (Sg. Strategikon ) emerged mainly in the 5th and 6th centuries. They drew on older military writings by authors such as Aelian the Tactician (tactics and terminology), Onasander (command), Sextus Julius Africanus , Vegetius and Polyainos (devices and stratagema), Aineias and Heron (war and siege machines ). It is unclear to what extent there is a connection with oriental traditions; fragments of Sassanid military treaties are known that show clear parallels to the late Roman ones. Early late antique Byzantine strategies are those of Urbikios (an epitome of Arrians created under Anastasios I ) and Syrianos Magistros (on naval warfare), as well as an anonymous manual of tactics, the first sheet of which is missing (in Dennis, Military Treatises 1-136), and finally the famous Strategicon of Maurikios (around 590). With the extinction of ancient literary culture in the 7th century , the genre of the Eastern Roman-Early Byzantine Strategika also disappeared .

The resurgence of interest in the science of war in the 10th century then favored the creation of works such as the tactics of Leo VI. , the Sylloge Tacticorum , the Naumachika , and the tactics of Nikephoros Uranos . These Middle Byzantine strategica paraphrased the classical Roman and late antique works and supplemented them with contemporary experiences. The military experience reports from the environment of Nikephoros II. Phokas and Basileios II. , Praecepta militaria , De velitatione and De re militari also date from the 10th century . The publishing of Strategika was finally stopped after Basil II.

The Byzantines were convinced of the usefulness of the instructions and recommended them to those interested and concerned to read. The numerous Strategika enjoyed in 10./11. Century of great popularity, they were collected and read by military leaders like Johannes Dukas .

literature

• Alexander Kazhdan , Eric McGeer: Strategika. In: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . New York / Oxford 1991.