Immortals (Byzantine Empire)

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The Immortals ( Greek  Ἀθάνατοι , Athanatoi ) were one of the elite - tagmata of the Byzantine Empire , which was first erected in the 10th century. The Greek name is derived from a- (“not”) + thanatos (“death”).

history

The Athanatoi were a unit of mostly noble young men who were first set up by Johannes I. Tzimiskes (r. 969-976) for his war with the Rus . The unit was probably dissolved a little later, as it no longer appears in the sources. The historian Leon Diakonos describes the aristocratic impression that the Athanatoi made in their gold and silver armor.

The immortals were brought back to life under Emperor Michael VII (r. 1071-1081) when the army was reorganized. This reorganization came in response to the devastating defeat the empire suffered in 1071 at the Battle of Manzikert . As a result , the Seljuks overran Asia Minor , which formed the backbone of the Byzantine thematic constitution. In the course of the reorganization, the remnants of the provincial troops in the east were merged with the immortals. The "new" immortals could have been cavalry , but this is not certain.

Anna Komnena mentions the immortals several times in her description of the campaigns of her father Alexios Angelos Komnenos . At the beginning she makes the remark that the immortals had "only recently touched sword and shield for the first time" and that they had fled from the rebel Nikephoros Bryennios . They are later described as "a very own regiment of the Roman (Byzantine) army" that was loyal to the emperor.

Byzantine historian Nikephoros Bryennios reports that the number of immortals was 10,000, which is probably an allusion to the Persian Immortal Bodyguard . He adds that the title of "Immortal" was initially only given to officers and later to the regiment.

The time of the dissolution of the Immortals is not known, but it was likely before 1200.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Alexander Kazhdan (Ed.): Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford University Press, 1991, ISBN 0-19-504652-8 , pp. 220 .
  2. ^ Raffaele D'Amato, Giorgio Albertini: The Eastern Romans 330-1461 AD. Concord, Hong Kong 2007, ISBN 978-962-361-089-6 , p. 46.
  3. ↑ Steven Runciman: Byzantium from the foundation to the fall of Constantinople. from the English by Heinrich Wolfart. Kindler, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-463-13708-9 .
  4. ↑ Anna Comnena: The Alexiad of Anna Comnena. from the Greek by ERA Sewter. Penguin Books, Middlesex et al. 1979, ISBN 0-14-044215-4 , p. 39.
  5. ↑ Anna Comnena: The Alexiad of Anna Comnena. from the Greek by ERA Sewter. Penguin Books, Middlesex et al. 1979, ISBN 0-14-044215-4 , p. 95.
  6. ^ Ian Heath: Byzantine Armies 1118-1461. Osprey Publ., London 1994, ISBN 0-85045-306-2 .