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Sowing the Dragon’s Teeth: Byzantine Warfare in the Tenth Century
The military achievements of the emperors Nikephoros Phokas, John Tzimiskes, and Basil II brought the Byzantine Empire to the height of its power by the early eleventh century. This volume presents new editions and translations of two military treatises―the Praecepta militaria of Nikephoros Phokas and the revised version included in the Taktika of Nikephoros Ouranos―outlining the tactical system used by Byzantine armies in campaigns against Muslim forces in Cilicia and Syria. Products of experienced soldiers, the texts offer a realistic view of Byzantine warfare and reveal the sophistication of Byzantine military science. Eric McGeer places the treatises in military historical context; explores the factors that led the Byzantine army to fight as it did; and investigates morale, discipline, and leadership―all of which determined the difference between failure and success.
405 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 3, 2016
This is an outstanding piece of scholarship, and is actually two books in one. The first "book" are the edited and translated works "Praecepta militaria" of Nikephoros II Phocas, and the "Taktika" (chapters 56 to 65) of Nikephoros Ouranos. The manuscript "Praecepta militaria" is very difficult to access for most scholars (its housed in Russia), and McGeer has done a great service for most byzantinists by editing and translating both manuscripts here. The make a good companion piece with "Three Byzantine Military Treatises" by George Dennis, and together offer a more detailed picture of the activities of Nikephoros II Phocas. The apparatus is extremely valuable, referencing other, older attempts at editing and research. McGeer also explains the paleographic difficulty in bringing these manuscripts to a wider audience, and the challenges of the orthographical irregularities throughout the texts. I find this work valuable for the fact that writings on Byzantine military art introduced a highly specialized vocabulary, which is challenging to translate. McGeer provides a glossary of terms transliterated into the Latin alphabet, along with the Greek index.
The second "book" is McGeer's historical commentary on the state of miltary art in the mid-tenth century. This is a fairly in depth examination of tactics and techniques used by the Byzantine army against the Muslims in Syria, and explains the success of Nikephoros II Phocas during his brief reign. McGeer also examines the armies of the Hamdanids and the Fatimids. Phocas reduced the Hamdanids to a client state, until the vacuum was filled by the Egyptian-based Fatimids. This historical analysis represents a significant advance in our understanding of the state of the Byzantine war machine in the mid-tenth century. The last comprehensive look at the reign of Nikephoros II Phocas was published almost a century ago, and the scholarship is dated.
The second "book" is McGeer's historical commentary on the state of miltary art in the mid-tenth century. This is a fairly in depth examination of tactics and techniques used by the Byzantine army against the Muslims in Syria, and explains the success of Nikephoros II Phocas during his brief reign. McGeer also examines the armies of the Hamdanids and the Fatimids. Phocas reduced the Hamdanids to a client state, until the vacuum was filled by the Egyptian-based Fatimids. This historical analysis represents a significant advance in our understanding of the state of the Byzantine war machine in the mid-tenth century. The last comprehensive look at the reign of Nikephoros II Phocas was published almost a century ago, and the scholarship is dated.
July 13, 2022
This is definitely a book of two halves. The first half comprises of two contemporary Byzantine tactical guides, in original and translation. The second half is a series of commentaries on various tactical facets of the the Byzantine army.
Although this book is aimed at an academic audience (who else can read these sources in the original?), it is surprisingly readable and you can go through it in next to know time. McGeer is a clear writer and pretty concise, so although there are nigh on 400 pages, it doesn't take that long to read. One thing that I did have to take into account was matching the spellings to those within John Julius Norwich's eminently engaging histories.
This book is a good companion to those of John Haldon. There are two quibbles with this book. One is that the quotes in French aren't translated. I really wish academic writers would realise that not everyone speaks that many different languages. Also, the work remains focused on written sources and ignores any archaeological answers to things such as the length of spears, etc and this is very much an oversight.
Although this book is aimed at an academic audience (who else can read these sources in the original?), it is surprisingly readable and you can go through it in next to know time. McGeer is a clear writer and pretty concise, so although there are nigh on 400 pages, it doesn't take that long to read. One thing that I did have to take into account was matching the spellings to those within John Julius Norwich's eminently engaging histories.
This book is a good companion to those of John Haldon. There are two quibbles with this book. One is that the quotes in French aren't translated. I really wish academic writers would realise that not everyone speaks that many different languages. Also, the work remains focused on written sources and ignores any archaeological answers to things such as the length of spears, etc and this is very much an oversight.
February 10, 2007
A great scholarly work, while quite entertaining for the interested layman. If Byzantine military history interests you, this is a must read book if you are limited to English language books.
February 9, 2018
Fantastic, concise, well researched, would recommend to any student of the Eastern Empire.
October 4, 2021
Translation + Analysis and research outside of the primary text translated.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews