Przez wąwozy i lasy. Armia bizantyńska wobec trudno dostępnych obszarów w świetle IX konstytucji Taktyk Leona VI Mądrego

Kirił Marinow

doi:10.18778/0208-6050.99.02

Authors

Kirił Marinow Uniwersytet Łódzki, Wydział Filozoficzno-Historyczny, Instytut Historii, Katedra Historii Bizancjum

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/0208-6050.99.02

Keywords:

Byzantium, Byzantine art of war, mountain warfare, Byzantine military manuals, Taktika of Leo the Wise, mountains and forests in Byzantium

Abstract

The Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Wise (886–912) wrote an extensive military treatise which compiled the knowledge of the Byzantines in the art of war. Among his considerations, one can find a discussion concerning the issue of ensuring safe and effective passage of the imperial army marching across difficult and dangerous areas, most notably mountain ravines and forests. The article in hand presents a detailed analysis of Constitution Nine of the Taktika, which the author devoted to marching. The said analysis demonstrates the especially difficult conditions faced by the troops in difficult terrain, where the possibility of easy manoeuvring was markedly limited; the crossing of areas such as these was seen as particularly dangerous on account of being very suitable for a sudden counterattack of the enemy waiting in ambush. Thus, the treatise appealed for cautious approach to such territories and advised to leave it behind at the earliest opportunity. As a result, the learned emperor recommended maximising the agility of the army while planning an invasion: dispensing with large wagons, using pack animals instead of carts, relieving the heavily armed infantrymen of some of their equipment. Under such circumstances, the army had to depend on the light and more agile infantry regiments for its protection and with regard to military action: the peltasts were particularly effective in densely forested areas, while the slingers and archers were more suitable for fighting in mountain gorges. Generally speaking, it was much easier for the infantry to cross such territories, which made their role become more prominent in mountainous and forested areas. These recommendations were all the more important given the fact that the territory of the Byzantine Empire was for the most part composed of such areas, particularly in the Balkan Peninsula.

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