Night Combat in Late Antiquity in the Light of Roman Military Treatises

Łukasz Różycki

doi:10.18778/2084-140X.13.15

Authors

Łukasz Różycki Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of History, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1536-3387

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.13.15

Keywords:

Night combat, stratagems, Byzantine military manuals, Late Antiquity

Abstract

The aim of the text entitled: Night Combat in Late Antiquity in the Light of Roman Military Treatises is to present the theory and practice of night combat in the 6^th century. Based on source analysis (military treatises – mainly Strategicon, and Late Roman and Byzantine historiography), the author presented the theory and practice of night fighting. Apart from classical methods of analysis, the psychology of the battlefield was also used. This gives us a complete picture of how Byzantines use the night as an advantage on the battlefield.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Ammiani Marcellini Rervm gestarvm libri qvi svpersvnt, ed. W. Seyfarth, Leipzig 1978.
Google Scholar

The Anonymous Byzantine Treatise on Strategy, [in:] Three Byzantine Military Treatises, ed. et trans. G. T. Dennis, Washington 1985 [= Dumbarton Oaks Texts, 9].
Google Scholar

Byzantine Military Rhetoric in the Ninth Century. A Translation of the Anonymi Byzantini Rhetor¬ica Militaris, trans. G. Theotokis, D. Sidiropoulos, London–New York 2021 [= Routledge Research in Byzantine Studies].
Google Scholar

De velitatione bellica, [in:] Three Byzantine Military Treatises, ed. et trans. G. T. Dennis, Washington 1985 [= Dumbarton Oaks Texts, 9].
Google Scholar

Digesta Iustiniani Augusti, ed. Th. Mommsen, P. Krueger, Berolini 1870.
Google Scholar

Leonis Diaconi Caloënsis historiae libri decem et Liber de velitatione bellica Nicephori Augusti, ed. Ch. Benoît Hase, Bonn 1828 [= Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae].
Google Scholar

O strategii. Vizantijskij voyennyj traktat VI veka, trans. V. V. Kuchma, Sankt-Peterburg 2007.
Google Scholar

Polyaenus, Stratagems of War, vol. I–II, ed. et trans. P. Krentz, E. L. Wheeler, Chicago 1994.
Google Scholar

Polyainos, Strategika, ed. et trans. K. Brodersen, Berlin 2017.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110537468

Procopii Caesariensis opera omnia, ed. G. Wirth, J. Haury, Leipzig 1962–1964 [= Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana].
Google Scholar

Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus, Epitoma rei militaris – Abriß des Militärwesens. Lateinisch und deutsch, ed. et trans. F. L. Müller, Stuttgart 1997.
Google Scholar

Das Strategikon des Maurikios, ed. et trans. G. T. Dennis, E. Gamillscheg, Wien 1981 [= Corpus fontium historiae byzantinae. Series Vindobonensis, 17].
Google Scholar

Sylloge Tacticorum, quae olim ‘Inedita Leonis Tactica’ Dicebatur, ed. et trans. A. Dain, Paris 1938.
Google Scholar

The Taktika of Leon VI. Text, Translation, and Commentary, ed. et trans. G. T. Dennis, Washington 2010 [= Dumbarton Oaks Texts, 12; Corpus fontium historiae byzantinae. Series Washingtonensis, 49].
Google Scholar

A Tenth Century Byzantine Military Manual. The Sylloge Tacticorum, trans. G. Chatzelis, J. Harris, London–New York 2017 [= Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman Studies].
Google Scholar

Theophylacti Simocattae historiae, ed. et trans. C. de Boor, P. Wirth, Stutgardiae 1972 [= Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana].
Google Scholar

Three Treatises on Imperial Military Expeditions, ed. et trans. J. Haldon, Vindobonae 1990.
Google Scholar

Titus Livius, Römische Geschichte, ed. et trans. H. J. Hillen, J. Feix, München 1974–2000.
Google Scholar

Ahrweiler H., L’idéologie politique de l’Empire byzantine, Paris 1975.
Google Scholar

Allmand Ch., The De Re Militari of Vegetius. The Reception, Transmission and Legacy of a Roman Text in the Middle Ages, Cambridge 2011, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511719929
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511719929

Baldwin B., On the Date of the Anonymous ΠΕΡΙ ΣΤΡΑΤΗΓΙΚΗΣ, “Byzantinische Zeitschrift” 81, 1988, p. 290–293, https://doi.org/10.1515/bz-1988-0240
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/bz-1988-0240

Baldwin B., ‘Torna, torna, phrater’: What Language?, “Byzantion” 67, 1997, p. 264–268.
Google Scholar

Bourke J., Fear and Anxiety: Writing about Emotion in Modern History, “History Workshop Journal” 55.1, 2003, p. 111–133, https://doi.org/10.1093/hwj/55.1.111
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/hwj/55.1.111

Charles M., Vegetius in Context Establishing the Date of the Epitoma Rei Militaris, Stuttgart 2007.
Google Scholar

Chatzelis G., Byzantine Military Manuals as Literary Works and Practical Handbooks. The Case of the Tenth-Century Sylloge Tacticorum, London–New York 2019, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429488054
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429488054

Cosentino S., Syrianos’ Strategikon – a 9th-Century Source?, “Bizantinistica” 2, 2000, p. 243–280.
Google Scholar

Feinberg I., Changes in Sleep Cycle Patterns with Age, “Journal of Psychiatric Research” 10, 1974, p. 183–306, https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3956(74)90011-9
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3956(74)90011-9

Goffart W., The Date and Purpose of Vegetius’ De Re Militari, “Traditio” 33, 1977, p. 69–88, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0362152900009077
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0362152900009077

Grillon Ch., Pellowski M., Merikangas K. R., Davis M., Darkness Facilitates the Acoustic Startle Reflex in Humans, “Biological Psychiatry” 42.6, 1997, p. 453–460, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3223(96)00466-0
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3223(96)00466-0

Gullone E., The Development of Normal Fear: A Century of Research, “Clinical Psychology Review” 20.4, 2000, p. 429–451, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7358(99)00034-3
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7358(99)00034-3

Gyftopoulou S., Historical Information gathered from the Mauricii Strategikon, “Βυζαντινά Σύμμεικτα / Byzantina Symmeikta” 23, 2013, p. 55–89, https://doi.org/10.12681/byzsym.1052
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/byzsym.1052

Haldon J., ‘Fighting for Peace’: Justifying Warfare and Violence in the Medieval East Roman World, [in:] The Cambridge World History of Violence, ed. M. S. Gordon, R. W. Kaeuper, H. Zurndorfer, Cambridge 2020, p. 492–512, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316661291.025
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316661291.025

Haldon J., Information and War: Some Comments on Defensive Strategy and Information in the Middle Byzantine Period (ca. A. D. 660–1025), [in:] War and Warfare in Late Antiquity, ed. A. Sarantis, N. Christie, Leiden 2013 [= Late Antique Archaeology, 8], p. 373–396, https://doi.org/10.1163/22134522-90000012a
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/22134522-90000012a

Hanson V. D., The Roman Way of War, [in:] The Cambridge History of Warfare, ed. G. Parker, Cambridge 2005, p. 46–60.
Google Scholar

Haussig H. W., Theophylakts Exkurs über die skythischen Völker, “Byzantion” 23, 1953, p. 275–462.
Google Scholar

Kelly G., Ammianus Marcellinus. The Allusive Historian, Cambridge–New York 2008 [= Cambridge Classical Studies].
Google Scholar

Koder J., Die räumlichen Vorstellungen der Byzantiner von der Ökumene (4. bis 12. Jahrhundert), “Anzeiger der philosophisch-historischen Klasse” 137.2, 2002, p. 15–34, https://doi.org/10.1553/anzeiger137_2s15
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1553/anzeiger137_2s15

Koder J., Stouraitis I., Byzantine Approaches to Warfare (6th–12th Centuries). An Introduction, [in:] Byzantine War Ideology between Roman Imperial Concept and Christian Religion, ed. J. Koder, I. Stouraitis, Wien 2012, p. 9–16.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1553/0x002d6a9d

Kuchma V. V., Voyennaja organizacija Vizantijskoj Imperii, Sankt-Peterburg 2001.
Google Scholar

The Late Roman World and its Historian. Interpreting Ammianus Marcellinus, ed. J. W. Drijvers, D. Hunt, London–New York 1999.
Google Scholar

Lee D. A., Shepard J., A Double Life: Placing the Peri Presbeon, “Byzantinoslavica” 52, 1991, p. 28–29.
Google Scholar

Luttwak N. E., The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire, Harvard 2009.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjhzrf5

Mecella L., Die Überlieferung der Kestoi des Julius Africanus in den byzantinischen Textsammlungen zur Militärtechnik, [in:] Die Kestoi des Julius Africanus und ihre Überlieferung, ed. M. Wallraff, L. Mecella, Berlin 2009 [= Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur, 165], p. 85–144, https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110219593.85
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110219593.85

Mecella L., Procopius’ Sources, [in:] A Companion to Procopius of Caesarea, ed. M. Meier, F. Montinaro, Leiden 2022 [= Brill’s Companions to the Byzantine World, 11], p. 178–193, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004498778_010
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004498778_010

Morillo S., Battle Seeking: The Contexts and Limits of Vegetian Strategy, “Journal of Medieval Military History” 1, 2002, p. 21–42.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781782044611-003

Năsturel P., Torna, torna, fratre. O problemă de istorie şi de lingvistică, “Studii si cercetări de istorie veche” 7, 1956, p. 179–188.
Google Scholar

Olajos T., Les sources de Théophylacte Simocatta historien, Leiden 1988 [= Byzantina Neerlandica, 10].
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004624788

Rance Ph., Maurice’s Strategicon and ‘the Ancients’: the Late Antique Reception of Aelian and Arrian, [in:] Greek Taktika. Ancient Military Writing and its Heritage. Proceedings of the International Conference on Greek Taktika held at the University of Toruń, 7–11 April 2005, ed. Ph. Rance, N. Sekunda, Gdańsk 2017, p. 217–255.
Google Scholar

Rance Ph., The Date of the Military Compendium of Syrianus Magister (formerly the Sixth-Century Anonymus Byzantinus), “Byzantinische Zeitschrift” 100.2, 2007, p. 701–737, https://doi.org/10.1515/BYZS.2008.701
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/BYZS.2008.701

Rance Ph., Wars, [in:] A Companion to Procopius of Caesarea, ed. M. Meier, F. Montinaro, Leiden 2022 [= Brill’s Companions to the Byzantine World, 11], p. 70–120, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004498778_006
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004498778_006

Rance Ph., “Win but do not overwin” – The History of a Proverb from the Sententiae Menandri, and a Classical Allusion in St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, “Philologus. Zeitschrift für antike Literatur und ihre Rezeption” 152.2, 2008, p. 191–204, https://doi.org/10.1524/phil.2008.0033
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1524/phil.2008.0033

Rich J., Roman Attitudes to Defeat in Battle under the Republic, [in:] Vae Victis! Perdedores en el mundo antiguo, ed. F. Pina Polo, J. Remesal Rodríguez, F. Marco Simón, Barcelona 2012, p. 83–112.
Google Scholar

Rosenstein N. S., Imperatores Victi. Military Defeat and Aristocratic Competition in the Middle and Late Republic, Oxford 1990, https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520334014
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520334014

Różycki Ł., Battlefield Emotions in Late Antiquity. A Study of Fear and Motivation in Roman Military Treatises, Leiden 2021, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004462557
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004462557

Schmalzbauer G., Überlegungen zur Idee der Ökumene in Byzanz, [in:] Wiener Byantinistik und Neogräzistik. Beiträge zum Symposion 40 Jahre Institut für Byzantinistik und Neogräzistik der Universität Wien im Gedenken an Herbert Hunger, ed. M. A. Hörandner Wolfram, J. Koder, Vienna 2004, p. 408–419.
Google Scholar

Shlosser F., The Reign of the Emperor Maurikios (582–602). A Reassessment, Athens 1994, p. 79–88.
Google Scholar

Stouraitis I., Krieg und Frieden in der politischen und ideologischen Wahrnehmung in Byzanz, Vienna 2009 [= Byzantinische Geschichtsschreiber. Ergänzungsband, 5].
Google Scholar

Theotokis G., Byzantine Military Tactics in Syria and Mesopotamia in the Tenth Century. A Comparative Study, Edinburgh 2018.
Google Scholar

Veh O., Untersuchungen zu dem byzantinischen Historiker Theophylaktos Simokattes, Fürth 1957.
Google Scholar

Whately C., The Genre and Purpose of Military Manuals in Late Antiquity, [in:] Shifting Genres in Late Antiquity, ed. G. Greatrex, H. Elton, London 2015, p. 249–263.
Google Scholar

Whitby M., The Emperor Maurice and his Historian Theophylact Simocatta on Persian and Balkan Warfare, Oxford 1988 [= Oxford Historical Monographs].
Google Scholar

Williams G., Xenophon and Ammianus: Two Soldier-Historians and their Persian Expeditions, [in:] Ammianus Marcellinus from Soldier to Author, ed. M. Hanaghan, D. Woods, Leiden 2022 [= Historiography of Rome and its Empire, 16], p. 377–402, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004525351_014
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004525351_014

Yadan L. et al., Night or Darkness, which Intensifies the Feeling of Fear?, “International Journal of Psychophysiology” 97.1, 2015, p. 46–57, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.04.021
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.04.021