Siege Warfare and Military Organization in the Successor States (400-800 Ad)

Byzantium, the West and Islam
Erscheinungsjahr 2013
ISBN: 978-90-04-25199-1
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 91, 822 Seiten, Format (B × H): 163 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 1379 g

Reihe: History of Warfare

Siege Warfare and Military Organization in the Successor States is the first study to comprehensively treat an aspect of Byzantine, Western, early Islamic, Slavic and Steppe military history within the framework of common descent from Roman military organization to 800 AD. This not only encompassed the army proper, but also a greater complex of client management, private military retinues, labor obligations and civilian conscription in urban defense that were systematically developed by the Romans around 400, and survived to be adopted and adapted by all successors.
The result was a common post-Roman military culture suitable for more restrained economic circumstances but still able to maintain, defend and attack city walls with skills rivalling those of their Roman forebears.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Petersen, Leif Inge Ree

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam & Islamische Studien
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Militärgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Vor- und Frühgeschichte, prähistorische Archäologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface and acknowledgements. xvii
Conventions of transcription, translations, references and resources xxi
List of Maps. xxv

PART ONE: MILITARY ORGANIZATION AND SIEGE WARFARE
Introduction. 1
0.1 Historiography. 2
0.1.1 Exceptionalism, Eastern and Western. 2
0.1.2 The (Even More) Exceptional Rise of Islam. 6
0.2 Methodological and Theoretical Approaches. 10
0.2.1 Thick and Thin Descriptions. 10
0.2.2 Co-evolution and Continuity. 14
0.2.3 Technological Difffusion: The Cultural and Institutional Foundations. 16
0.2.4 Construction of Identity and the Difffusion of Knowledge and Technology. 18
0.3 Sources and Limitations. 19
0.3.1 Limitations. 19
0.3.2 General Observations. 21
0.3.3 Greek Sources. 23
0.3.4 Syriac Sources. 25
0.3.5 Arabic and Other Eastern Sources. 27
0.3.6 Latin Sources. 27
0.4 Structure of the Argument. 29

Chapter One An Age of Transition: From the Fall of the Roman West to the Early Middle Ages. 34
1.1 From Late Roman to “Barbarian” Poliorcetics. 34
1.1.1 Late Roman Siege Warfare. 35
1.1.2 The Thin Description: Visigoths and Romans, 376-474. 39
1.1.3 The Thick Description: Huns and Romans, 441-452 46
1.2 From Emergency Measures to New Institutions. 49
1.2.1 The Regular Army in the 5th Century. 49
1.2.2 New Ways of Recruiting Troops. 53
1.2.3 The Military Following (obsequium) in East Roman Warfare. 56
1.2.4 The Rise of Private Military Forces in the West. 63
1.2.5 The Origins of Medieval Military Obligations: Munera Publica. 67
1.3 Where Did All the Romans Go? The Military Implications of Ethnogenesis. 74
1.3.1 Roman Influences beyond the Frontier. 75
1.3.2 Civil Wars by Proxy and the Involution of the Frontier 78
1.3.3 The Legions on the Rhine Become Franks. 84
1.3.4 The Last Roman Civil Wars in the West, 496-511. 90
1.4 Conclusion: From Emergency Measures to Medieval Institutions. 92

Chapter Two East Rome to Byzantium: Survival and Renewal of Military Insti tutions. 94
2.1 Continuity and Change in East Roman Warfare and Society, 450-800. 94
2.1.1 The Strategic Situation of the East Roman Empire: A Brief Overview. 95
2.1.2 The East Roman Army in the 5th and 6th Centuries. 97
2.1.3 The “Two Hundred Years’ Reform,” or before the Thematic System. 103
2.1.4 From Late Roman client management towards a Byzantine Commonwealth. 111
2.2 Organization of Siege Warfare I: The Army. 115
2.2.1 Specialist Skills among the Regular Troops. 115
2.2.2 Military Engineers. 116
2.2.3 New Developments from the Late 6th Century. 119
2.3 The Many Faces of East Roman Siege Warfare: The Example of the Anastasian War. 123
2.3.1 The Background to the Anastasian War and the East around 500. 124
2.3.2 Abject Surrender: *Theodosiopolis and *Martyropolis 502. 125
2.3.3 Fierce but Flawed Resistance: *Amida (502-3). 126
2.3.4 Multiple Approaches: *Constantina-Tella 502-03. 130
2.3.5 Complex Operations against Country and City: *Edessa 502-03. 131
2.3.6 Complex Operations and the Fog of War: *Amida 503-04. 133
2.4 Organization of Siege Warfare II: The Militarization of Society. 135
2.4.1 The Construction of Dara, 505-06. 135
2.4.2 Civilian Cooperation in the 6th Century. 139
2.4.3 Use of Civilians in the 7th and 8th Centuries. 143
2.5 Conclusion. 147

Chapter Three The Successor States in the West: Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Lombards. 149
3.1 The Ostrogoths, 493-554. 149
3.1.1 Ostrogothic Ethnogenesis. 150
3.1.2 Strategic Situation. 152
3.1.3 Military Organization. 153
3.1.4 Logistics: Adminstration, Labor and Supplies. 157
3.1.5 Ostrogothic Siege Warfare. 162
3.2 The Visigoths in Spain, 508-711. 164
3.2.1 Strategic Situation of the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo. 165
3.2.2 Visigothic Military Organization. 166
3.2.3 Visigothic Siege Warfare. 173
3.3 The Lombards. 176
3.3.1 Ethnogenesis on the Middle Danube. 176
3.3.2 The Lombards in Italy. 179
3.3.3 Lombard Military Organization. 183
3.3.4 Lombard Siege Warfare. 188

Ch

Über Autor(innen)

Leif Inge Ree Petersen, Ph.D. (2011), NTNU, is a postdoctoral fellow of the Norwegian Research Council investigating the fate and role of female captives in the post-Roman world. He has published several articles on Scandinavian and Byzantine military history.