Byzantine Military Manuals as Literary Works and Practical Handbooks

<p>This book studies the <i>Sylloge Tacticorum</i> an important tenth-century Byzantine military manual. The text is used as a case study to connect military manuals with the challenges that Byzantium faced in its wars with the Arabs but also with other aspects of Byzantine society such as education politics and conventions in the productions of literary texts and historical narratives. </p><p></p><p>The book explores when the <i>Sylloge</i> was written and by whom. It identifies which passages from classical or earlier works were incorporated in the <i>Sylloge</i> and explains the reason why Byzantines imitated works of the past. The book then studies the extent to which the <i>Sylloge</i> was original and how innovation and originality were received in Byzantine society. Despite the imitation the author of the <i>Sylloge</i> adapted and updated his material to reflect the current operational needs as well as the ideological cultural and religious context of his time. Finally the book attempts to estimate the extent to which Byzantine generals followed the advice of military manuals and to explore whether historical narratives can be safely used to draw information as to how the Byzantines and the Arabs fought.</p><p></p><p>Therefore along with a detailed study of the <i>Sylloge Tacticorum</i> this monograph also addresses broader issues of the pen and the sword such as military manuals in connection with Byzantine warfare politics literature historiography and education.</p>