The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine EmpireIn this book, the distinguished writer Edward N. Luttwak presents the grand strategy of the eastern Roman empire we know as Byzantine, which lasted more than twice as long as the more familiar western Roman empire, eight hundred years by the shortest definition. This extraordinary endurance is all the more remarkable because the Byzantine empire was favored neither by geography nor by military preponderance. Yet it was the western empire that dissolved during the fifth century. |
From inside the book
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... Mongol, or Turkic clan, tribe, or war band. That is, success attracts camp followers to share in the plunder; the resulting numbers add strength that subjects weaker groupings and enslaves individuals, perhaps in large numbers. All ...
... Huns. With their hardy Mongolian ponies, they introduced an entirely new and highly effective style of warfare into the Roman world, which was destined to be adopted and adapted to form the basis 20 • The Invention of Byzantine Strategy.
... Mongols, and finally the Mongol-Turkic subjects of Timur, our Tamerlane. And these are tactics that the Byzantines would eventually learn to imitate very successfully (lariats aside), and even improve. First there are the rapid volleys ...
... Mongols, Turkic arqan), a rope loop at the end of a pole, and hobbles. But the greatest skill of the Huns, all our sources concur, was with their primary weapon, the composite reflex bow: “Shapely bows and arrows are their delight, sure ...
... Mongol bows were perfectly symmetrical. Even if we had fully attested illustrations of Hun bows, they would not tell us much, because the appearance of these weapons is so misleading: when viewing unstrung examples in museum cases today ...
Contents
1 | |
The Myth and the Methods
| 95 |
III The Byzantine Art of War
| 235 |
Grand Strategy and the Byzantine Operational Code
| 409 |
Was Strategy Feasible in Byzantine Times? | 421 |
Emperors from Constantine I to Constantine XI
| 423 |
Glossary
| 427 |
Notes
| 433 |
Works Cited
| 473 |
Index of Names
| 491 |
General Index
| 495 |