Tag: Byzantium

The Cilician frontier in the ninth and tenth centuries

There were many reasons for Near Easterners to be in Byzantium. Some were taken there against their wishes; some went there willingly to trade, to negotiate, or to die. Some entered the Christian Empire only once, while others paid frequent visits; some had a very fleeting glimpse of Byzantium while others settled there. Conversely, Byzantines went to the Near East for many of the same reasons, and they travelled under similar conditions. Continue reading “The Cilician frontier in the ninth and tenth centuries” →

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Mercenaries in the Late Eastern Roman (‘Byzantine’) Empire, as viewed by the Sources

Foreign mercenaries made up a substantial part of the Byzantine armies long before the late thirteenth century. Despite the high cost of their maintenance, their constant readiness and mobility made the employment of mercenaries an attractive option. As long as they proved themselves a competent force on the battlefield and were well handled by the government, the sources do not doubt the expediency of employing them. Continue reading “Mercenaries in the Late Eastern Roman (‘Byzantine’) Empire, as viewed by the Sources” →

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“The army is the glory of the Emperor”; evolution of military power in the Roman East (Part 2)

The configuration of an elite force directly attached to the imperial office had many implications. Given that this was initially an arithmetically rather small corps and, therefore, could not campaign individually against the enemies of the empire, its primary purpose was to circumscribe the loyalty of the provincial armies. Continue reading ““The army is the glory of the Emperor”; evolution of military power in the Roman East (Part 2)” →

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“The army is the glory of the Emperor”; evolution of military power in the Roman East (Part 1)

“Don’t allow your army to be broken up or to become poor, or you will become poor yourself, and consider yourself very wretched. The army is the glory of the Emperor, and the power of the palace. For, if there is no army, the state (Treasury) cannot stand firm, but anyone who wants to will by all means oppose you. Endeavour, at all times, (to see) that the fleet grows, and that you have it at full strength; for the fleet is the glory of the Roman realm”. (lines from the late 11th century so-called Strategikon of Kekaumenos) Continue reading ““The army is the glory of the Emperor”; evolution of military power in the Roman East (Part 1)” →

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Paul of Aegina; the first routine laminectomy in recorded History

This review emphasizes the role of Paul of Aegina in the history of surgery and his influence on the subsequent medicine and surgery of Islam, proving that he was not only a carrier of the knowledge discovered by his predecessors (Hippocrates, Galen, etc.), but also he expanded the horizons of surgery of his time, using his talent to perform very complicated surgery with favorite outcomes in a variety of diseases in many fields of medicine. Continue reading “Paul of Aegina; the first routine laminectomy in recorded History” →

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