Following Roman Heavy Cavalry (1) on the earlier centuries, this
book explains and illustrates the armor, weapons, organization, and
deployment of elite heavy armored cavalry units during their
long history in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.
In the twilight of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th-6th centuries,
the elite of the field armies was the heavy armored cavalry-the
cataphracts, clad in lamellar, scale, mail, and padded fabric armor.
After the fall of the West, the Greek-speaking Eastern or Byzantine
Empire survived for nearly a thousand years, and cavalry remained
predominant in its armies, with the heaviest armored regiments
continuing to provide the ultimate shock-force in battle.
Accounts from Muslim chroniclers show that the ironclad cataphract on
his armored horse was an awe-inspiring enemy: "...they advanced against
you, iron-covered-one would have said that they advanced on horses which
seemed to have no legs." The heavy units included the regiments of the
Tagmata (the central imperial force based around Constantinople)-the
Scholai, Eskoubitoi, Athanatoi (or Vighla) and Ikanatoi-and also
provincial units raised from the populations of the Themata or army
corps districts throughout the Empire. By the 11th century the latter
were increasingly being replaced with mercenaries, as provincial
governors became semi-independent and often rebellious warlords. This
disunity contributed to the Empire's disastrous defeat by the Turks at
Manzikert in 1071; thereafter the shrunken Empire relied even more
heavily on cavalry, since its field armies had to be mobile to meet the
many threats to the frontiers.
This new study, replete with stunning full-color illustrations of the
various units, offers an engaging insight into the fearsome heavy
cavalry units that battled against the enemies of Rome's Eastern Empire.
