Weapons
The war sector in Byzantium underwent constant developments
in both inventing new weapons and improving the existing ones, in an effort to precedent
over the opponent and to confront his aggressiveness.
The atomic armaments of the warriors varied depending
on the season, type and importance of their military unit. There were even special
state workshops for the manufacture of weapons, the armamenta, while the
possession and trade of weapons by individuals was strictly prohibited.
The byzantine weapons can be divided into defensive
and offensive ones. Part of the defensive equipment is the armor that included
the iron helmet, the iron, chained or scaly breastplate that protected the
torso, the protections of hands and feet, and the shields, in various shapes
and sizes. Because of the great cost of such armor, many soldiers retorted to
simpler, more economic solutions, using helmets made of textiles and leather or
hard cloth garments.
As for the offensive weapons, were divided into "aghemaha", for melee, and "ekibola", for hitting the enemy from a distance. To the first category
belongs the sword, the main offensive weapon of the Byzantines, the spear, one
of the most important weapons of the infantry units, the bat, used by the heavily
armed cavalry, and the ax.
The bow was the greatest weapon for hitting from a
distance. During the battles and sieges, not rarely, they threw arrows of fire.
A bow of smaller size was the tube that shoot small arrows, while a
particularly deadly weapon was tzangra, a short and very powerful bow, because of
the way the arrows penetrated the armor of the enemy.
Another important category of weapons were the ones
used in castle sieges. The besiegers, except of stairs and wooden bridges, used
the ram, which demolished vulnerable sections of the walls, the petrovolon,
hurling large stones, elepoleis, wooden wheeled towers, and the turtle, which helped
soldiers to approach the walls, damage the stones or dig the ground creating
tunnels.
As for the navy, the Byzantine ships were equipped
with "XYLOKASTRO", from where warriors could blast missiles against
enemy ships, and machines for throwing containers with liquid fire. During the
battle small portable flamethrowers were also used, while toxovallistres hurled
small arrows. Finally, shields and skins impregnated with water and placed on
the sides of the ships, protected the warriors and ships from enemy incendiary
materials.
Glossary (1)
scale armour:
armour consisting of small metal plates placed close to each other so as to form a single body, resembling the skin of a reptile.
Information Texts (1)
Greek fire:
The supremacy of the byzantine navy was undoubtedly due
to the existence of greek fire, also known as "see fire" or "Median
fire", which was the more refined version of martial incendiary materials
existed until then. Ever since the antiquity many flammable materials had been
used against the enemy. But the element that made the greek fire unique, making
it thus a deadly weapon, was the fact that it didn't extinguished when it came
in contact with water.
The Greek-Syrian architect Callinicos is considered to
be the inventor of the greek fire. With this he equipped the ships that successfully
defended Constantinople against the Arabs in 717-718. Callinicos' contribution probably
lies to the optimization of the way the fire was thrown. It's composition
remains a mystery even to this day, since both the ingredients and the method
of preparation were a state secret. The fear of anathema and the punishments
that awaited whoever revealed the secret formula were great. Presumably, the
greek fire was a mixture of naphtha and sulfur, while components such as lime,
resin and other combustible material
enhanced its possibility of ignition. Natural sources of naphtha could be found
in the area between the Caspian and Black Sea, and in Arabia.
The Arabs, just like the Byzantines, had also
discovered and successfully used incendiary mixtures using as main ingredients
naphtha and liquid tar, that did not put out with water, only sand. The
continuous contact between the two countries, combined with the competitions and
spying, makes rather unlikely the existence of "secret" weapons, like
greek fire.
The liquid fire was kept within oblong clay or metal
vessels, called "sifones". They were thrown through special machines
found on the prows of ships. These machines functioned rather like crossbows,
ie large wood constructions with a mechanism similar to that of the arc that
threw stones or arrows. There were also "cheirosifones" who may have
been small clay or metal pots filled with greek fire, which would be thrown
against the enemies· their function would be similar to that of the current
grenades.
The greek fire was mainly used in naval battles. Its main success was that it brought confusion and
panic in the hostile fleets, as it made them flee because of the fire and the
bad effect that it had on the morale of the ship crews. The greek fire was in use by the
Byzantines mainly up to the 13th century.
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