Weapons
No
matter how well organized it was, the Byzantine army could never have been an effective,
battle-ready force capable of guaranteeing the integrity of Byzantine
imperial territory and the safety of its inhabitants without proper military
equipment. Particularly in the field of war, innovation was incessant: new
weapons were invented and existing ones were improved, in a continuous effort to
prevail over enemies and check their aggressive inclinations.
Soldiers’
personal armament varied according to season, and the type and importance of
their military unit. There were even special state workshops for the
manufacture of arms, the armamenta;
individuals were strictly forbidden from bearing arms or dealing in them.
However, each soldier was responsible for his own weapons when state finances
were poor or if the troops were mercenaries.
Byzantine weapons can be divided into defensive and offensive ones.
First among defensive equipment came armour, consisting of an iron helmet (kassidion or korys), which
protected the head; an iron breastplate and vest of chain mail or scale armour
(lorikion) that protected the soldier’s trunk; and
special protectors for the arms (cheiropsella or manikellia) and legs (podopsella or chalkotoubla), made
of metal, leather or wood. Because armour was in general very expensive and
many soldiers could not afford it, they had to find simpler solutions.
Alternatives included cloth helmets (kamelaukia) and
garments made of leather or resilient cloth (kabbadia) in place
of a breastplate. Sometimes the garments underneath the breastplate were made of silk, as its dense weave protected against arrows. Defensive
equipment was completed by shields (scutaria)
of various shapes and sizes, with images and colours denoting the bearer’s
unit.
Offensive weapons were divided into those for close combat (anchemacha), for hand-to-hand fighting, and
long-distance ones (ekebola) for striking the enemy
from afar. Close combat weapons include the sword (spathion), the
Byzantines’ principal offensive weapon, which hung from a belt (louri) and was kept in a special sheath (thekare). Spears (kontaria) were
among the most important weapons at the disposal of infantry units. The mace (bardoukion) was used by the heavily armed cavalry, and was
made of an iron rod or sturdy piece of wood studded with iron nails. Axes (pelekeis) had one or two edges; single-edged ones were
known as tzikouria. Warriors carried axes in sheaths tied around
their waist.
Bows (doxaria) were the most important long-distance weapon. They were
made of wood, horn or bone and sinew, with a string made of animal sinew,
intestines (catgut) or even plant fibres. Bows were up to 117-125 cm in length
and had curled ends. Arrows (sagites)
were 70 cm long, made of thin wood or reed tipped with metal, glass, bone or
wood, and would often be set alight before firing in battles and sieges.
Bundles of 30 to 60 arrows would be stored in quivers (cucura) hanging on the back of infantrymen or on cavalrymen’s
belts. There was also a smaller sized bow known as the solenarion, which fired small arrows called myies (literally “mice” or “flies”). One particularly deadly
weapon was the tzangra, a short,
very powerful bow, which fired arrows smaller and thicker than normal to
penetrate enemy armour.
Another important category of weapons
were those used against the walls (teichomachika) in
castle sieges. Apart from ladders and wooden bridges, besiegers had engines
including the battering ram, for demolishing vulnerable sections in the
fortifications such as the gates. This was made of a long beam of hardwood,
with a solid piece of metal shaped like a ram’s head at one end. The ram hung
freely from a chain attached to a frame, and was directed against the target as
it swung. The frame had wheels so that troops could move it. The catapult (petrobolon) was a weapon that hurled large stones to
create breaches in the walls. Among the most famous siege engines were the
so-called “city-takers” (elepoleis), wheeled
wooden towers tall enough to reach the top of the walls. Standing on the
highest platform, soldiers could fight the defenders on the wall at about the
same height. The towers often carried long-distance machines as well as a ram
at a lower level. One further siege engine on wheels was the tortoise (chelone), which protected attackers under a roof.
Soldiers used them to approach the walls, damage their masonry or dig tunnels
underneath them.
The Byzantine navy also had weapons
similar to those used by the infantry. Light galleys (dromones and chelandia) were
equipped with wooden towers, from which soldiers could fire projectiles against
enemy ships, as well as mechanisms for propelling siphons, the clay or metal
canisters containing Greek fire. During naval battle, troops also hurled hand
siphons, small clay or metal containers of liquid fire used like modern
grenades. Added to these were crossbows (toxoballistres)
firing the small arrows called myies. Finally, shields and skins soaked in water were
placed around the sides of ships, to protect them and those fighting on them
from enemy incendiary materials, so as to prevent fire from spreading.
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