1st Edition
Byzantine Military Rhetoric in the Ninth Century A Translation of the Anonymi Byzantini Rhetorica Militaris
Byzantine Military Rhetoric in the Ninth Century is the first English translation of the ninth-century Anonymi Byzantini Rhetorica Militaris. This influential text offers a valuable insight into the warrior ethic of the period, the role of religion in the justification of war, and the view of other military cultures by the Byzantine elite. It also played a crucial role in the compilation of the tenth-century Taktika and Constantine VII’s harangues during a period of intense military activity for the Byzantine Empire on its eastern borders. Including a detailed commentary and critical introduction to the author and the structure of the text, this book will appeal to all those interested in Byzantine political ideology and military history.
Introduction 1
Part A: the author and the work 1
Syrianos magistros and the compendium of Anonymus Byzantinus 1
Assigning a name to Anonymus Byzantinus 3
Assigning a date to the compendium of Syrianos 6
Dating the compendium and the geo-political background of the period 11
A note on the sources 21
The manuscript tradition 25
Part B: the contents of the work 28
The history of exhortation and exhortative speeches 28
The “practicalities” of exhortation speeches: where, when, how 35
The skills of a commander as a public speaker 37
Rhetorical topoi in building morale 39
Note on the translation 55
Hortatory public speeches: drawing their arguments from various sources 57
For the zeal for the faith 61
For the fatherland 62
For the love for our compatriots 62
For the punishment of evildoers 63
Other made-up arguments 67
From religion 70
From the mode of life 70
From the slander of the enemy army 70
From [the right] time 70
From the place 70
From the cause 70
From the past, in this way 71
From the present, such as 71
From the future, such as 71
From the fabrications, such as 71
The achievements of the audience 72
The achievements of the ancestors of the audience 73
The achievements of others 73
More examples about the useful 77
The preparation of weapons 77
The training in war tactics 78
Bravery 79
The endurance of pain 79
The obedience to the commanders 79
The study of the glorious 80
The study of the possible 80
The study of the outcome of the battle 81
Example of a consolatory speech, in the absence of the transposition of the cause [when the reproach
takes place, then the transposition of the cause is missing] 87
Bibliography 88
Biography
Georgios Theotokis is a lecturer of European history at Ibn Haldun University, Turkey. His publications include Norman Campaigns in the Balkans, 1081–1108 ad (2014) and Byzantine Military Tactics in Syria and Mesopotamia in the Tenth Century (2018).
Dimitrios Sidiropoulos is currently PhD Student in Byzantine History (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki).
