Tactica of Emperor Leo VI the Wise

The Tactica (Greek: Τακτικά) is a military treatise written by or on behalf of Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise in ca. 895-908. Drawing on earlier authors such as Aelian, Onasander and the Strategikon of emperor Maurice, it is one of the major works on Byzantine military tactics, written on the eve of Byzantium's "age of reconquest". The original Greek title is τῶν ἐν πολέμοις τακτικῶν σύντομος παράδοσις ("short instruction of the tactics of war"). The Tactica elaborates on a wide variety of issues, such as infantry and cavalry formations, drills, siege and naval warfare etc. It comprises 20 Constitutions (Diataxeis) and an Epilogue and is concluded by 12 additional chapters, the latter mainly focusing on ancient tactics.

Text

The text of the Tactica comes down in many manuscripts, of which the most reliable date to within a generation of Leo himself. There is at present no modern critical edition of the Tactica apart from that of J.-P. Migne. A new edition, with translation and full critical apparatus, by George Dennis, S.J., is available from Dumbarton Oaks (2010); an extended commentary will follow.

Contents

• Preface
• Chapter I - On Tactics and On the General
• Chapter II -On who the General should be
• Chapter III - On how the Decision should be taken
• Chapter IV - On the Division of the Host and the Condition of the Officers
• Chapter V - On Arms
• Chapter VI - On the Equipment of Cavalry and Infantry
• Chapter VII - On Drilling Infantry and Cavalry
• Chapter VIII - On Military Punishments
• Chapter IX - On Marching
• Chapter X - On Baggage Trains
• Chapter XI - On Camps
• Chapter XII - On Military Preparation
• Chapter XIII - On the Day before Battle
• Chapter XIV - On the Day of Battle
• Chapter XV - On Besieging a Town
• Chapter XVI - On the Actions after the War is Concluded
• Chapter XVII - On Surprise Attacks
• Chapter XVIII - On the Studying of Various Heathen and Roman Formations
• Chapter XIX - On Naval Warfare
• Chapter XX - On Various Maxims
• Epilogue

Additions

• Chapter XXXII - Their (Ancient Greek) Infantry Formations
• Chapter XXXIII - Their (Ancient Greek) Cavalry Formations
• Chapter XXXIV - Their (Ancient Greek) Mixed Formations
• Chapter XXXV - How the Romans Name the Officers of the Army and their Units
• Chapter XXXVIII - Roman Infantry Arms
• Chapter XXXIX - Roman Cavalry Arms
• Chapter XLI - Names of Troop Maneuvers
• Chapter XLII - Phalanx Formations
• Chapter XLIII - On Depth, that is the Depth of Infantry and Cavalry Formations, their Length and the Space Occupied by an Infantryman within the Formation, the Cavalryman and on the Interval between them within the Formations and on the Flight of an Arrow.
• Chapter LIII - What the General Should Do When Besieged
• Chapter LIV - What Should the General Do When Besieging the Enemy
• Chapter LV - How Should the General Speedily Build a Fort close to Enemy Border Without a Pitched Battle

External links

• J.P. Migne's Patrologia Graeca, Vol. 107 contains the original Greek text of the Tactica and a Latin translation (coll. 669-1116)
• The 1917 edition of Rezső Vári is available at Open Library. (Original Greek text and a preface in Latin)