Infantry versus Cavalry : The Byzantine Response

REB 46 1988 France p. 135-145 E. McGeer, Infantry versus Cavalry : The Byzantine Response. — This article reviews the battle tactics prescribed by the author of the Praecepta Militaria (ca. 965) for the use of infantry facing cavalry. This text and set of tactics were chosen for study because of the light they shed on the author's efforts to combine the recommendations of earlier military textbooks (especially the Sylloge Tacticorum, ca. 950) with his own expertise in developing and presenting his defensive system. The development of infantry tactics did not end with the Praecepta, however, for the second version of this work included in the Tactica of Nikephoros Ouranos (ca. 1000) shows us that further adjustments were deemed necessary in order to maintain the shifting balance between infantry and cavalry throughout the later tenth century.McGeer Eric. Infantry versus Cavalry : The Byzantine Response. In: Revue des études byzantines, tome 46, 1988. pp. 135-145