Re: [OT] Bye, Temporarily, and [SGII] Grenzers

--- "Imre A. Szabo" <ias@sprintmail.com> wrote:
> Congratulations, you just re-discovered the thematic
> military organization
> of the Byzantine Empire.  

No, I did that a LONG time ago.  Wrote it up in pretty
extensive detail.

I did a paper on it 11
> years ago.  More

11 years ago. . . Have you read Treadgold's book on
the subject (Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081)?  Prior
to that being published, I've yet to find a good
general purpose work on the Roman Army
post-classically.

> specifically why it failed in the period after the
> Bulgarslayer...

Oh, that's easy.

Goddamn useless drunken fools of Emperors and
penny-pinching beauracrats and City aristocracy who
didn't trust 'em.
 
But Thematics fought in the line of battle and were
overall excellent troops.  Grenzers, as the HRE used
on the Croatian frontier with the Ottomans, are
skirmishers as described.

John

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