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

> 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.

I read ever book having anything at all to do with the Byzantines that I
could find.  I don't remember most of the titles, nor do I remmeber if
Treadgold's book was among them.

> Oh, that's easy.
>
> Goddamn useless drunken fools of Emperors and
> penny-pinching beauracrats and City aristocracy who
> didn't trust 'em.

Not quit that easy...  What policy, why, by whom, intended consquences,
un-intended consequences, effectiveness, etc.  By the way, you are
missing
some of the most important centers of power of Byzantine Society. 
Funny,
one of the biggest penny-pinching beauracrats of all time (and not just
of
the Byzantine Empire) was the Bulgarslayer, Basil II; and he did more to
preserves and strengthen the Thematic system then anyone else.	His one
catstrophic failure was not training a successor.

> 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.

The men in the Thematic troops did a lot more then just fight in the
line of
battle.  For example, they also operated as gureillas behind enemy lines
if
thier province was overrun before they were mobilized.	This was by
desgin
in the period of Basil II.  They were also for local defense of the
province
from raiders.  So it starts sounding more and more like your Grenzers...

ias