Eastern Roman Empire historical sources

by JesterJester12

I'm a history student and I am thinking about writing a paper about military history of the Eastern Roman Empire, maybe about it's provincial military system. I'm not entirely sure what the subject should be but the main thing is that I don't know where to look for/what are good and reliable historical sources about that topic. Thanks for any help.

y_sengaku

Have you checked the classic of the topic, John Haldon's Warfare, State And Society In The Byzantine World 565-1204 (1999)? Haldon has been the expert in Eastern Roman (i.e. just after the Death of Emperor Justinian) and in Byzantine military system as well as the provincial administration around the rise of Islam.

The military history of Byzantine Empire have constantly attracted attention from various researchers since many military treatises were written and has been translated into modern English so that even those who cannot read the original language so fluently can have access to these important texts, though I suppose that many of them focus rather on central POV than the local military system.

  • Dennis, George (trans.). Maurice's Strategikon: Handbook of Byzantine Military Strategy. Philadelphia, PA: U of Penn Pr., 2001.
  • ________ (trans.). The Taktika of Leo VI: Revised Edition. Dumbarton Oaks, 2014.

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  • McGeer, Eric. Sowing the Dragon’s Teeth: Byzantine Warfare in the Tenth Century (Dumbarton Oaks Studies). Dumbarton Oaks, 2008.

Note that these translations and two studies are, so to speak, a tip of the vast iceberg of the topic. So you'll have to look into OPAC of your university's library to find some more interesting works.

crrpit

Hi - we as mods have approved this thread, because while this is a homework question, it is asking for clarification or resources, rather than the answer itself, which is fine according to our rules. This policy is further explained in this Rules Roundtable thread and this META Thread.

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