True Size of a Byzantine Army [c. 900 AD] 3D DOCUMENTARY

A history documentary on the True Size of a Byzantine Army of the Thematic Reforms. We begin the episode with the broad trends of the era which had seen the Roman army transform from legions of heavy infantry to a more eastern, cavalry centric force. This system would face additional shakeups with the advent of the Thematic Reforms which moved from a fully professional force to one of rotating levies. We spend some time discussing the structure of the Themes and how its denizens were called up for war.

Next we introduce the basic soldier types of the Byzantine Army before then organizing them into the ever increasing building blocks of this later Roman army. Finally, once the army is build, we cover its Roman army camp, its army march column, and its deployment in battle.

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:27 Thematic Reforms
05:10 Soldiers
07:01 Kontoveriai (10)
09:26 Allaghion (50)
10:22 Vanda (200)
12:12 Infantry and Archers
13:08 Droungos (1000)
14:11 Tourma (3000)
16:55 Theme (9000)
18:45 Army Analytics
20:16 Army Camp
22:03 Army March
25:22 Army Deployment
28:15 Outro

Sources:
A Tenth-Century Byzantine Military Manual: The Sylloge Tacticorum by Georgios Chatzelis
Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World, 565–1204 by John Haldon
Byzantium and Its Army, 284–1081 by Warren T. Treadgold
Byzantine Armies 886–1118 by Osprey Publishing
The Byzantine Army by Charles River

Credits:
Research = Sophia Ware
Script = Sophia Ware
Narration = Guy Michaels
Artwork = Penta Limited

#history
#documentary
#rome

[captaincole]

The Byzantine period is criminally underrated in every field of study and media

[ProVoiceActorGuy]

Loved working on this. It's always so cool to see the final work and the art/animation is improving with every new video. Recorded back in January, it just goes to prove how much work goes into creating these great documentaries. So, well done to all and thanks to the audience for supporting the team and its vision. Guy

[chriskoff]

A few of the ranks or unit names are still in use today in the Hellenic armed forces. Great video!

[TwinHuginHelmet]

Well, lovely to see that Victrix are doing well enough to do sponsorships! They do make some lovely stuff, and their plastics are very easily workable, so it's easy to mod them. I'm on-and-off working on a battle of Argentoratum army using their miniatures. The discount comes rather conventiently, considering I will need to get both more infantry, and eventually have a crack at their Cataphacts.

[PortShaftBrake]

Finally an amazing sponsor for one of these videos!!

[davidhughes]

These super detailed true size documentaries are absolutely indispensable to my fifty plus years of studying Roman military history. Truly grateful for your hard work and dedication. Thank you!!

[Couponuser]

One of the best series on YT. Really happy that we got a Byzantine Army added to this! Would love to see a breakdown for any of these as well! Tang Dynasty, Rashidun/Umayyad, Gupta Empire, Manchu/Qing, Timurids, large Viking Fleet, Axumite Invasion Force of Yemen (early 6th Century), Carolingian, Attila's Royal Hunnic + Germanic Force, Magyar Army, Ottoman, Mughals, and or (First) Crusader Army. Might even be able to get Jackmeister to collab on an Army of the Golden Horde as well

Keep up the great work!

[franciscomoutinho]

thank you so much, Invicta; I had been looking for characteristics of the Byzantine army in the 10th century and having such a reliable source such as you make a documentary about the Byzantine army as a whole saves me so much time

[TheManCaveYTChannel]

More eastern Roman videos! Great video too!

[td]

They were MY choice of civilization in EVERY AoE2 multiplayer campaign no lie. That orthodox chant intro got me hype every time.

[OffFiring]

This is such a solid channel, loving it.

[Fatherofheroesandheroines]

I do think one part of the Byzantie army that is not studied enough is the infantry. The infantry could definitely hold their own. Basil II the Bulgar Killer recognized this and based a lot of his tactics around strong infantry.

[BuccaneersBoy]

Hey, just wanted to say keep up the great work!

[christopherevans]

Invicta at it's Thanks again for all your work

[baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis]

Imagine a modern army unit having a 500 year lineage. I cant. Going from knight to pike and shot things changed so much, and then going from pike and shot to musketeer things changed so much, and then going from musketeers to modern riflemen things changed the most. Outdated organization would see you scythed down in the world wars.

[ErwinHistory]

1:15 listening to this while painting my Victrix Byzantines.... never seen Victirx sponsor a video before. That was like a flashbang

[earltaylor]

Yes!! Thank you, I love learning about the Byzantine empire. I knew about thematic troops being farmers, but I had never heard about their rotation system. Makes sense though.

[adriangabrieljones]

Thank you for the video and the work that went into it!

[ajiibshah]

Just watched Cathapracts . What a treat to have a continuation right away!

[Hasserthered]

I hope Victrix becomes a long time partner for the channel. I'm very much broke atm but I would love to get that deal again in the future