Tagma (military)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The ''tagma'' (; : ''tagmata'', ) is a military unit of
battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...
or
regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...
size, especially the
elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...
regiments formed by
Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...
Constantine V Constantine V (; July 718 – 14 September 775) was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. His reign saw a consolidation of Byzantine security from external threats. As an able military leader, Constantine took advantage of Third Fitna, civil war ...
and comprising the central army of the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
in the 8th–11th centuries.


History and role

In its original sense, the term "tagma" (from the Greek ''tássein'', "to set in order") is attested from the 4th century and was used to refer to an infantry battalion of 200–400 men (also termed or in Latin, ''arithmos'' in Greek) in the contemporary East Roman army.Kazhdan (1991), p. 2007 In this sense, the term continues in use in the current Hellenic Armed Forces (''cf.''
Greek military ranks Modern Greek military ranks are based on Ancient Greek and Byzantine terminology. In the army and air force, these names are often based on the unit or post that a holder of each rank usual commands. For example, a is in charge of a , which is d ...
).


Imperial guards, 8th–10th centuries

In later usage, the term came to refer exclusively to the professional, standing troops, garrisoned in and around the capital of
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
.Bury (1911), p. 47 Most of them traced their origins to the Imperial guard units of the late antique
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
. By the 7th century, these had declined to little more than parade troops, meaning that the emperors were hard put to face the frequent revolts of the new and powerful thematic formations, especially the Opsicians, the Asian theme closest to the capital. Within the first sixty years since its creation, it was involved in five revolts, culminating in the briefly successful rebellion and usurpation of the throne by its commander, the Count Artabasdos, in 741–743. After putting down the revolt, Emperor
Constantine V Constantine V (; July 718 – 14 September 775) was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. His reign saw a consolidation of Byzantine security from external threats. As an able military leader, Constantine took advantage of Third Fitna, civil war ...
(r. 741–775) reformed the old guard units of Constantinople into the new ''tagmata'' regiments, which were meant to provide the emperor with a core of professional and loyal troops, both as a defense against provincial revolts, and also, at the time, as a formation devoted to Constantine's iconoclastic policies. The ''tagmata'' were exclusively
heavy cavalry Heavy cavalry was a class of cavalry intended to deliver a battlefield charge and also to act as a Military reserve, tactical reserve; they are also often termed ''shock cavalry''. Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the re ...
units,Bury (1911), p. 48 more mobile than the theme troops, and maintained on a permanent basis. During the defensive phase of the Empire in the 8th and 9th centuries, their role was that of a central reserve, garrisoned in and around the capital, in regions such as
Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...
and
Bithynia Bithynia (; ) was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Paphlagonia to the northeast a ...
. They formed the core of the imperial army on campaign, augmented by the provincial levies of thematic troops, who were more concerned with local defense. In addition, like in Roman armies of late antiquity, they served as a recruiting and promotion ground for young officers. A career in a ''tagma'' could lead to a major command in the provincial thematic armies or a high court appointment, as promising young men had the opportunity to catch the Emperor's attention. Officers in the ''tagmata'' came primarily either from the relatively well-off urban aristocracy and officialdom, or the landed aristocracy of the Anatolian themes, which increasingly came to control the higher military offices of the state. Nevertheless, the ''tagmata'', as indeed military and state service in general, offered a degree of upwards
social mobility Social mobility is the movement of individuals, families, households or other categories of people within or between social strata in a society. It is a change in social status relative to one's current social location within a given socie ...
for the lower strata of society. In their heyday in the 9th and early 10th centuries, there were four ''tagmata'' proper ("τὰ δʹ τάγματα"): :* the '' Scholai'' (Gr. Σχολαί, "the Schools"), were the most senior unit, the direct successor of the imperial guards established by
Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...
(r. 306–337). The term ''scholarioi'' (σχολάριοι), although in its stricter sense referring solely to the men of the ''Scholai'', was also used as a general reference for all common soldiers of the ''tagmata''. :* the '' Exkoubitoi'' or ''Exkoubitores'' (Lat. , Gr. , "the Sentinels"), established by Leo I. :* the ''Arithmos'' (Gr. , "Number") or '' Vigla'' (Gr. Βίγλα, from the Latin word for "Watch"), promoted from thematic troops by the Empress Eirene in the 780s, but of far older ancestry, as the archaic names of its ranks indicate. The regiment performed special duties on campaign, including guarding the imperial camp, relaying the Emperor's orders, and guarding prisoners of war.Bury (1911), p. 60 :* the '' Hikanatoi'' (Gr. , "the Able Ones"), established by Emperor
Nikephoros I Nikephoros I (; 750 – 26 July 811), also known as Nicephorus I, was Byzantine emperor from 802 to 811. He was General Logothete (finance minister) under Empress Irene, but later overthrew her to seize the throne for himself. Prior to becomi ...
(r. 802–811) in 810. Other units closely related to the ''tagmata'', and often included among them, were: :* the '' Noumeroi'' (Gr. Νούμεροι, from the Latin '' numerus'', "number") were a garrison unit for Constantinople, which probably included the ''Teichistai'' (Gr. Τειχισταί) or ''tōn Teicheōn'' regiment (Gr. , "of the Walls"), manning the
Walls of Constantinople The Walls of Constantinople (; ) are a series of defensive wall, defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (modern Fatih district of Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire b ...
. The unit's origins may lie as far back as the 4th–5th centuries. :* the ''
Optimatoi The ''Optimatoi'' (, from , "the Best Men") were initially formed as an elite Byzantine military unit. In the mid-8th century, however, they were downgraded to a supply and logistics corps and assigned a province ('' thema'') in north-western Asia ...
'' (Gr. , from Latin , "the best"), although formerly an elite fighting unit, had by the 8th century been reduced to a support unit, responsible for the mules of the army's baggage train (the τοῦλδον, ''touldon''). Unlike the ''tagmata'', it was garrisoned outside Constantinople and closely associated with its garrison area: the ''thema Optimatōn'', which lay across Constantinople and comprised northern
Bithynia Bithynia (; ) was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Paphlagonia to the northeast a ...
. The commanding ''
domestikos ''Domestikos'' (; , from the ), in English sometimes heDomestic, was a civil, ecclesiastic and military office in the Late Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire. Military usage The ''domestikoi'' trace their ancestry to the '' protectores domest ...
'' of the ''Optimatoi'' was also the governor of the ''thema''. :* the men of the central Imperial Fleet (βασιλικόν πλώιμον, ''basilikon plōimon''), are also counted among the ''tagmata'' in some sources. :* the '' Immortals'' (Gr. ), were one of the elite military units. :* the '' Archontopouloi'' (Gr. ), were an elite military formation of the Komnenian era. In addition, there was also the '' Hetaireia'' (Gr. , " Companions"), which comprised the mercenary corps in Imperial service, subdivided in Greater, Middle and Lesser, each commanded by a respective ''Hetaireiarchēs''.


Organization

There is much debate as to the exact size and composition of the imperial ''tagmata'', owing to the inaccuracy and ambiguity of the few contemporary sources (military manuals, lists of offices and Arab accounts, primarily from the ninth century) that deal with them. Our primary sources, the accounts of Arab geographers
ibn Khordadbeh Abu'l-Qasim Ubaydallah ibn Abdallah ibn Khordadbeh (; 820/825–913), commonly known as Ibn Khordadbeh (also spelled Ibn Khurradadhbih; ), was a high-ranking bureaucrat and geographer of Persian descent in the Abbasid Caliphate. He is the aut ...
and
ibn Qudamah Ibn Qudama (January/February 11477 July 1223) was an ulama, Islamic scholar and aqidah, theologian of the Hanbali, Hanbali school of Sunni Islam. Born in the Palestine (region), Palestine region, Ibn Qudama authored many important treatises on fi ...
are somewhat ambiguous, but they give the overall ''tagmata'' strength at 24,000. This figure has been seen by many scholars, such as J. B. Bury and John Haldon, as too high, and revised estimates put the strength of each ''tagma'' at 1000–1500 men. Others, like Warren Treadgold and (in part) Friedhelm Winkelmann, accept these numbers, and correlate them with the lists of officers in the '' Klētorologion'' to reach an average size of 4000 for each ''tagma'' (including the ''Optimatoi'' and the ''Noumeroi'', for which it is explicitly stated that they numbered 4000 each). The tagmatic units were all organized along similar lines. They were commanded by a ''
domestikos ''Domestikos'' (; , from the ), in English sometimes heDomestic, was a civil, ecclesiastic and military office in the Late Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire. Military usage The ''domestikoi'' trace their ancestry to the '' protectores domest ...
'', except for the ''Vigla'', which was commanded by the '' Droungarios of the Vigla''. He was assisted by one or two officers called '' topotērētēs'' "place-warden, lieutenant" (), each of whom commanded one half of the unit. Unlike the thematic units, there were no permanent intermediate command levels (''tourmarchai'', ''
chiliarch Chiliarch is a military rank dating back to antiquity. Originally denoting the commander of a unit of about one thousand men (a chiliarchy) in the Macedonian army, it was subsequently used as a Greek translation of a Persian officer who function ...
oi'' or ''pentakosiarchai'') until Leo VI introduced the '' droungarios'' . The largest subdivision of the ''tagmata'' was the '' bandon'', commanded by a ''komēs'' "count", called ''skribōn'' in the ''Exkoubitores'' and ''tribounos'' "
tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the Tribune of the Plebs, tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs ac ...
" in the ''Noumeroi'' and Walls units. The ''banda'' in turn were divided in companies, headed by a ''kentarchos'' "
centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...
", or ''drakonarios'' for the ''Exkoubitores'', and ''vikarios'' "
vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...
" for the ''Noumeroi'' and Walls units. The
Domestic of the Schools The office of the Domestic of the Schools () was a senior military post of the Byzantine Empire, extant from the 8th century until at least the early 14th century. Originally simply the commander of the '' Scholai'', the senior of the elite '' tag ...
, the head of the ''Scholai'' regiment, became gradually more and more important, eventually coming to be the most senior officer of the entire army by the end of the tenth century. The following table illustrates the structure of the ''Scholai'' in the ninth century, according to Treadgold:Treadgold (1995), p. 103 In addition, there were a '' chartoularios'' "secretary" () and a '' prōtomandatōr'' "head messenger (), as well as 40 ''bandophoroi'' "standard bearers" () of varying ranks and titles in each ''tagma'', and 40 ''mandatores'' "messengers" for a total unit size of 4125. On campaign, every tagmatic cavalryman was accompanied by a servant. The next table gives the evolution of the theoretical establishment size of the entire imperial tagmatic force, again as calculated by Warren Treadgold:


Professional regiments, 10th–11th centuries

As the Byzantine Empire embarked on its campaigns of reconquest in the 10th century, the ''tagmata'' became more active, and were posted often in garrison duties in the provinces or in newly conquered territories. In addition to the older units, a number of new and specialized units were formed to meet the demands of this more aggressive style of warfare.Haldon (1999), p. 118
Michael II Michael II (, ; 770 – 2 October 829), called the Amorian (, ) and the Stammerer (, or , ), reigned as Byzantine emperor from 25 December 820 to his death on 2 October 829, the first ruler of the Amorian dynasty. Born in Amorium, Michael was ...
(r. 820–829) raised the short-lived ''Tessarakontarioi'', a special marine unit (named after their high pay of 40 ''
nomisma ''Nomisma'' () was the ancient Greek word for "money" and is derived from nomos () meaning "'anything assigned,' 'a usage,' 'custom,' 'law,' 'ordinance,' or 'that which is a habitual practice.'"The King James Version New Testament Greek Lexicon; ...
ta''), and John I Tzimiskes (r. 969–976) created a heavy
cataphract A cataphract was a form of armoured heavy cavalry that originated in Persia and was fielded in ancient warfare throughout Eurasia and Northern Africa. Historically, the cataphract was a very heavily armoured horseman, with both the rider and ...
corps called the ''Athanatoi'' (, the " Immortals") after the ancient Achaemenid unit, which were revived in the late 11th century by
Michael VII Doukas Michael VII Doukas or Ducas (), nicknamed Parapinakes (, , a reference to the devaluation of the Byzantine currency under his rule), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 1071 to 1078. He was known as incompetent as an emperor and reliant on ...
(r. 1071–1078). Other similar units were the '' Stratēlatai'', likewise formed by John Tzimiskes, the short-lived ''Satrapai'' of the 970s, the ''Megathymoi'' of the 1040s or the '' Archontopouloi'' and '' Vestiaritai'' of Alexios I. Many of the new ''tagmata'' were composed of foreigners, such as the ''Maniakalatai'', formed by George Maniakes from Franks in Italy, or the most famous of all tagmatic units, the 6,000-strong mercenary
Varangian Guard The Varangian Guard () was an elite unit of the Byzantine army from the tenth to the fourteenth century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors. The Varangian Guard was known for being primarily composed of recruits from Nort ...
(), established c. 988 by Emperor
Basil II Basil II Porphyrogenitus (; 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer (, ), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII were crowned before their father Romanos II died in 963, but t ...
(r. 976–1025). The reign of Basil II also saw the beginnings of a profound transformation of the Byzantine military system. In the mid-10th century, the decline in the numbers of the thematic forces and the exigencies of the new offensive strategy on the eastern border gave rise to an increasing number of provincial ''tagmata'', permanent professional forces modelled after the imperial ''tagmata''. The great conquests in the East in the 960s were secured by the creation of an array of smaller ''themata'', in which detachments of these professional forces were based, eventually to be grouped under regional commanders with the title of '' doux'' or '' katepanō''. This strategy was effective against small-scale local threats, but the concurrent neglect of the thematic forces reduced the state's ability to respond effectively to a major invasion that succeeded in penetrating the frontier buffer zone. The decline of the part-time thematic armies and the increasing reliance on a large array of permanent units, both indigenous and mercenary, was based not only on the greater military effectiveness of the latter in the more offensive Byzantine strategy of the era, but also on their greater reliability as opposed to the thematic troops with their local ties. The ''tagmata'' recruited from the larger ''themata'' were probably 1,000 men strong, while those from the smaller ''themata'' may have numbered c. 500 men. Foreign, chiefly Frankish mercenary units, also seem to have numbered 400–500 men. Consequently, in the 11th century, the distinction between "imperial" and provincial forces largely vanished, and the term ''tagma'' was applied to any permanent formed regiment, and regional origins and identities are prominently displayed in the units' titles. After c. 1050, like the thematic armies, the original ''tagmata'' slowly declined, and were decimated in the military disasters of the latter third of the 11th century. Except for the Varangians, the ''Vestiaritai'', the '' Hetaireia'' and the '' Vardariōtai'', the older guard units disappear altogether by c. 1100 and are absent from the 12th-century Komnenian army.Treadgold (1995), p. 117 In the
Komnenian army The Byzantine army of the Komnenian era or Komnenian army was a force established by Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos during the late 11th/early 12th century. It was further developed during the 12th century by his successors John II Komneno ...
, the term ''tagma'' reverted to a non-specific meaning of "military unit".


Notes


References


Sources

* *McCotter, Stephen: ''Byzantine army'', edited by Richard Holmes, published in ''The Oxford Companion to Military History'' (Oxford University Press, 2001). * * * * * * * * *Treadgold, Warren T.: Notes on the Numbers and Organisation of the Ninth-Century Byzantine Army, published in ''Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies'' 21 (Oxford, 1980). *Treadgold, Warren T.: ''The Struggle for Survival'', edited by Cyril Mango, published in ''The Oxford History of Byzantium'' (Oxford University Press, 2002). {{Italic title Military units and formations established in the 8th century Military units and formations of the Byzantine Empire Military units and formations by size Guards units of the Byzantine Empire