Byzantine cavalry of the 6th century. Bucellarii, the subdivision that gave the name to the feme in Asia Minor in the 8th century, had only two tagmas (gangs) in Mauritius Strateg, which, I emphasize again, reflects the frequent situation of the 6th century.
Miniature. Iliad. 493-506 biennium Library-Pinakothek Ambrosian. Milan. Italy
In the V century. from the military master of the East among the Komitat cavalry regiments, according to the "List of all honorary positions", we find the vexillation of Comites catafractarii Bucellarii iuniores. In the VI century. vexillation corresponded to two tagmas. Thus, we can talk about this part, especially since Mauritius fought in the east. Moreover, the Anonymous Syrian Chronicle of 1234 reports that Mauritius sent 20 thousand bucellarii from Armenia to help the young Sassanian shahinshah Khosrov II Parviz, the number of horsemen may be exaggerated, but, firstly, we know from others sources that the Armenian horsemen who served Byzantium participated in helping Khosrov to seize the throne. Secondly, the number of bucellarii significantly exceeds the vexillation rate of 500 warriors.
Already in the V century. Olympiador wrote that the bucellarii, unlike the federates, were real Roman stratiots (soldiers), probably during this period a vexillation on the basis of a private squad could have arisen.
Obviously, Jordan's “squads” or bucellaria or “satellites”, and indeed the companions (Comites), go back to the Roman social institution of patronage and clientele. The degradation of state power contributed to the emergence of the institution of "squads" on the barbarian model, but on Roman soil it acquired the appearance of a clientele. Bucellaria during this period were "bodyguards" or, more precisely, "military" or "combat" clients of their patrons. I am not afraid of this comparison with the Russian Middle Ages - an analogue of "fighting slaves". And in the edict of the Visigothic king Eureka (end of the 5th century) in the CCCX article it is written clearly and clearly: the cartridge gives the weapon to the bucellaria.
Spear hunter. Mosaic. The Great Imperial Palace. VI century Mosaic Museum. Istanbul. Turkey. Photo by the author
In the first half of the VI century. the term bucellaria is not found, but the presence of squads of commanders is beyond doubt.
Spear-bearers (doriforians) and shield-bearers (hypaspists) are the generic name of the bodyguards or personal combat squad of a particular commander. The squads were formed according to a professional or professional-ethnic principle, to be more precise, they were the "combat clients" of the patron.
The squads of specific commanders, which consisted mainly of clients-"barbarians", in combat conditions formed separate regiments (tagmas). Moreover, they could even be warriors of the palace guard, Agathius of Mirinei wrote: "He [Metrian] was one of the imperial Doriforians, who are called scribons."
Belisarius and Sitta, being young men "who had just shown their first beard," were the personal spearmen of Justinian, the nephew of the Emperor Justin, who at that time was not even a co-ruler of his uncle. Even in the "rank" of shield-bearers, they led the invasion of a detachment of Romans into the Persoarmenia and plundered it. Already being a commander, Belisarius, put 7000 horsemen at his own expense, and they bore the names of spearmen and shield-bearers.
The commander Narses, had no less than ten thousand warriors, among whom were "Eruls, his personal spearmen and shield-bearers."
Valerian, the commander of the troops in Armenia, sent by the Basileus to Italy against the Goths, took with him "who were with him" spearmen and shield-bearers, numbering a thousand people.
The commander Herman, the son of Herman (596), wounded in the battle with the Persians, the shield-bearers carried in their arms to the nearest city.
During the Nike uprising in Constantinople, the palace units took a waiting position, and the situation was corrected by a military retinue: spearmen and shield-bearers Belisarius and Herula Munda.
Here is how Procopius describes the Caesarean set of troops by Herman, with the aim of marching into Italy:
“Then, spending a lot of money received from the emperor and not sparing any personal funds, he unexpectedly gathered in the shortest possible time a large army of very warlike people. The fact is that the Romans, as people experienced in military affairs, having left many chiefs without the attention of whom they were their personal spear-bearers and shield-bearers, followed Herman both from Byzantium itself and from Thrace and Illyria. Great energy in this recruitment was shown by Herman's sons, Justin and Justinian, whom he took with him when he went to war. With the permission of the emperor, he recruited some detachments from the regular cavalry stationed in Thrace. Also, many of the barbarians who lived near the Istra River, attracted by the glory of the name of Herman, came here and, having received large sums of money, united with the Roman army. Other barbarians also flocked here, gathering from all over the world. And the king of the Lombards, having ready a thousand heavily armed soldiers, promised to send them immediately."
Spearmen VI century. Reconstruction of the author based on images of the VI century.
In fact, the army in the war did not consist of regiments, but of squads. Spearmen and shield bearers could easily pass to another leader, attracted by money.
Emperor Justinian, fearing the popularity of the army leaders, waged a struggle against personal squads, suspecting, first of all, Belisarius of usurpation, and taking away from him "shield-bearers and spear-bearers." And Novella 116 of March 9, 542 forbade all generals to have such military formations [Nov. Just. 116].
But this method of formation remained relevant throughout the reign of Justinian, since there was no other way of waging war. Vasilevs, having taken the squad from Belisarius, allowed Narses to recruit it.
So, next to the traditional army structure, a more adequate military institution operated.
They could be infantrymen or horsemen, depending on the military situation, they could lead hundreds or thousands. Shield bearers could become spearmen, spearmen could lead large units. Their career growth in the army, thanks to this parallel structure, was faster. So Sitta, from the spear-bearer Justinian, became the commander of the East and Armenia, and Faga, from the spear-bearers of Belisarius, became a commander himself and had his own spear-bearers and shield-bearers, the spear-bearer of the commander Marina-Stots, was chosen as a usurper by soldiers in Africa in 535. praesentalis) Patricius in 503 sent two of his spearmen to ambush, subjugating a thousand soldiers. Belisarius, who landed in the harbor of Croton (Calabria), subordinates all the cavalry to his spearman Barbation; after the battle of Dar, the imperial spear-bearer Peter commanded all the infantry, Uliaris, the spear-bearer of Belisarius, commanded eighty soldiers. John, the shield-bearer of Belisarius, was sent by him to capture the fortress by Septus in Spain, at the Pillars of Hercules.
The rider above the southern entrance to the church. Bavit Monastery, Egypt. VI - VII centuries. Inv. No. F4874. Louvre. Paris. France. Photo by the author
But they made such a rapid career solely thanks to military courage and dedication, ingenuity and ability to control in battle. And this is taking into account the fact that "the cavalry guard has a short century." Even a cursory analysis of the tombstone steles of Roman legionnaires shows that only a few survived until the age of 45, and death at the age of 25-30 was common. So Diogenes, the spear-bearer of Belisarius, leading a detachment of shield-bearers in Africa, "performed a feat worthy of his valor", being surrounded by superior forces of the Moorish-Moors, led the detachment out of the encirclement.
Spearmen and shield-bearers were closely associated with their leader, shared with him all the privacy of military destiny, received encouragements and the opportunity to really enrich themselves. So in a battle with the soldiers of the rebels of Stotsa in Africa, the spearmen save the master Herman, under whom the enemies killed the horse. The culmination of this relationship can be seen in the battle that flared up around the famous Belisarius, who fought personally at the walls of Rome. The Goths concentrated all the "fire" of the spears on him:
“In this difficult clash, no less than a thousand people from among the Goths fell, and all these were people who fought in the forefront; many of the best of those close to Belisarius fell, including Maxentius, his bodyguard (Doriphorus), who had done many glorious deeds against enemies."
So the spearmen and shield-bearers of Belisarius saved him and the whole cause of the Romans in Italy.
It can be assumed that during the reign of the warrior emperor Mauritius, transformations of the army structure begin to take place, for a number of reasons, and a return to traditional army structures, of course in new historical conditions, for example, in 600, Mauritius created regular regiments from the Armenian militia and resettled them to Thrace. But after his death during the reign of the centurion Phocas, the army completely fell into decay.
I repeat, the described expeditionary army, although it includes about twenty thousand horsemen, is still a description not of its whole formation, but of a particular case. When historians point to the Gothic origin of the horsemen described by Mauritius, they do not take into account the fact that, firstly, the Goths were far from the "Huns", horsemen from Thrace, Avars or Sassanids. Secondly, all the same, the Goths, above all, were excellent infantry with long spears.
Strange, but another ethnic group that traditionally used heavy equipment and only fought on horseback throughout the 6th century. - Armenians - did not get into the described "connection". Armenians are constantly found on the pages of the chronicles of this period, as horsemen, they fight in the "heavily armed" ranks of the Sassanian and Roman cavalry. All the battles that Sitta and Belisarius fought in their youth in Armenia were horse battles. Sitta and died in such a battle in Armenia. And his killers, the Armenians Narses and Aratius, later went into the service of the Greeks. They fight both as separate tribal groups and as part of regular gangs. Moreover, their number was really huge and amounted to thousands.
To summarize, in the VI century. a unique situation developed when the troops participated in hostilities not so much as part of their military unit, but as part of a unit recruited for the war, the attempts of the emperor of Mauritius to overcome this system came across a complete reluctance of military people to change it, which was expressed in a soldier's mutiny, which led to death of the emperor.
Spearman. Mosaic. Kissoufim. VI century Israel Museum. Jerusalem
The cavalry, which was the most important branch of the armed forces, was all directly related. Its division took place not according to the principle of the rider's protective weapons: light, heavy, etc., but according to the principle of using the main type of weapon: spears or bows, so the riders were spearmen and arrows. On some of the features of their equipment and weapons, I would like to draw the attention of readers.
