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Immortals (Byzantine Empire)
The Immortals ( el, Ἀθάνατοι, ''Athanatoi'') were one of the elite '' tagmata'' military units of the Byzantine Empire, first raised during the late 10th century. The name derives from ''a-'' ("without") + ''thanatos'' ("death"). History The ''Athanatoi'' were a body of young men of noble status that was originally raised by John I Tzimiskes (r. 969-976) in 970 for his war with the Rus', where they played a decisive role in the battles before Preslav and during the Siege of Dorostolon. The unit was commanded by a ''domestikos'', as with most of the other '' tagmata'' (the professional standing regiments), and on campaign camped near the imperial bodyguard, the ''Hetaireia''. The contemporary historian Leo the Deacon describes the ''Athanatoi'' as heavily armoured shock cavalry, "sheathed in armour" or as "armed horsemen adorned with gold". Tzimiskes' unit was probably disbanded shortly after his death, since it does not appear again in the sources. The name of the ''Ath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tagma (military)
The tagma ( el, τάγμα, ) is a military unit of battalion or regiment size, especially the elite regiments formed by Byzantine emperor Constantine V and comprising the central army of the Byzantine Empire in the 8th–11th centuries. History and role In its original sense, the term "tagma" (from the Greek τάσσειν, "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 ''bandum'' or ''numerus'' 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). 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.Bury (1911), p. 47 Most of them traced their origins to the Imperial guard units of the late antique Roman Empire. By the 7t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The region is bounded by the Turkish Straits to the northwest, the Black Sea to the north, the Armenian Highlands to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Aegean Sea to the west. The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean seas through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the Balkan peninsula of Southeast Europe. The eastern border of Anatolia has been held to be a line between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Black Sea, bounded by the Armenian Highlands to the east and Mesopotamia to the southeast. By this definition Anatolia comprises approximately the western two-thirds of the Asian part of Turkey. Today, Anatolia is sometimes considered to be synonymous with Asia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rise Of The Tomb Raider
''Rise of the Tomb Raider'' is a 2015 Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Microsoft Studios and Square Enix's Square Enix Europe, European subsidiary. The game is the eleventh main entry in the ''Tomb Raider'' series, the sequel to the 2013's ''Tomb Raider (2013 video game), Tomb Raider'', and is the second instalment in the ''Survivor'' trilogy. Its story follows Lara Croft as she ventures into Siberia in search of the legendary city of Kitezh while battling the paramilitary organization Trinity, which intends to uncover the city's promise of immortality. Lara must traverse the environment and combat enemies with firearms and stealth as she explores semi-open world, open hubs. In these hubs she can raid challenge tombs to unlock new rewards, complete side missions, and scavenge for resources which can be used to craft useful materials. Development of ''Rise of the Tomb Raider'' closely followed the conclusion of dev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varangian Guard
The Varangian Guard ( el, Τάγμα τῶν Βαράγγων, ''Tágma tōn Varángōn'') 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 northern Europe, including mainly Norsemen from Scandinavia but also Anglo-Saxons from England. The recruitment of distant foreigners from outside Byzantium to serve as the emperor's personal guard was pursued as a deliberate policy, as they lacked local political loyalties and could be counted upon to suppress revolts by disloyal Byzantine factions. The Rus' provided the earliest members of the Varangian Guard. They were in Byzantine service from as early as 874. The Guard was first formally constituted under Emperor Basil II in 988, following the Christianization of Kievan Rus' by Vladimir I of Kiev. Vladimir, who had recently usurped power in Kiev with an army of Varangi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Count Robert Of Paris
''Count Robert of Paris'' (1832) was the second-last of the Waverley novels by Walter Scott. It is part of ''Tales of My Landlord'', 4th series, along with ''Castle Dangerous''. The novel is set in Constantinople at the end of the 11th century, during the build-up of the First Crusade and centres on the relationship between the various crusading forces and the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus. Composition and sources After completing ''Anne of Geierstein'' at the end of April 1829, Scott's energies were devoted principally to non-fictional works, most notably a two-volume ''History of Scotland''. But a new novel was always on his schedule; by February 1830, Scott had determined on a narrative of the First Crusade, and was soon undertaking appropriate research while working on ''Tales of a Grandfather'' and ''Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft''. The title ''Robert of Paris'' was settled by 5 September, and composition began in November. In spite of concern caused by unfav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (novel), Rob Roy'', ''Waverley (novel), Waverley'', ''Old Mortality'', ''The Heart of Mid-Lothian'' and ''The Bride of Lammermoor'', and the narrative poems ''The Lady of the Lake (poem), The Lady of the Lake'' and ''Marmion (poem), Marmion''. He had a major impact on European and American literature. As an advocate, judge and legal administrator by profession, he combined writing and editing with daily work as Clerk of Session and Sheriff court, Sheriff-Depute of Selkirkshire. He was prominent in Edinburgh's Tory (political faction), Tory establishment, active in the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, Highland Society, long a president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1820–1832), and a vice president of the Society o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archontopouloi
The ''archontopouloi'' ( gr, Ἀρχοντόπουλοι) were an elite military formation of the Byzantine army during the Komnenian era, in the 11th-12th centuries. They were founded by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos () as part of his military reforms and were recruited among the orphans of Byzantine officers who were killed in battle. History During the Seljuq invasion of Byzantine Asia Minor after the Battle of Manzikert (1071), there were increased numbers of orphaned children; this led Emperor Alexios I Komnenos () to initiate rescue efforts. In , while involved in a war against the Pechenegs, Alexios recruited some of these orphans, drawn from the children of the Byzantine officers who had died in battle, and armed and trained to form an elite 2,000-strong cavalry unit, known as the ''archontopouloi'', the "sons of the archons (leaders)". The ''archontopouloi'' are considered to be the only Byzantine orphan care institution directly influenced by ancient Greek policies. Altho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pechenegs
The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პაჭანიკი, bg, печенеги, pechenegi, bg, печенези, ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Pečenezi, separator=/, Печенези, la, Pacinacae, Bisseni were a semi-nomadic Turkic ethnic people from Central Asia who spoke the Pecheneg language which belonged to the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. Ethnonym The Pechenegs were mentioned as ''Bjnak'', ''Bjanak'' or ''Bajanak'' in medieval Arabic and Persian texts, as ''Be-ča-nag'' in Classical Tibetan documents, and as ''Pačanak-i'' in works written in Georgian. Anna Komnene and other Byzantine authors referred to them as ''Patzinakoi'' or ''Patzinakitai''. In medieval Latin texts, the Pechenegs were referred to as ''Pizenaci'', ''Bisseni'' or ''Bessi''. East Slavic peo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nikephoros Bryennios The Elder
Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder ( el, Νικηφόρος Βρυέννιος ο πρεσβύτερος), Latinized as Nicephorus Bryennius, was a Byzantine Greek general who tried to establish himself as Emperor in the late eleventh century. His contemporaries considered him the best tactician in the empire. Early career Nikephoros had steadily risen through the ranks of the military, to the point that he was given an important command by Romanos IV at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. Commanding the left wing of the Byzantine forces, he was one of the very few generals who performed well at that battle.Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Decline and Fall'', pg. 3 In 1072–1073, he served as '' doux'' of Bulgaria, where he reimposed Byzantine control after a series of uprisings, and was afterwards elevated to the important position of ''doux'' of Dyrrhachium. In about 1077 Nikephoros, by now the former governor of Dyrrhachium, became disgusted with Michael VII's treaty with the Seljuk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Kalavrye
The Battle of Kalavrye (also Kalavryai or Kalavryta) was fought in 1078 between the Byzantine imperial forces of general (and future emperor) Alexios Komnenos and the rebellious governor of Dyrrhachium, Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder. Bryennios had rebelled against Michael VII Doukas () and had won over the allegiance of the Byzantine army's regular regiments in the Balkans. Even after Doukas's overthrow by Nikephoros III Botaneiates (), Bryennios continued his revolt, and threatened Constantinople. After failed negotiations, Botaneiates sent the young general Alexios Komnenos with whatever forces he could gather to confront him. The two armies clashed at Kalavrye on the Halmyros River in what is now European Turkey. Alexios Komnenos, whose army was considerably smaller and far less experienced, tried to ambush Bryennios's army. The ambush failed, and the wings of his own army were driven back by the rebels. Alexios barely managed to break through with his personal retinue, b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power and initiated a hereditary succession to the throne. Inheriting a collapsing empire and faced with constant warfare during his reign against both the Seljuq Turks in Asia Minor and the Normans in the western Balkans, Alexios was able to curb the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as the Komnenian restoration. His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Turks was the catalyst that sparked the First Crusade. Biography Alexios was the son of John Komnenos and Anna Dalassene,Kazhdan 1991, p. 63 and the nephew of Isaac I Komnenos (emperor 1057–1059). Alexios' father declined the throne on the abdication of Isaac, who was thu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persian Immortals
Immortals ( grc, Ἀθάνατοι, Athánatoi) or Persian Immortals was the name given by Herodotus to an elite heavy infantry unit of 10,000 soldiers in the army of the Achaemenid Empire. The unit served in a dual capacity through its role as imperial guard alongside its contribution to the ranks of the Persian Empire's standing army. While it primarily consisted of Persians, the Immortals force also included Medes and Elamites. Essential questions regarding the historic unit remain unanswered because authoritative sources are missing. Herodotus' account Herodotus describes the Immortals as being heavy infantry led by Hydarnes the Younger; it provided the professional corps of the Persian armies and was kept constantly at a strength of exactly 10,000 men. He stated that the unit's name stemmed from the custom that every killed, seriously wounded, or sick member was immediately replaced with a new one, maintaining the corps as a cohesive entity with a constant strength. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
