Tagmata (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 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 (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 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 and Bithynia. 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 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 (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. ''Excubiti'', 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 (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 unit's origins may lie as far back as the 4th–5th centuries.
:* the ''Optimatoi'' (Gr. , from Latin ''optimates'', "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. The commanding ''domestikos'' 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 and ibn Qudamah 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'', 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'', ''chiliarchoi'' or ''pentakosiarchai'') until Leo VI introduced the ''droungarios'' ca. after 902. The largest subdivision of the ''tagmata'' was the '' bandon'', commanded by a ''komēs'' "count", called ''skribōn'' in the ''Exkoubitores'' and ''tribounos'' "tribune" in the ''Noumeroi'' and Walls units. The ''banda'' in turn were divided in companies, headed by a ''kentarchos'' "centurion", or ''drakonarios'' for the ''Exkoubitores'', and ''vikarios'' "vicar" for the ''Noumeroi'' and Walls units. The Domestic of the Schools, 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 (r. 820–829) raised the short-lived ''Tessarakontarioi'', a special marine unit (named after their high pay of 40 ''nomismata''), and John I Tzimiskes (r. 969–976) created a heavy cataphract corps called the ''Athanatoi'' (, the " Immortals") after the ancient Achaemenid unit, which were revived in the late 11th century by Michael VII Doukas (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 (), established ca. 988 by Emperor Basil II (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 ca. 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 ca. 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 ca. 1100 and are absent from the 12th-century Komnenian army.Treadgold (1995), p. 117 In the Komnenian army, the term ''tagma'' reverted to a non-specific meaning of "military unit".

Notes

References

Sources

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*McCotter, Stephen: ''Byzantine army'', edited by Richard Holmes, published in ''The Oxford Companion to Military History.'' (Oxford University Press, 2001)
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*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