Early ByzantinesEarly ByzantinesThis is the army of one of my favorite generals from Ancient History -- Belisarius. At the behest of his emperor Justinian, Belisarius embarked on a reconquest of the Western half of the former Roman Empire. With minimal support from Constantinople, Belisarius reconquered North Africa, smashing the Vandal kingdom, defeated the Ostrogothic kingdom of Italy, and even waged successful war against the Visigoths in Spain. His secretary Procopius recorded Belisarius' deeds, and make excellent reading.
The heart of the Byzantine army is its cavalry -- most of which was armed with bow and spear. Their ability to both skirmish and fight hand to hand gave them greater tactical flexibility than possessed by the "charge on sight" barbarian cavalry they generally faced. In painting my Byzantine cavalry, I have used the existent shield patterns of the Late Roman Empire. I figured since the Early Byzantine forces are a direct continuation of their military establishment -- they still called themselves "Romans" -- they are a valid source.
InfantryThere is controversy over the effectiveness of the Byzantine infantry, called Skutatoi. They were generally armed with spear and shield, and sometimes tiny javelins referred to as "darts." They normally wore leather armor, at the heaviest, and often gave a good account of themselves. At other times, Belisarius seems to shield them from the heaviest fighting, being anxious about their performance. A good example of this would be the Battle of Ad Decimum against the Vandals. The infantry was left in the camp, and it was the Byzantine cavalry that did the day's fighting. Once again, I used existing information on Late Roman infantry for painting their equimpment and shield patterns.
In addition to the regular Byzantine cavalry, capable of both hand-to-hand fighting and skirmishing, there were units of Byzantine Light Cavalry. These operated almost exclusively as horse archers, skirmishing with the enemy at range, rather than closing with them. These are also painted up according to the Late Roman uniforms.
The Byzantines also made good use of light infantry. In the foreground are loose order infantry recruited from hill peoples of the Anatolian interior, such as Isaurians. They would be capable of operating in difficult terrain such as forests and steep hill slopes. In the background, you can see light skirmishing foot -- referred to as Psiloi by the Greeks. These are painted in uniforms of late Roman archers.
