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Each province or theme of the empire had its own milida or thema. Each thema consisted of two or three turmae, each turmą of five to eight numeri, and each numerus of between 300 and 400 men: the strengths were deliberately variable so that the enemy should not immediately be able to guess a thema’s exact strength.

Each thema was responsible for the defence of its own theme, and could also be used to reinforce the standing army when necessary. The standing army consisted of regular forces of heavy and light cavalry, heavy and light infantry, and the Imperial Guard. Under Alexius Comnenus the total strength of the Byzantine army was about 70,000 men, with about 20,000 of that total in the standing army.

In the field the army was accompanied by a supply and siege train ofcarts and pack animals. An engineer corps and medical corps also marched with the field army.

The main forces engaged on the crusades frontier of the empire were the engineer corps, who assisted at several sieges during the ist Crusade; the Varangian Guard, which accompanied the em-peror to Antioch and took part in the subsequent campaigns, fought the crusaders when they at-tacked Constantinople in 1204, and was probably represented at the siege of Antioch in the ist Crusade; and the Turkish light cavalry, some of whom took part in the ist Crusade and the i2th-century campaigns mentioned above, and who also provided ‘escorts’ to see the crusaders through the lands of the empire, but frequently ended up fighting their unwelcome and unruly guests.

The Ar mieś ofIslam

In the centuries preceding the crusades, continual wars with Byzantium forged a highly organized and efficient Saracen army which to a large extent copied the Byzantine military system. By the end of the ioth century the Saracen Empire—and its army—was breaking up, to be replaced by independent provinces each with its own armed forces. The arrival of the Turks within the empire caused further changes and by the end of the 12th century most of the large armies which fought the crusaders

German broadsword c. 1150-1200, with 32jjin double-edged blade, brazil nut pommel, and straight quillons of square section. The grip is missing. There is a shallow groove or fuller down the middle of both sides of the blade. This type of sword remained in use throughout our period, the brazil nut pommel until mid-i3th century. (Reproduced by permission of the Trustees of the Wallace Collection)

A narrower, slightly longer 33fin broadsword of c. 1340 with the bevelled wheel pommel which came into fashion c. 1175. A plain disc-shaped pommel was introduced earlier in the century and gradually became morę popular, evolving into the wheel pommel, which became the dominant style during the i3th century. (Reproduced by permission of the Trustees of the Wallace Collection)

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