The Praecepta Militaria[1] is the Latin conventional title given to a Byzantine military treatise, written in ca. 965 by or on behalf of Eastern Roman emperor Nikephoros Phokas (r. 963-969). Its Greek title is Στρατηγικὴ ἔκθεσις καὶ σύνταξις Νικηφόρου δεσπότουStrategikè ékthesis kaì syntaxis Nikephórou despótou ("Presentation and Composition on Warfare of the Lord Nikephoros").
The treatise comprises six chapters and presents the Byzantine army as it had evolved by the mid-10th century, during the campaigns of the "Byzantine Reconquest" against the Arabs in the East.[2] As such, the treatise contains several novel aspects not touched upon in other Byzantine military manuals, such as an exact account of the formation and use of the cataphracts wedge, the new mixed infantry brigade (taxiarchia), the proper formation of intervals between units and of how they should be guarded, and the use of the menavlon spear. The treatise generally emphasizes on the practical aspects of warfare: various operational scenarios are discussed, as well as the setting up of camps, reconnaissance and the use of spies. The army's religious ceremonies are also emphasized, reflecting Phokas' own religious zeal.[2] The chapters are included and partially amended to account for the early 11th-century situation in the later Tactica of Nikephoros Ouranos.
^The title was ascribed to the treatise (Nicephori praecepta militaria) by its first editor, J.A. Kulakovsky, in 1908
^ abKazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. p. 1709. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
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The PraeceptaMilitaria is the Latin conventional title given to a Byzantine military treatise, written in ca. 965 by or on behalf of Eastern Roman emperor...
author of extant treatises on military tactics, most famously the PraeceptaMilitaria, which contains valuable information on the art of war in his time...
Its use is attested by emperor Nikephoros Phokas in his treatise PraeceptaMilitaria, and by Nikephoros Ouranos and Leo VI the Wise in their Taktika....
formation is the only method prescribed for Kataphraktoi in the PraeceptaMilitaria of Emperor Nikephoros which was designed as a decisive hammer-blow...
emperors Leo VI (Tactica) and Nicephorus Phocas (De velitatione and the PraeceptaMilitaria), among others. Leo's Tactica in particular was greatly inspired...
formation of the Byzantine Cataphracts in the third chapter of his PraeceptaMilitaria. There, he relates that the wedge must be formed by 354 cataphracts...
component as naphtha. Resins were probably added as a thickener (the PraeceptaMilitaria refer to the substance as πῦρ κολλητικόν, "sticky fire"), and to...
46-47) are also included, and were used as a basis for the later PraeceptaMilitaria. The so-called "Three Treatises on Imperial Military Expeditions"...
later serve as an influence on the tactical system described in PraeceptaMilitaria by Nikephoros II Phokas. The word sylloge means, in Greek, a gathering...
(627). Later Byzantine writings, such as De velitatione bellica and PraeceptaMilitaria, describe keeping a portion of troops, either cavalry or infantry...
Dumbarton Oaks. p. 16. ISBN 0884022706. Retrieved 15 August 2012. praeceptamilitaria 965. Nesbitt, John; McGeer, Eric (2000). Talbot, Alice-Mary (ed.)...
VI the Wise (r. 886–912). Chapters 56–62 are a paraphrase of the PraeceptaMilitaria of Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (r. 963–969), while the appended...
Paris, France: CNRS. ISBN 2-222-03838-3. Akritai Battle of Lalakaon PraeceptaMilitaria ODB, "De Velitatione" (A. Kazhdan, E. McGeer), p. 615. El-Cheikh...
offensive operations after the mid-10th century, described by the PraeceptaMilitaria and the Taktika of Nikephoros Ouranos. Haldon, John F. (1990), Constantine...
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