Although he probably never set foot on a battlefield, the Byzantine emperor Leo VI (886-912) had a lively interest in military matters. Successor to Caesar Augustus, Constantine, and Justinian, he was expected to be victorious in war and to subject barbarian peoples to Rome, so he set out to acquire a solid knowledge of military equipment and practice.
The Tactical Constitutions
, or
Taktika
, were the result. First published by Dumbarton Oaks in 2010 as part of the
Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae
series, and now available in this updated, revised paper edition, this is the first modern critical edition of the complete text of the
, including a facing English translation, explanatory notes, and extensive indexes.