D'Amato (Raffaele)_The Last Marines of Byzantium, Gasmouloi, Tzakones and Prosalentai. a Sort History and a Proposed Reconstruction of Their Uniforms and Equipment (Journal of Mediterranean

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The Last Marines of Byzantium 219

Copyright © 2010 Mediterranean Institute, University of Malta.

THE LAST MARINES OF BYZANTIUM

GASMOULOI, TZAKONES AND PROSALENTAI

A SHORT HISTORY AND A PROPOSED

RECONSTRUCTION OF THEIR

UNIFORMS AND EQUIPMENT

RAFFAELE D’AMATO

University of Ferrara, Italy

The last centuries of Byzantium were characterized by the continuous efforts of the

central authority, in the middle of the chaos of the civil wars and of the centrifugal

tendencies of the last Roman elites, to structure and re-organize their military resources

against the constant menaces of Latins, Franks, Venetians, Slavs, Bulgars and Turks.

After the re-conquest of Constantinople in 1261 AD Michael VIII Palaiologos rebuilt a

strong naval force, able to withstand the military expedition of Charles D’Anjou, to

lessen dependence on the Genoese, to counteract Venice’s naval strength and generally

attend to the needs arising from the wide ranging naval operations of the resurrected

Byzantine Empire. This great fleet, under the order of Alexios Philanthrôpènos, was

manned partly by the new created regiments of the Gasmouloi, Marine Tzakones and

Prosalentai. The general purpose of this paper is to briefly trace the history of these

regiments; in particular it will endeavour to look at their military attire and equipment,

using available data from artistic, literary and archaeological sources.

The history of the Roman army in the last centuries of Byzantium is a

very complex one characterized by the continuous efforts of the central

authorities to structure and re-structure the remaining military resources

against the constant threats from Latins, Franks, Venetians, Slavs, Bulgars

and Turks, amidst the chaos of the civil wars and the centrifugal tendencies

of the last Roman elites. Although the military power of the empire wasnow but a pale shadow of its former self, some elite units raised by the

Palaiologan emperors proved to be highly effective and able to confront

with some success the empire’s external enemies, as well as to participate

in the dramatic palace coups and internecine power struggles of this very

convulsive period.

Journal of Mediterranean Studies, 2010 ISSN: 1016-3476 Vol. 19, No. 2: 219–248

(05) Raffaele D’Amato 09/05/2011, 10:52 AM219



220 Raffaele D’Amato

After the reconquest of Constantinople from the Latins in 1261 AD and

the return of legitimacy with Michael VIII Palaiologos (1259–1282), Byzantium

rebuilt a strong naval force,1 able to withstand the offensive of Charles D’Anjou,

act as a balance against the Venetians, and to generally engage in the wide

range of naval operations of the resurrected Byzantine Empire.2 Not willing to

rely exclusively upon the maritime power of the Genoese,3 arch rivals of the

Venetians, the emperor was able to build a great Imperial Fleet, a new Vasilikos

Stolos, equipped with Roman sailors and marines, and commanded by Romans.

This great fleet, described by Gregoras and Pachymeres, was the most important

and largest of thirteenth-century Byzantium. It was placed under the commandof the Protostrator Alexios Philanthrôpènos,4 stationed in the provinces, and

commanded by regional Doukes.

In addition, the emperor created, among others, three military units to

form part of the fleet:5 the Gasmouloi, the (Marine) Tzakones and the

Prosalentai and he applied himself with such energy to the creation of the

new regiments that, in his autobiography he proudly wrote that the new

marines were convinced that their new home could only have been the sea.6

The Gasmouloi and the Tzakones were used in the navy as light infantry, 7

with Gregoras calling them ‘a maritime armed force’.8 These military units,

which were destined to endure for generations, were assigned to the navy

and organised into a number of military groups or divisions and placed

under the command of Lochagoi, Tagmatarchai, Komètés and Navarchoi,

corresponding approximately to ships’ captains, regimental commanders,

commanders of naval squadrons, and admirals. According to Pachimères,

‘the fleet was indeed great, being composed of many ships full of warlike

young men, hungry for booty . . .’9

The effectiveness of the new naval units was soon demonstrated in

action. In 1263, Philanthrôpènos successfully led a Genoese-Roman fleet

against a number of islands held by the Venetians: Paros, Naxos,10 Kos,

and the Negropontine towns of Karystos and Oreos. Michael’s new naval

troops were the kern of the fleet: ‘for the Gasmouloi were bold in battle,

and while these were assigned for battle, those called Proselontes were

assigned to rowing only. In addition, there were the Laconians whom the

ruler had transplanted from the Peloponnese . . .’11 In the same year, naval

operations were also carried out in Crete to help the local population intheir rebellion against the Venetians.12 In 1268, a new naval expedition was

conducted against the Morea to seize the coasts of the Peloponnese, and the

Tzakones and Gasmouloi were once again the key fighting element on

board, while the Proselantai constituted the rowing force.13 In 1273, during

the great expedition against John I Doukas of Thessaly, a fleet of about 73





units manned partly by Tzakones and Gasmouloi, and once again under the

command of Philanthrôpènos, attacked the Latin Lords of Greece.14 Following

the victory at Neopatras by John the Bastard, the Latin Lords of the Archipelago

sent a fleet of mainly Venetian ships, from Crete and Negroponte, to attack

the Imperial Fleet anchored at Demetrias in the Gulf of Volos. Sanudo

mentions, ‘12 tra Galee e Tarrette, e 50 altri legni da remo . . . incontrando

l’armata dell’Imperatore che era di 80 Gallee . . .’15 Gregoras, who left a

detailed description of the battle, records the Latin fleet as composed of 50

Venetian galleys from Crete and more than 30 Euboian ships.16 According

to Gregoras, the Venetian ships were fitted with high wooden towers whichmade it look like one was confronting a wall. At the beginning of the battle

the Romans seemed headed for defeat, but the arrival of reinforcements

lead by the Despot John Palaiologos turned the tide and the Latin fleet was

completely routed and its leaders captured.17

The Gasmouloi

The first contingent of soldiers for the fleet was sought and obtained by

Michael VIII from the fierce Gasmouloi, who originated from the region

around Byzantium and lived in and around the city, especially in the region

of the Propontis,18 but they are also said to have been resettled by him from

the Peloponnese in the 1260s.19 It is significant that these people were not

considered unequivocally Roman and had a special name. They were infact of mixed race, being a product of the intermarriage between Latins and

Byzantines, i.e. of local mothers and Italian fathers; as a consequence they

were part Greek and part Latin.20 According to Kambourouglou21 the name

Vasmoulos-Gasmoulos22 came from bat (probably the same etymology a

bâtard ) and moulos, that in the dialect of Morea meant bastard, or more

simply from the Latin word mulus.23 For Roman authors, it meant someone

part Roman and part Latin.24 As a consequence, although they were recruited

from within the Empire, the sources try to explain their ethnicity to demonstrate

that they were not completely Rhomaioi (Romans). Clearly their loyalty

was to the Byzantine Roman state, for which they fought, forming the

military contingent called Gasmoulikon.25 Giorgios Pachimères gave a short

description of them, where he sets out the commonly-held opinion of themas endowed with a mixture of the best qualities of both Romans and Latins:

. . . the contingent of the Gasmouloi, who being of mixed race could speak

the Latin language – for they were born of both Romans and Latins . . . had

forethought in war and prudence from the Romans, (and) audacity and stubbornness

from the Latins . . .26





They were turbulent individuals but very good at sea and it is interesting

to compare the above description with the diametrically opposite and very

negative image of them left by the anonymous Latin author of the Directorium

ad faciendum passagium transmarinum:

. . . and they are called Gasmouloi who were begotten on their father’s side

by a Greek and on their mother’s side by a Latin or on their father’s side by

a Latin and on their mother’s side by a Greek. In faith they are fickle, in

promise deceitful, in word mendacious, adroit in evil, ignorant of good, impudent

to their betters, prone to discord, accustomed to plundering, inclined to savagery,

adverse to piety; hungry for carnage and death, restless in everything, givento drink, incontinent without restraint, slaves to greed, gluttony and intemper-

ance, loving no one beside themselves and what belongs to them. They present

themselves as Greeks to Greeks and as Latins to Latins, being all things to

everyone, not to make a profit . . . but to destroy . . .27

Two things may have counted against their being counted as full Romans.

Firstly, they were only half-Roman in descent; and this is explicitly declared

to have affected their nature. Secondly, they seem to have been raised in a

Latin environment as they could speak the Latin language.

We have no information about the number of the Gasmouloi in Byzantium,

but it must have been considerable, considering that mixed marriages between

Latins from Italy and Byzantines were already common in the eleventh and

twelfth century, when westerners were uninterruptedly living in Constantinople.

Fighters from this race are already recorded by Nicetas Choniates for the

reign of Manuel I.28 The phenomenon obviously grew with the Latin conquest

of Byzantium after the fourth Crusade and subsequent intermarriages.29 This

was, indeed, a factor that mitigated the reaction of Michael VIII against the

Latin population left in Constantinople after 1261: the Gasmouloi were the

offspring of intermarriages and it was not an option for Michael to alienate

the sympathy of these elite naval troops who served in the imperial fleet by

exiling their fathers! It was clearly in his interest to nurture their loyalty.

Assigned to the fleet, they would seem to have mainly made up the crews of

the fleet stationed in Constantinople, along with the Tzakones, and also

served as rowers.31

The Gasmouloi, who formed the first nucleus of the men on the reconstitutedfleet of Michael VIII, were also the crew of the vasiliké holkas (the fleet of

the imperial house) stationed at the Blachernai Palace.32 The emperor also

used them to punish insults to his authority. When in 1275 or spring 1276,

Genoese privateers from Genoa committed corsair acts in the Black Sea and

refused to accord to Michael VIII the honours which were his due, 33 the





Emperor sent a flotilla carrying all the Gasmouloi present in Constantinople

after them under the command of Alexios Alyattes, the imperial Vestiarios.

The flotilla overtook the Genoese with the help of a large Catalan merchant

ship which had been lying in the harbour. Michael, who had been encouraging

his men from the shore, ordered the Genoese crews to be blinded, a task that

his fearsome marines promptly carried out.34

Usually these Gasmouloi fought on the Roman side, but this need not

have been true for all children of mixed parentage; indeed, writing in the

1330s, the Latin author of the Directorium ad faciendum passagium

transmarinum saw these Gasinuli— as he called the Gasmouloi— as simplyperfidious, all things to all men, taking advantage of their dual heritage to

seize advantage with either side as they might. So they were not considered

always trustworthy. At the beginning of the fourteenth century the Gasmouloi

in Thessaloniki, although they felt themselves part of the Eastern Roman

race, did not hesitate to pass themselves off as Latins if it suited their

interests.35 Pachymeres specifically states that the Gasmouloi knew the

language of the Latins, suggesting that they were not brought up in an

exclusively Roman environment. Nor should we assume that all Gasmouloi

were born outside marriage. Prince William II himself married a Roman

woman from Epiros and was moreover ready to ‘give wives’ to the two

Turks whom he knighted and enfeoffed in the 1260s.36 Some of them even

reached high administrative office, like for instance a certain Ogerius—

probably a gasmules, although he could have been Genoese—who was the

imperial notary on behalf of the Latins who signed the first treaty between

the Palaiologan Empire and the Venetians in 1265.37

The Tzakones

To provide further manpower for his new fleet, the emperor distributed

largesse and invested large amounts of money in the transportation to

Byzantium, in 1261 or early 1262, of families of Tzakones from the regions

of Laconia and Monemvasia, assigning them to special regions in the city

and enlisting the men in his new fleet:38

He (Michael) had great need to settle in the city lightly-armed soldiers, andso he called many Lakones, who arrived from the Morea, and he settled them

as natives, distributing places near the city. Bestowing the yearly pay, he also

supplied them with many other rights, and used them for many (things) inside

and outside, for they displayed worthy behavior in the wars . . .39





These Laconians are here and elsewhere linked with the Gasmouloi,

who are similarly not called simply ‘Romans’; but differently from the

Gasmouloi they were not of mixed blood at all, and simply came from a

particular area in the Peloponnese. In any case, for all intents and purposes,

they were considered Romans owing to their military attributes and the

uninterrupted military service they had rendered in the army since ancient

times.40 Pachymeres states that these groups of warriors had been resettled

from the Peloponnese. He attests clearly that the word Tzakones was a

corrupted form of ‘people from Laconia’(εκ τω′ν Λακω′ νων)41 i.e. people

from South-Eastern Morea, around Mistra,

42

and that these Λα′ κωνες werea very warrior-like race, famous for their military skills in the garrisoning

of castles.43 We also know about the naval qualities of the Tzakones/Lakones

from as early as the time of Saint Nikon Metanoites, in the eleventh century:

‘. . . the sons of the Lakones . . . consider as their own the biremes and the

triremes of the state, and made up the Imperial Fleet which sailed the seas

. . . ’44 The arrival of these inhabitants from the Eastern Peloponnesian coast

influenced the ethnic composition of the navy’s combatants. These Tzakones /

Lakones were in fact prominent in the garrison of the city and soon became

a body of imperial guards,45 assigned to defend the sea walls as lightly

equipped soldiers,46 but, in particular, they constituted the bulk of the crews

of the reconstituted imperial fleet, supplementing the Gasmouloi,47 especially

from 1260 to 1270.

In actual fact, the word Tzakon meant both a body of combatants (garrison

soldiers, marines, imperial bodyguards, paramilitary police, and light infantry)

and an ethnic designation for those originating in Laconia.48 It is clear from

a letter of about 1285–1286 from Patriarch Gregorius of Cyprus, that the

word Tzakones also indicated a race (genos).49 This ‘race’ of Peloponnesians

mentioned by Gregorius may have been the descendants of the original

Tzakones transplanted to the capital by Michael VIII to perform the various

military duties listed in the sources.50

Their presence is specifically noted, alongside the Gasmouloi, during

two naval campaigns, in 1262 and 1273: ‘many others were from the Lakones

that the people have corrupted to Tzakones, who the ruler transplanted with

their wives and children to Constantinople from the Morea and other western

regions, and who were numerous and warlike . . .’51

Michael issued hisgenerals with blank letters of appointment, to be given to Tzakones, who,

in exchange for military service, often received the title of Sebastos.52 The

profession was hereditary,53 which is not surprising considering that for

their services the Tzakones not only received a salary from the Emperor but

also topoi, or holdings, near Byzantium.54 Bartusis has suggested that, although





such topoi or places were probably small and inadequate for substantial

farming (as Pachymeres does not employ the word land) they nevertheless

provided a home as a conditional grant in order to ensure the continued

service of the heirs of the Tzakones who originally recruited.55

The activity of the Lakones in Asia Minor and in Pontus can be determined

through the toponyms, and is reflected as well in frescoes in the churches of

Laconia and Asia Minor. A considerable number of places bear names containing

the root of the word Tzakones, like in Tsakonos (Ano Matsouka in Pontus),

Tsakonochori (in Anatolian Thrace) and Tsachnochori (Roumelia) bear witness

to lands given to the Tzakones, or to places where they had operated, that areto be found much further than the lands around the capital.56 Their diaspora

around the Empire’s territories was mainly due to their activity as marines all

around ‘Romania’, i.e. the territories inside the boundaries of the Roman

Empire of Byzantium, but probably also due to the changes in the stationing

of the fleet determined by the policy of Andronikos II (s. infra).

The Prosalentai

The third group of fighters enlisted by Michael VIII for his new fleet was

also composed of native Romans, smallholding soldiers, called Prosalentai.

In contrast to the first two, they were, in principle, rowers, remiges,

προσελω′ ντες, servants of the marines, while the other two regiments were

mainly employed as fighting troops. According to Pachymeres the Emperor

‘fitted out and built a fleet and he assigned more than a thousand rowers

from the lands…’ The words Proselontes or Prosalentai were used—according

to Pachymeres—as the official designation for the imperial rowers of Michael

VIII.57 The expression used by Pachymeres (εκ τω′ ν χωρω′ ν) means that the

Proselontes did not come from Byzantium, but from other areas of the

Empire. Bartusis suggested that these rowers were recruited amongst the

peasants of the lands abandoned by their Frankish masters. 58 According to

Pachymeres ‘giving service to them (i.e. to the Tzakones and the Gasmouloi)

as rowers were the Proselontes: to most of whom, especially to those who

were the best, the ruler assigned lands everywhere close to the coast . . .’59

The offer of lands by the Emperor in exchange for service in the fleet must

have constituted an attractive proposition.The recruitment of rowers represented a further attempt by the emperor

to increase the population of the re-conquered capital, because many lands

were assigned to them inside and around Byzantium. However, the sources

also mention lands on the islands: on Lemnos, where a group of Proselontes

were stationed and looked after land on the island for at least 80 years from





as early as 1284 until as late as 1361, and it seems that the institution itself

was remarkably stable and probably hereditary; around 1330, on the

Kassandreia Peninsula of Halkidiki, the Prosalentai were free landowners

with considerable properties of at least several acres; rowers also had lands

on the Longos Peninsula, adjacent to Kassandreia, and in the area east of

the mouth of the River Strymon.60

The Prosalentai were protagonists of another incident with the Genoese

narrated by Pachymeres.61 After a hard discussion during a drinking session,

a member of the Prosalentai struck a Genoese of Galata who had taunted

him by saying that Constantinople would soon be Latin again. The Genoeseslew the man with his sword, and his killing enraged the emperor so much

that Michael called up the army from inside and outside the city determined

to expel all the Genoese from Galata. The episode shows the high consideration

that Michael VIII had for the imperial Prosalentai! The rage of the Emperor

subsided only after the Genoese authorities had pleaded with him and agreed

to pay a hefty indemnity.62

Later History of the Regiments

The above-mentioned marines (especially the Gasmouloi and the rowers)

were recruited to satisfy the special needs that Michael VIII faced after the

re-conquest of the city in 1261, and the enlistment of the marine Tzakones

was the result of the military and diplomatic efforts of the same emperor

during his first campaign in Morea, but these units were destined to outlast

the reign of the first of the Palaiologans. The reconstituted navy comprised

80 ships by 1283 when Andronikos II (1282–1328), son and successor of

Michael VIII, disbanded and dismissed the Gasmouloi and the Tzakones in

an attempt to reduce costs, choosing instead to rely entirely on Genoese

vessels; by 1291 about 50–60 vessels had been hired.63 The reason for this

decision was the 1285 truce with the Venetians that caused the emperor to

consider the maintenance of a large number of ships, sailors, rowers and

marines as too heavy a burden for imperial finances and proceeded to

reduce the size of the fleet.

The Proselentai were not much affected by this imperial order, because

the lands granted to them by Michael VIII in exchange for their militaryservice were already in their hands, and there was no cash involved. They

continued carrying on their duties in Constantinople to the end of the

thirteenth century and probably into the early fourteenth century as well. 64

The Tzakones, who are no longer to be encountered in the area of

Constantinople after the reduction of the fleet ordered by Andronikos II,





received some lands in grant and some money at the time of their discharge.

Nevertheless, they did survive in the provinces.65 They were settled in

many areas of the empire, like the Pontus, Thrace, and in many areas where

they still carried out garrison duties at castles and fortresses. The letter of

the Patriarch Gregory of Cyprus referred to earlier mentions ‘Dorians and

Peloponnesians’ settled at Herakleia, in Thrace, living in an impoverished

state. Bartusis suggests that, with time, the Tzakones remaining in

Constantinople probably lost their separate ethnicity and would seem to

have been incorporated into the Gasmouloi.66

Those most affected by the Andronikos measures were the Gasmouloi.Gregoras explicitly mentions the impoverishment of the Gasmouloi, whose

ranks were decimated. The ultimate consequence was the passage of many

of them into the service of Franks and Turks,67 and this can well explain

the bad reputation they had with the author of the Directorium. By 1300

some of them are to be found in the service of the Venetians in Crete. 68

According to Pachymeres and Gregoras:

. . . for these reasons the warlike soldiers of the Fleet, despised by all and

deprived of their salary, partially applied themselves to perform mechanical

works to obtain some way to survive, when this was possible, and partially

deserted to the enemies, so that together with them they ravaged Roman

territory in the manner of pirates . . .

Others, on the other hand, ‘became hirelings to those renowned Romans

distinguished by wealth, others gave up their arms and turned to farming. . .’69

Some of them, however, continued to serve in the fleet, playing an active

role in military actions and in the city’s disorders. This is confirmed by

Marco Minoto, Venetian bailli of Byzantium, who in March 1320 writes,

‘in Constantinople, Venetians, both Christians and Jews, are being despoiled

by Gasmouloi, Greeks and officials of the Emperor . . .’70

The emperor’s plans to resurrect the fleet by building twenty galleys in

about 1320 were implemented by his grandson Andronikos III (1328–1341).

The new emperor re-employed the Gasmouloi and probably the Prosalentai

as well, following Andronikos II’s abdication. The Gasmouloi seem have

played an active role in the civil wars of the 1340s, 71 during the rebellion

that caused the death of Apokaukos, to whom they were loyal, considering

that they formed the main nucleus of the crews of the reconstituted Roman

fleet of 70 ships, created to counterbalance the Turkish threat from the

sea.72 Our sources confirm that the Proselentai still existed as an institution

until the second half of the fourteenth century.73





There is no evidence that later emperors attempted to recruit Prosalentai,

Gasmouloi and Tzakones to replace or reinforce existing contingents.74

Nevertheless, these regiments, or at least soldiers bearing their names, are

still to be encountered inside the Empire as late as 1422 in the case of the

Gasmouloi, 1361 for the Proselentai, and 1429 for the Tzakones.75

The source for 1429 is particularly relevant for our topic. According to

Sphrantzès and according to the Book of Ceremonies of Constantine

Porphyrogenitos, the Tzakones had had a great reputation as defenders and

guardians of citadels since the eight century AD. As early as 746 AD,

Monemvasia was considered a maritime centre of fundamental importancefor the Empire, garrisoned by Tzakones who spoke the Doric dialect, and

this was still the case nearly seven hundred years later, in 1429 AD. 76 In

this year the inhabitants of Monemvasia considered themselves loyal and

strong allies of the Empire (Simmachoi Monemvasiotai), but as free as their

Spartan fathers had been before them. They enjoyed a great reputation as

infantry and cavalry but also as seafarers, being described by Sphrantzes as

very able in maritime affairs:

. . . on land and sea they are always very able and virtuous, good seafarers

and sailors, having many ships they are excellent ship-owners and captains,

not only with their own ships, but also in the imperial fleet where many of

them are commanders; at the same time on the dry land they are highly

renowned cavalrymen and warriors skilled in javelin throwing, but also tena-cious and brave infantrymen. Indeed their commanders were considered keen

and wise and were held in great esteem, because often they offered hospitality

and consoled travellers. But especially they preserved their faith and their love

since ancient times until today of God and the Roman authorities. Indeed for

these their virtues of faith and love they have been honoured by their suzerains

in different times . . .77

A Reconstruction of their Dress and Equipment

An attempt to reconstruct the military attire and equipment of the last

marine elite of Byzantium is possible only by combining the iconography

of the period with descriptions in the sources and with archaeological finds.

Literary sources are, in fact, not very rich with information about theirdress, equipment, and physical aspect but we have encountered a number

of iconographic sources belonging to the second half of the thirteenth or

early fourteenth centuries which represent sea battles which can assist us in

our task. The Tzakones and the Gasmouloi were in the service at that time

and although they were considered as Rhomaioi, i.e. Greek-speakers, embracing





Orthodox Christianity who followed the customs and the dress of the citizens

of the Empire, and as a consequence, culturally indistinguishable from the

other Romans, iconographic sources would seem to suggest that their military

attire had been influenced by both Byzantium and the Latins.78

The London British Library’s manuscript Add. Ms. 15268, produced in

Acre about 1286, is a very important document which sets out the universal

history of the world and according to Folda, citing Buchtal, it is strongly

influenced by the new Palaiologan art of Byzantium.79 Folios 105v and

126v of this manuscript show

men engaged in navaloperations (Figs. 1–2). The

central illumination of folio

105v shows craftsmen

building a ship, dressed in a

typically Western way but

with Eastern-looking tools

and weapons. They are

represented also in the lower

part of the folio, sailing a ship

with lateen sails. They could

well represent the light

soldiers of mixed blood who

formed the core of the

Gasmouloi. They are simply

dressed with an Italian tunic

of red and blue color that in

the Latin and Greek sources

of that epoch was called

tunica, gonnella or chitonia,

and was made of linen or

wool. This kind of tunic was

shaped like a T and was worn

over an inner one called

interula, camicia or kamision,

directly worn in contact withthe skin.80

The best visual representation of marines and rowers of Byzantium in

action we have encountered is to be found in the History of Alexander , held

by the Venice Hellenic Institute, Codex Gr. 5.81 Of particular interest are

folios 3r , 21r , 42r , 43r , 108v, 113v (Fig. 3), 124r ,124v,82 representing imperial

Fig. 1. Add. Ms. 15268, British Library,

London, folio 105v; courtesy of Dr. David

Nicolle.





Fig. 2. Add. Ms. 15268, British Library, London,

folio 126v; courtesy of

Dr. Andrea Babuin.

Fig. 3. Codex Gr. 5, Biblioteca dell’Istituto Ellenico di San Giorgio dei Greci,

Venezia, folio 113v, ex Trahoulias.





galleys of the fourteenth century filled with armed warriors, rowers and

fighting sailors. We have representations of Eastern Roman warships, spe-

cifically lateen-rigged galleys, operating with one or two banks of oars,

and on the deck one can see clean-shaven oarsmen and an officer with

typical Western European bonnets, like the Gasmouloi probably wore.83 At

other times, they appear bare-headed or covered with the typical white

Eastern Roman turban. Lightly-armed troops are seen besides heavy infan-

trymen, probably embarked troops. As in the Acre manuscript, rowers and

fighting sailors are dressed in western or eastern tunics of blue, light green,

pinkish, off-white and red colour,

84

while the soldiers are clad in Byzan-tine-type heavy armour.

In attempting the reconstruction of the equipment of the Tzakones, one

must keep in mind that the Tzakones of Michael VIII were ethnically Lakones

(Hellenes from ancient Laconia and Monemvasia). The large number of

paintings to be encountered in Laconia linked to their presence as garrison

troops are a valuable source; in places like Geraki, there are still many

church frescoes representing fighting saints and warriors, some of them

heavily armoured. These churches and their frescoes are very similar to

churches and frescoes found in all the territories of ‘Romania’ where we

encounter the toponym of

Tzakones.85 In seeking to

identify depictions of Tzakones,

there are three aspects which

can point us in the right

direction: details of heraldry,

symbols on the shields and

literary descriptions.

A fresco in the church of

Aghios Georgios tou Kastrou

(Saint George of the Castle),

in Geraki, painted in the second

half of the thirteenth century,

shows the saint standing in

military attire (Fig. 4). The

background of the round shielddepicting Saint George has

small white dots representing

the stars on the outer rim, on

a red brown surface, with a

half-moon in the centre, inside

Fig. 4. Saint George, fresco of the Church of

Aghios Georgios tou Kastrou, in situ, Geraki,

courtesy of Dr. Andrea Babuin.





which we see a sun with eight rays.

This depiction, sometimes with

variations, can also be found in other

churches in Geraki: for instance on

the shield of Saint George painted in

the church of Saint John Chrisostomos

in the early fourteenth century,86 or

the Saint George represented in the

church of Saint Athanasios, where can

see a half moon with the sun witheight rays and around it planets in circular shape painted on the inside.87

All these representations show the saint having the same symbol on his

shield: the half moon with the sun and eight rays, surrounded by stars.

According to the Orphic Hymns the sun and the moon are the eyes of the

Eternal God, the sky his head and the stars (white dots on the shield’s

surface) his hair. A special body of priests has existed since the time of

Septimius Severus charged with the duty to worship the new Sun God and

his wife, the Moon: the Emperor and Empress venerated as the Sun and

the Moon, symbols of the idea of the eternal Empire ( Aeternitas Imperii).88

In his campaign against the Parthians, the Emperor Caracalla (212–

217 AD), recruited a corps of Lakones for the Roman army who eventually

became the Lakonikos and Pitanatis regiments.89 At that time, amongst the

various depictions on the shields of the Lakones who fought in Caracalla’s

army, there were also these iconographic signs: the half moon, the sun, the

eight rays, the stars.90 These symbols, together with the meanders and the

swastikas, preserved on the shields of the warrior saints of Geraki, probably

indicated the continuity of the Greco-Roman pagan tradition of the Lakones

soldiers (Tzakones), transplanted to the Roman Army.91

The sun and the half moon as symbols of the eternal and universal

Empire are also to be found on the shield of Constantine the Great, represented

together with Alexander the Great in the gold multiple of nine solidi preserved

in the Bibliothèque National de Paris. The denomination of the Emperor as

invincible (invictus) underlines in a particular way the parallelism between

the founder of the ecumenical monarchy and the founder of the Eastern

Roman Empire, as a representation of the uninterrupted Greco-RomanOecumene.92 The two symbols—the moon and the eight ray sun—were for

the Hellenic Lakones ancient symbols of their Greek past and the eternity

of the Empire ( AETERNITAS IMPERII ) as an institution, the Roman

conception of the Emperor as the representative of the one God.

Fig. 5. Bronze coins of Caracalla and

Geta, 198–211 AD, private collection.





The Tzakones were indeed the carriers of symbols attesting to the continuity

of the eternal Empire. Signs like the half moons, the eight ray sun, the

stars, the flowers, the meanders, and the swastikas visible in Geraki 93 are

proof of this continuity in the iconographic tradition. In these iconographies

one can see the insertion of the pagan symbols of ancient Greece into a

Christian milieu, and used according to the Roman military tradition. These

symbols derive from the interaction of the Tzakones garrisoning the castles

of ‘Romania’ with the heretical Christian or pagan tendencies of the inhabitants

of the garrisoned places, or as a consequence of past traditions.

The half moon, already symbol of the Lakones and of the ancient city of Byzantion since ancient times,94 was probably recovered from the Palaiologoi

as a symbol of the eternal Empire after Constantinople was retaken from

the Latins in 1261. It was therefore natural that the Tzakones wore it on

their shields and flags, in the new Palaiologan army. The half moon was

adopted also by the Sassanians who transformed it into an emblem of their

state,95 and was one of their military neshans or seals.96 After 1200, the

Seljuks of Rum adopted the same symbol as well, and from the Seljuks or

maybe directly from the Romans it was also adopted by other Turkish

tribes. Lakones warriors were conscripted into the army of the Seljuk Turks

of Rum in the thirteenth century. The Patriarch Cyril says that ‘when Sultan

Alad-hin was ruler he transferred near him, in Iconium, about 30,000 families

from the province of Laconia in the Peloponnese . . .’97 Probably he used

them against the Mongols in the first half of the thirteenth century, after

the peace treaty between the Nicean Empire and the Seljuks. The future

emperor Michael Palaiologos was commander-in-chief of the Imperial

contingents that fought beside the Turks on that occasion.98 Amongst his

flags, it is probable that he had the standards of the Tzakones. It is not

surprising that the Ottoman Turks transformed the half moon and the eight

ray sun into the symbol of the present Turkish flag. When Mohammed II

conquered Byzantium in 1453, all the symbols of the Roman Empire became

symbols of the new state of ‘Romania’ now ruled by the Turkish emperor

in the name of Allah.

The Tzakones were probably the models for the painters of the frescoes

of Geraki and many other localities. This is also confirmed by artistic sources

in territories outside ‘Romania’. The late thirteenth-century manuscript Ms.Ars. 5211—held by the Bibliothéque de l’Arsenal de Paris99 and probably

produced in Acre by the same school which produced manuscript Ms. 15268

held at the British Museum, shows the marching army of Holofernes in folio

252 (Fig. 6), depicted like Palaiologan warriors of that age. It was habitual





for Latin artists to represent ‘evil peoples’ in the Bible with the physical

appearance of their enemies. The flags at the head of the marching army are

the same, as are the moon and the eight-ray sun. The church of Aghios Georgios,

at Apodolou, in Crete, belongs to the early fourteenth century as well and

shows Saint George dressed like a Romaios Kavallarios exhibiting the moon

on the shield (Fig. 7). A further, extremely important parallel can be foundin a fresco in the celebrated church of Boyana, considered for its 1259 AD

frescoes painted during the reign of Constantine Asen the masterpiece of

Medieval Bulgar churches. The scene of the miracle of Saint Nicholas on the

sea shows a thirteenth-century ship, manned by sailors dressed in a western

style, having their shields or the shields of the passengers arranged on the

Fig. 6. Ms. Ars. 5211, Bibliothéque de l’Arsenal, Paris, folio 252, courtesy of

Dr. David Nicolle.





small turret at the stern.100 The designs

on the shields are once again the half

moon and the sun with eight rays, and

there are strong possibilities that the ship

represented is one belonging to the

Roman Empire of Byzantium, probably

a ship of Michael VIII’s fleet just before

the reconquest of ‘the City’.101

The Tzakones bore on their shields

other distinctive signs that characterizedthem as elite garrison troops.102 For

instance, turrets of castles are visible on

the coat of arms on the shield in the

depiction of the Sleeping Soldiers at the

Holy Sepulchre at the church of Saint

Chrisostomos in Geraki (Fig. 8). The

epic songs of Pontus narrate their heroic

actions and refer to them as Drakellenes

or Drakellenoi (Greek dragons). One

example is the poem of Konstantinos

Fig. 8. Sleeping Soldiers at the Holy Sepulchre, Saint Chrisostomos Church, in

situ, Geraki, author’s photo.

Fig. 7. Saint George, Church of

Aghios Georgios, Apodolou, Crete,

author’s photo.





Digenis Akritas, where the defenders of a castle bar access to a bridge to the

hero.103 The people from Pontus saw them as brave Hellenic warriors, coming

from Laconia, who continued in the tradition of the Classical Greek fighters.

The Akritic songs of Cyprus spoke about these outstanding fighters.104

The iconography of the miniatures and of the frescoes also give us

details of the kind of military gear worn by the Tzakones, Proselentai, and

Gasmouloi in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. At times, these seem

to differ considerably from their description as lightly-equipped warriors as

set out by Pachimeres and Gregoras, but we should remember that the

mention of these troops as lightly-equipped warriors relates to the earlierphase of their recruitment, while other later sources, such as Sfrantzès, also

speak of their skills as cavalrymen, infantrymen and javelin-men. In these

frescoes and miniatures, we note the use by the marines of the Oplon or

amphion, i.e. a full mail hauberk usually fitted with coif and gauntlets;105

of helmets shaped like western

chapels de fer ,10 6 called in

medieval Greek Kranoi or Kukla;

of Linothorakes similar to West

European soft armour or surcoats

(Fig. 9).107 We also note the

presence of javelins, swords,

crossbows, and daggers (Fig. 2).

The images on the miniatures

and frescoes can be matched with

weapons of the same age actually

found in the territory of

‘Romania’. For example, the

battle/tool axe on folio 105v of

the Acritan manuscript finds a

perfect parallel in a thirteenth or

fourteenth-century specimen

preserved at the museum of

Kazanlik in present-day Bulgaria

(Fig. 10) while the sword of Saint

George of Aghios Georgios tou Kastrou resembles a thirteenth-centuryspecimen in the museum of Rouse, which is also in Bulgaria (Fig. 11). This

is further confirmation that the artists who represented the warriors in

frescoes and miniatures had before them real life models, and were not

simply resorting to some artistic convention.

Fig. 9. Add. Ms. 15268, British Library,

London, images from folios 16r, 71r;

courtesy of Dr. David Nicolle.





On the basis of what we have set out above, we can

now attempt to advance a tentative approximation of

what the Gasmouloi (or Proselentai) and the Tzakones

of the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries might have looked

like (Pls. 1–2). We have already seen the Gasmouloi

have been described as ferocious and strong warriors

of mixed race,108 and this is the way in which the artist

had represented one of them (Pl. 1). We have also added

in our reconstruction the small bags typically used by

Latin and more specifically Venetian and Genoese

sailors, called bourcète,109 and western style daggers or

basilards. Various kinds of clothing and footwear would

have been worn by the marines, as result of a variety

of influences from Latin states, Byzantium and Muslim

Principalities.111 We have also adopted the use of amulets

such as crosses and pendants with images of warrior

saints, given that this was a prerogative of Christian

soldier.112 Given the professional military nature of the

Fig. 10. Battle-pole axe, thirteenth Century, Museum of Kazanlik (Bulgaria),

author’s photo.

Fig. 11. Medieval sword from Rouse (Bulgaria), thirteenth

Century, Rouse Museum, courtesy of Prof. Valeri Yotov.





Plate 1. Hypothetical Reconstruction of

a Gasmoulos or Proselentas , by Raffaele

D’Amato & Igor Dzys.

Plate 2. Hypothetical Reconstruction

of a Tzakon Officer (Archon), by

Raffaele D’Amato & Igor Dzys.





Tzakones and the Gasmouloi, it is not inconceivable that many of them

would have worn talismans and icons associated with the image of Saint

Nicholas, protector of seamen, around their neck.113

Conclusions

There is no doubt that the findings concerning Roman military dress and

equipment for this age must clearly be considered tentative in nature but

we feel that the results are not unsatisfactory. The manuscript miniatures

and the paintings of the churches offer us a great deal of material throughwhich we can try to find out what Byzantium’s marines looked like in this

epoch. The detail of the paintings, the great deal of military equipment

illustrated, its matching with the descriptions in the sources, and the

archaeological material discovered and documented to date, are a sufficient

confirmation of the realism of the painters of that age when depicting the

material culture of military life.

The study of the coat of arms/ deigmaton / episema of the Tzakones, traced

back to its origin, has shown us that the symbol of the half moon and of the

star in the shape of an eight- ray sun, is of very ancient provenance and it

was ultimately linked to the symbols of the military power of the universal

Empire of Rome. It was subsequently adopted by those who finally conquered

it, the Ottoman Turks.

All in all, it is our firm belief that the usual perception of Byzantine

iconography as being one based on artistic conventions rather than on real

life may not be wholly correct, at least as far as the images of warriors and

the detail of their dress and military equipment are concerned. It is also

becoming increasingly evident that marine war scenes offer important details

which can help us to better understand the structure of the galleys of the

last Roman fleets. But this is a matter we shall leave for another article.

Abbreviations

CFHB: Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae.

CSHB: Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae.

Byz: Byzantion.

DOP: Dumbarton Oaks Papers.





Acknowledgments

I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have helped me in the

preparation of this paper. A great deal of historical material on the topic

has been obtained thanks to my dear friends Prof. Taxiarchis Kolias, Director

of the Institute for Byzantine Research at the University of Athens, and

Dr. Andrea Babuin of the University of Ioannina. Dr. David Nicolle and

Prof. Valeri Yotov of the University of Varna, on the other hand, have

been of considerable assistance with the iconography. Prof. Nicholas Emertzidis

from Turin has helped me greatly with Greek terminology and translations

from old Greek dialects and language. A special acknowledgement is alsodue to my dear friend and illustrator Igor Dzys who has so painstakingly

followed my instructions in preparing the splendid plates that have brought

to life the last marines of Byzantium with their magnificent equipment.

Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to my dear friend

Professor Carmel Vassallo, Coordinator of the Mediterranean Maritime

History Network, for his help with the English text of my paper, and for

the valuable advice he has given me.

Notes

1. Georgii Pachymeris de Michaele et Andronico Palaeologis, (Pachymeris),

ed. I. Bekker, 2 vols., (Bonn, 1835), I, 164.; 188, 309–310; Nicephori Gregorae Byzantina Historia, (Gregoras) ed. L. Schopen, 3 vols., CSHB (Bonn, 1829–

1855), I, 98; M. Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army, Arms and Society, 1204–

1453, (Philadelphia, 1992), 44; D. J. Geanakoplos, The Emperor Michael

Paleologos and the West, 1258–1282, a Study in Byzantino-Latin Relations,

(Cambridge, 1959), 125ff.

2. Pachymeris, I, 209, 5-12; Gregoras, I, 98, 13–17; campaigns of 1262–1263

against the islands held by Latins and Venetians.

3. Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army, 39; Geanakoplos, The Emperor , 125ff.

4. Pachymeris, I, 209; Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army, 49; H. Ahrweiler,

Byzance et la mer, La marine de guerre, la politique et les institutions

maritimes de Byzance aux VIIe–XVe siècles, (Paris, 1966), 357, 360–361.

5. Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army, 43; Ahrweiler, Byzance et la mer , 339,

360–361.

6. Michail Palaiologos, 7, quoted in P. Pitselas, Περι′ Τζακω′νων , (Athens,2000), 62.

7. Pachymeris, I, 188, 2–8; 309, 2–5; other light armoured Tzakones were posted

to defend the walls, s. Pachymeris, I, 187, 1–3, 188, 2–4; this was due to the

reputation of these troops as defenders and guards of the citadels, S. Geanakoplos,

The Emperor , 130, n.7.





8. Gregoras, I, 98: ‘. . . στρατιοιs εν τοιs οπλοιs θαλαττιοιs . . .’.

9. Pachymeris, I, 309.

10. Evidence of this expedition is a wonderful painting of the second half of

thirteenth century from Naxos, found in the church of Παναγι′α τω′ν Αριω′ν

(The Holy Lady of Arión, the latter being a village in the region). It represents

a Roman Dhromon, a warship, painted in red, showing a turret on the stern

and surmounted by naval flags of a triangular shape ( flamoula), one of them

bearing a cross. The stern, with the helm and the tiller for steering the ship,

the row of oars, the tall vertical spar (the mast) that rises from the keel to

support the lateen sails, the ropes and the pulleys, and the watcher over the

prow are very visible on the ship. Archaeologists assign the ship in thepainting to the fleet of Philanthrôpènos, engaged in the operations against

the Venetians for the re-conquest of the island; s. Various, Καθηµερινη′ ζωη′

στο′ Βυζα′ντιο, (Athens, 2002), 142, cat. 152.


12. Pachymeris, I, 205, 209; Geanakoplos, The Emperor , 158, 184; Ahrweiler,

Byzance et la mer , 357.

13. Pachymeris, I, 309; M. Bartusis, ‘On the Problem of Smallholding Soldiers

in Late Byzantium’, in DOP, 1990 (44), 1–26,17.

14. Pachymeris, I, 324; Gregoras, I, 117; Geanakoplos, The Emperor , 279–285;

Ahrweiler, Byzance et la mer , 364; including the naval forces, the sources

mention a number of 40,000 men involved in the expedition.

15. Marino Sanudo (Torsello),‘Istoria del Regno di Romania’, (ed.) C. Hopf, in

Chroniques gréco-romaines (Berlin,1873), 99–170, 121.

16. Gregoras, I, 117, 2, 18, 19.

17. S. also Ahrweiler, Byzance et la mer, 364–365.

18. A region where the cohabitation of Latins and Greeks had begun long before the

conquest of Constantinople in 1204 AD; s. Ahrweiler, Byzance et la mer , 339.

19. G. Page, Being Byzantine, Greek identity before the Ottomans, (Cambridge,

2008), 225; Ahrweiler, Byzance et la mer , 357 n. 1.

20. Pachymeris I, 309: ‘born to Italians by Roman women . . .’; Gregoras, I, 98,

8–10; Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army, 277.

21. D. Kambourouglou, ‘Πρακτικα′ τηs Ακαδηµι′ας Αθηνω′ν’ IV, (Athens, 1929),

24; on the origin of their name s. also K. Sathas, Documents inédits relatifs

à l’histoire de la Grèce, (Paris, 1880–1890), IV, LXX ff.

22. Du Cange, Glossarium ad Scriptores mediae et infimae Graecitatis, (Lugdunum

(Lyon), 1658), col. 181–182, 238.

23. According to Thérianos, from the French Gas and the Latin mulus, s. O. Tafrali,Thessalonique au quatorzième siècle, (Paris, 1913), 43 n.7; in fact the mulus

(i.e. the mule) is an animal born from the mating of a male donkey and a

female horse. By analogy the Gasmouloi were the result of the interbreeding

of the Latin and Greek races.

24. Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army, 277.

25. Page, Being Byzantine , 114–115.





26. Pachymeris, I, 188, 8–13; s. also 309, 14–15; Gregoras, I, 98, 2, 8–10; Page,

2008, 136; Ahrweiler, Byzance et la mer , 339 and n. 5.

27. C. Beazley, ‘Directorium ad faciendum passagium transmarinum’, in American

Historical Review 13 (1907–1908), 7, 7, 100–101; Bartusis, The Late Byzantine

Army, 44–45. especially n. 5; the Latin author, maybe a certain Guilherme

Adam, called himself ‘Friar Preacher’ and wrote the treatise in about 1330

with the purpose of urging the King of France, Philip VI of Valois (1328–

1350), to undertake a crusade.

28. Du Cange, Gloss. I, col. 182 sub v. Βασµου′λος.

29. Geanakoplos, The Emperor , 127 n. 42.

30. Geanakoplos, The Emperor , 132–133.31. Pachymeris, I, 164, 15–16; 188, 8–11; Gregoras, I, 98, 6–8; Geanakoplos,

The Emperor , 127.

32. Gregoras, I, 135; Pachymeris, I, 423; Ahrweiler, Byzance et la mer , 361–362.

33. More specifically, they sailed their two galleys past the Blachernai Palace

without making the proper salute required by the Treaty of Nymphaion. In

the Black Sea, they seized a Genoese ship from Phokaia laden with alum,

against the Imperial order to respect the monopoly of the Zaccaria brothers

of transporting the alum from there. S. Geanakoplos, 1959, 250–252.

34. Pachymeris, I. 423–425; Gregoras I, 133ff; Bartusis, The Late Byzantine

Army, 59.

35. Tafrali, Thessalonique, 44.

36. Page, Being Byzantine, 226.

37. Geanakoplos, The Emperor , 302–303.

38. Geanakoplos, The Emperor , 136.

39. Pachymeris, I, 188, 2–8; s. also 164, 10–14; 309, 16–19; Bartusis, The Late Byz-

antine Army, 45; Geanakoplos, The Emperor , 126, who underlines the impor-

tance of the territory around Monemvasia and Lakonia, given back to the em-

peror by the Duchy of Achaia in 1262, as a source of manpower; Gregoras, I, 98.

40. Pitselas, Περι′ Τζακω′νων , 62.

41. See also C. Lehman-Haupt, ‘Τζα′κωνες’, in Εις µνη′ µην Σπυρι′δωνος Λα′µπρου ,

(Athens, 1935), 353; ε′ξω Λα′κωνες instead for K. Amantos, ‘Σα′λωνα −

Τζα′ κωνες’, in Ελληνικα′ , X, Athens (1938), 211.

42. From this area (South Western Morea) these Tzakones originally came as an

ethnic group called Lakones ; but the Lakones who appeared in front of the

Emperor were ordinarily referred to as Tzakones, because they were Lakones

coming from places garrisoned by them called Tzakoniai.

43. Pitselas, Περι′ Τςακω′ νων , 60 n. 2; 61, 62; their posting as garrison troopsfor the castles seems have been originally a solution of the Roman State to

settle the tribes of the Tzakones (Τζα′ κωνες ) s. – Constantini Porphyrogeniti

imperatoris De Cerimoniis Aulae Byzantinae libri duo, (ed.) I. I. Reiske,

Bd.1–2, CSHB. (Bonn, 1829), 696; this means that the military aspect of the

term Tzakones appeared before the word came to represent an ethnic term

for Laconian Greeks, who lived in areas strongly militarized since the thirteenth





century, called Tzakoniai; for the reputation of the Tzakones as guards in

thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, s. D. Zakythinos, ‘La population de la

Morée Byzantine’ in L’Hellénisme contemporaire, III, (1949), 24.

44. Βι′ος και Πολιτει′α και′ Μερικη′ Θαυµα′ των ∆ιη′ γησις του Οσι′ου Νι′κωνος

του Μετανοει′τε , (ed.) Κατσου′λα , Γ., ( Αθη′να 1997), 178α, 178β; Pitselas,

Περι′ Τζακω′νων , 56, 64.

45. Pseudo-Kodinos, Traité des Offices, (ed.) J. Verpeaux, (Paris, 1966), 180.

46. Geanakoplos, The Emperor , 130; Pachymeris I, 187, 1–3, 188, 1–4. Pachymeris

specifies that there was no need for the soldiers, protected by the walls, to be

heavily armed, and in any case for the sorties against possible sieges the

defenders could rely upon the heavy cavalrymen coming from the Imperialheadquarters (. . . ει′ναι του′ς υποστησοµε′νους εκ στρατευµα′των µεγα′ λων

βασιλικω′ ν . . . ).

47. Ahrweiler, Byzance et la mer , 337.

48. Du Cange, Gloss., 1560, who quotes various sources ( Itinerarium Ms. Theodosii

Zygomalae, Chronica de Morea) and Gerlachius in his Epistula ad Martinum

Crustum specifying that the word Tzakon was primarily applied to the inhabitants

of Monemvasia, Nauplion and Epidauros, speaking a Greek language full of

barbarisms; Leonclavius in Pandectae Turcicae 120 tells us clearly that the

Tzaconia was the land once called Laconia; s. further on the topic Bartusis,

The Late Byzantine Army, 279; according to Ahrweiler, this regiment was

composed of Tzakonians, i.e. people from Laconia; s. Ahrweiler, Byzance et

la mer , 337 n. 5; – S. Caratzas, Les Tzakones, (Berlin, 1976), derives instead

the word from Diakon , i.e. deacon; of course the various employment of the

word in the Eastern Roman sources has caused not a little confusion in

modern scholarship.

49. Gregorius II of Cyprus speaks about a criminal case involving a group of

eight young soldiers who were Tzakones by race, thus clearly distinguishing

them from the light-armed soldiers enlisted by Michael VIII, but who were

their descendants. s. M. Bartusis, ‘Brigandage in the Late Byzantine Empire’,

in Byz 51 (1981), 396–397; Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army, 46 n. 8; – S.

Eustratiades, ‘Του′ σοϕωτα′του και′ λογιωτα′του και′ οικουµενικου′ πατρια′ρχου

κυρου′ Γρηγορι′ου του′ Κυπριου Επιστολαι′’ in Εκκλησιαστικο′ς Φα′ρος,

4 (1909) 105–106,128, No. 166.


51. Pachymeris, I, 309; Gregoras, I, 98, 4–5: ‘Joining (the Gasmouloi) were the

Lakones, that in the common spoken language are called Tzakones, constituting

a maritime armed force, who came to the Emperor from the Peloponnese[,..]’ So, at least to some extent, although it need not be the case that the

majority of them came from the Eastern Peloponnese, most of Michael’s

Tzakones were Tzakones by employment and Tzakones by ethnicity, s. Bartusis,

The Late Byzantine Army, 46; the other Romans also considered them Hellenes,

i.e. of Greek ethnicity descended from the ancient Laconians, still speaking a

Doric dialect; s. Pitselas, Peri¢ Tzakw¢nwn, 61 ff.





52. J. Schmitt, The chronicle of Morea, (London, 1904), 303, 4571 ff.

53. Bartusis, ‘On the Problem’, 16.

54. Pachymeris, I, 188, 5.

55. Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army, 47: ‘such an imperial policy would en-

sure a constant supply of resident mercenaries and further, since conditional

possession of however modest a property would deter many mercenaries

from leaving their jobs to seek employment elsewhere, it would have put the

Emperor in an advantageous position when negotiating pay rises’.


57. Pachymeris, I, 164, 15 ff.; 209, 9–10; 425, 14.

58. Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army, p. 47.59. Pachymeris, I, 164, 309.




63. I. Heath, Byzantine Armies 1118–1461 AD, (London, 1995), 17.



66. Bartusis, ‘On the Problem’, 17; Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army, 69.

67. For instance, later we find that in 1340 the Gasmouloi of Kallipolis served

the Ottoman Sultans after their dismissal from Kantakouzenos for reasons of

personal security, s. – Doukas/Ducae, Michaelis Ducae Nepotis, Istoria Bizantina,

ed. Bekker, (Bonn, 1834), XXIV, 140; Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army,

69; Ahrweiler, Byzance et la mer , 405.

68. S. Carbone, Pietro Pizolo, Notario in Candia, Vol. I (1300), (Venezia, 1978),

8 no 4.

69. Pachymeris, II, 71; Gregoras, I, 175.

70. S. Bowman, The Jews of Byzantium, 1204–1453,(Ala, 1985), 247–248, doc. 41.

71. Gregoras, II, 736–740; Ahrweiler, Byzance et la mer , 384, 452–455.

72. Cantacuzenus/Kantakouzenos, Ioannis, Historia, ed. Bekker, (Bonn, 1828),

I, 540: ‘After this speech, where it was clear that Apokaukos would be

given the supremacy of Byzantium and of the Islands with all their taxes, an

Imperial letter was written, through which he was appointed commander of

the fleet against the Persians (i.e. the Turks) and was ordered to draw from

the public treasure one hundred thousand gold coins, so that from them and

from his own means, as he had promised, he would fit out triremes and

provide for the maintenance of their mercenary soldiers . . .’ (1340); K. P.

Matschke, ‘Johannes Kantakuzenos, Alexios Apokaukos und die byzantinischeFlotte in der Burgerkriegsperiode, 1340–1355’ in Actes du XIVe Congrés

international des études byzantines, II, Bucharest, (1975), 193–205.

73. Sometimes probably just mentioned like ‘rowers’; s. Pachymeris II, 237–238

,240; s. also Matschke, 1975, 204 n. 52.






75. Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army, 47, 69–70 (Gasmouloi); - Sphrantzes/

Φραντζη′ ς Chronica Maius in J. P. Migne, Patrologia graeca, civi; IV,17,

col. 975–976; Pitselas, Περι′ Τζακω′νων 69.

76. De Cerimoniis, 695–696; Sphrantzes IV, 16; Pitselas, Περι′ Τζακω′νων , 61, 69.

77. Refer note 76.


79. J. Folda, Crusader Art in the Holy Land, from the third Crusade to the Fall

of Acre 1197–1291, (Cambridge 2005), p. 420;

80. D. Nicolle, Knight of Outremer, 1187–1344 AD, (London, 1996), 57, pl. C

nn. 6, 7, 8, 11; D. Nicolle, Italian militiaman, 1260–1392, (Oxford, 1999),

53, pl. L nn. 2, 7; Du Cange, Gloss., col. 563–564 καµισιον, 1752 (χιτω′νια).81. The miniatures of this splendid manuscript were painted by Georgian or

Tzan artists for the Emperor Alexios III Komnenos of Trebizond (1349–

1390); s. N. S. Trahoulias, The Greek Romance of Alexander/ ΤΟ

ΜΥΘΙΣΤΟΡΗΜΑ ΤΟΥ ΑΛΕΞΑΝ∆ΡΟΥ , ( Αθη′να, 1997), 31 ff.; so it is

logical to suppose that the soldiers and ships depicted reflected those of the

Trebizond Empire; however, it is conceivable that the artists had the army of

the last Palaiologans as a model, but in event, both armies of the late Roman

Empire period showed a high degree of similarity in dress, weapons and

accoutrements.

82. Trahoulias, The Greek Romance, 55, 91, 133, 135, 266, 276, 297, 298.

83. Heath, Byzantine Armies, 21.

84. More specifically, red scarlet or red mauve and blue sky tunics with a black

collar, red scarlet kaftans with gold embroidery (21r ); red, blue and green

tunics with a western style fastening system under the neck, (42r ); blue, red

and red mauve tunics (43r ); red and off-white tunics (108v); red, pinkish

and blue kaftans with Eastern caps (pinkish, blue, red) worn over white

bonnets (113v); blue and red tunics with yellow bonnets (124r ); blue and

red tunics and pinkish kaftans (124v).

85. The marine calling of the Tzakones is underlined, for instance, by the presence

of Saint Phokas of Synope, in the church of Aghios Athanasios of Geraki,

where the saint, usually considered before Saint Nicholas as the main protec-

tor of sailors and mariners of all ‘Romania’, is depicted holding a torch to

light the way for the seafarers, s. N. K. Moutsopoulos, G. Dimitrokallis,

Géraki: Les eglises du bourgade, (Thessaloniki, 1981), 153, fig. 234; the

veneration of this saint as saint protector of sailors was already wide-spread

in Georgia, in Anatolia, in the Aegean Sea (Naxos), in Southern Italy (Calabria,

Puglia), but was very rarely encountered on continental Greece. Other examples,apart from Geraki, can also be seen in the church of Kalambaka dating from

the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries; in the Peloponnese: in the church of

Saint Basil of Dimizana; in the church of Saint Nicholas in the village of the

same name near Monemvasia; and in the church of Saint Phokas in the

village of the same name south of Monemvasia; s. Pitselas, Περι′ Τζακω′νων ,





63; it is possible, therefore, to formulate the hypothesis that the donors of

the churches or the painters were people linked with Anatolia or with the

East of the Empire, and may have been ethnically Tzakones. Moreover, the

church of Saint Soson in Geraki, as well as that of Saint Nicholas, were

dedicated to the patron saints of the marines and sailors and most probably

they represent the close connection of the Doric inhabitants of a continental

city, like Geraki, with the sea.

86. Moutsopoulos-Dimitrokallis, Géraki, 226, col. pls. 13, 14; this is one of the

most interesting frescoes. The most important point in the fresco for us is the

small round shield behind the saint. It is decorated with meanders in ochre,

closed by a double line formed by a succession of white dots (probablyrepresenting silver nails or even pearls). The red-brown background shows

small white dots (symbolizing the stars) and in the middle a half-moon of

light brown colour, inside which is depicted the sun with eight rays.

87. A. Babuin, Τα επιθετικα′ ο′πλα Βυζαντινω′ ν κατα′ την υ′στερη περιοδο

(1204–1453), (Ioannina, 2009), n. 353; again a half moon with the eight-ray

sun inside and three suns around it, may be seen at the church of Saint

George of the Kastron of Geraki, and a half moon surrounded by four suns

with eight rays can be seen in the Taxiarchon Church of the Kastrou (Church

of the Supreme Angelic Commanders of the Castle), Pitselas, Περι′ Τζακω′νων ,

64; Babuin, Τα επιθετικα′ , nn. 173, 174.

88. Various, Νε′α Ελληνικη′ Εγκυκλοπαι′δεια, Χα′ρι Πα′τση, 20, ( Αθη′να, 1979),

257.

89. Herodian, History of the Empire, Books I–IV, (Harvard University Press,

1961), IV, 8: ‘He also summoned picked young men from Sparta and formed

a unit which he called his Laconian and Pitanate battalion . . .’

90. They are clearly visible already on a bronze assarion of Caracalla minted in

Nikopolis in 198 AD; and again on a bronze coin of Caracalla and Geta of

211 AD; (fig. 5).


92. A. Donati & G. Gentili, Costantino il Grande, la civiltà antica al bivio tra

Occidente ed Oriente, (Cinisello Balsamo, 2005), 237 n. 54.

93. The ornaments of the fresco representing Saint Basil in the church of Saint

John Chrisostomos in Geraki depict swastikas while the symbol of the

double meander forming the swastikas can be seen in three different parts of

the Evanghelistria church in Geraki. S. Moutsopoulos-Dimitrokallis, Géraki,

28, 96–97, figs 57, 145–147.

94. The half moon has been used as a symbol of ancient Byzantium (Byzantion)since ancient times. It was abandoned by the ancient Megarians when they

participated to the Ionian revolution against the Persians, founding in the

Pontus the city of Mesemvria. After the battle of Platea in 480 BC, Byzan-

tium was reconstructed and mainly repopulated by Lacedemonian colonists.

When in 339 BC the army of Philip II of Macedonia attacked the city at





night, according to tradition, a half moon appeared among the clouds and lit

up the area in such a way that the barking of the dogs attracted the attention

of the defenders who repulsed the Macedonians. On that occasion the

Lacedemonians dedicated a statue to the Goddess Ecates and chose the half

moon as a symbol of the city. In 196 AD, Septimius Severus destroyed

Byzantium but he reconstructed it, keeping the ancient symbols of the city.

S. Pitselas, Περι′ Τζακω′νων , 67.

95. R. Ghirsman, Arte Persiana, Part i e Sassanidi, (Milano, 1962), figs. 242–247;

the half-moon surmounts the King’s crown.

96. S. K. Farrokh, Sassanian Elite Cavalry AD 224–642, (Oxford, 2005), 23,

56, Pl. F1.97. History of Cyril, 1815, s. Pitselas, Περι′ Τζακω′νων, 67 and related bibliography.

98. In 1243 AD: Georgii Acropolitae, Annales, (ed.) I. Bekker, (Bonn, 1836),

41; s. also G. Ostrogorsky, Storia dell’Impero Bizantino, (Torino, 1968),

401; Le Beau, Storia del Basso Impero da Costantino il Grande alla presa

di Constantinopoli fatta da Maometto II,( Livorno, 1837), 13, 654–656;

Pitselas, Περι′ Τζακω′νων , 67.

99. D. Nicolle, Medieval Warfare Source Book, Volume 2: Christian Europe

and its Neighbours, (London, 1996) (2), 241.

100. K. Miyatev, The Murals of Boyana, (Sofia, 1961), 54.

101. The use of the word ‘The City’, to indicate Constantinople, follows the

customary usage of the Romans when referring to their capital cities through

all their history; the ancient Romans used to refer to Rome as Urbs, while

the Romans of Byzantium referred to Constantinople as Polis; i.e. the city

per excellence; it is well known that Istanbol/Istanbul derives from the

accusative ειs τιν πολιν, i.e. ‘to the city’.


103. Β. Χ.Μα′κη , ∆ηµοτικα′ Τραγου′δια Ακριτικα′ , ( Αθη′να 1978), 117, 155,

166.

104. G. K. Σκαλιε′ρη, Λαοι′ και Φυλαι′ της Μικρα′ ς Ασι′ας , ( Αθη′ να, 1922),

360, 376.

105. Nicolle, Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era, 1050–1350, 2, (London,

1999) (2), 506, 523.

106. Nicolle, Medieval Warfare, 51.

107. Nicolle, Arms and Armour , 518.

108. Pachymeris I, 188, 8–13; Directorium ad faciendum passagium transmarinum

7, 7.

109. Sabbatini, E., I costumi del Marco Polo, (Torino, 1983), 32; Viollet LeDuc, Encyclopédie mèdievale, (Tours, 1999), 465.

110. Nicolle, Knight of Outremer , 53, pl. E n. 18.

111. Nicolle, Knight of Outremer , pl. C, E, 57–58.

112. A very interesting gold and enamel pendent, preserved in the British Museum,

and dated to the thirteenth century AD, has an inscription around a half-

figure of Saint George in armour and with a drawn sword which says:





ΑΙΤΕΙ ΣΕ ΘΕΡΜΟΝ ΦΡΟΥΡΟΝ ΕΝ ΜΑΧΑΙΣ ΕΧΕΙΝ ΑΙΜΑΤΙ ΤΩ ΣΩ

ΚΑΙ ΜΥΡΩ ΚΕΧΡΙΣΜΕΝΟΝ, ‘The wearer prays that you will be his fiery

defender in the battles’ so showing that this pendent was once hanging

around the neck of a man engaged in military operations, most probably a

commander; s. D. Buckton, Byzantium, Treasures of Byzantine Art and

culture, (London, 1994), p. 185 Cat. 200; Various, Καθηµερινη′ , 178–181,

cat. 201.

113. For some samples of such amulets and icons of the thirteenth and fourteenth

centuries, s. Various, Καθηµερινη′ , cat. 182–183.
