Strategikon of Kekaumenos
Encyclopedia
The Strategikon of Kekaumenos
is a late 11th century Byzantine manual
offering advice on warfare and the handling of public and domestic affairs.
The book was composed between 1075 and 1078 by its author, a Byzantine general of partly Armenian descent. In it, he offers advice, based on his own personal experience and drawing upon numerous historical examples from the events of the 11th century. It is divided in six parts:
The book is valuable to historians for its portrayal of the mindset of the Byzantine provincial aristocracy in the closing decades of the 11th century, and especially the social relations, as revealed in the third part. It also contains much otherwise unknown information about historical events, and is the first book to record the presence of the Vlachs
in Thessaly
.
Kekaumenos
Kekaumenos is the family name of the otherwise anonymous Byzantine author of the Strategikon, a manual on military and household affairs composed c. 1078. He was apparently of Graeco-Armenian origin and the grandson of the doux of Hellas...
is a late 11th century Byzantine manual
Byzantine military manuals
This article lists and briefly discusses the most important of a large number of treatises on military science produced in the Byzantine Empire.- Background :...
offering advice on warfare and the handling of public and domestic affairs.
The book was composed between 1075 and 1078 by its author, a Byzantine general of partly Armenian descent. In it, he offers advice, based on his own personal experience and drawing upon numerous historical examples from the events of the 11th century. It is divided in six parts:
- Part 1 (Chapters 1-8) survives incomplete, as its beginning has been lost. It concerns the duties and services due to a superior lord.
- Part 2 (Chapters 9-34) is the Strategikon proper, and contains advice to a general.
- Part 3 (Chapters 35-71) contains advice on domestic matters, the rearing of children, management of the house and the family and social relations.
- Part 4 (Chapters 72-76) contains advice on the proper course of action in the event of a revolt against the Emperor.
- Part 5 (Chapters 77-88) contains the admonitions to the Emperor on the governance and defence of the state.
- Part 6 (Chapters 89-91) contains advice to the autonomous local ruler (toparchēs) on his dealings with the Emperor.
The book is valuable to historians for its portrayal of the mindset of the Byzantine provincial aristocracy in the closing decades of the 11th century, and especially the social relations, as revealed in the third part. It also contains much otherwise unknown information about historical events, and is the first book to record the presence of the Vlachs
Vlachs
Vlach is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. English variations on the name include: Walla, Wlachs, Wallachs, Vlahs, Olahs or Ulahs...
in Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
.