The book is the first translation in Russian historiography from the original Greek of the full text of the Strategikon of Mauritius, an outstanding monument of Byzantine military literature dating back to the turn of the 6th and 7th centuries. Adequately reflecting the turning point of its era, the Strategikon defined the fundamental principles of the military organization of the empire, which retained their viability over the next several centuries. The treatise was translated from the critical edition of J. Dennis (Vienna, 1981); Previous editions by I. Schaeffer (Uppsala, 1664) and X. Mihaescu (Bucharest, 1970) were also used. The overwhelming majority of currently available translations of the full text of the treatise or its individual fragments into modern languages (English, German, Romanian, Russian, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian) have been taken into account. The introductory article highlights the main issues of the treatise (authorship, dating, structure, sources, influence on subsequent monuments of the military-scientific genre), and provides a detailed description of the strategic and tactical views of the author of the Strategikon.

Contents: Introduction

Contents: Introduction

Strategikon of Mauritius. Translation and commentaryBook I. IntroductionBook II. About the combat formation of cavalryBook III. On the constructions of tagmaBook IV. About ambushes Book V. About the convoy Book VI. About various formations and exercises Book VIIA. About strategy. What principles should a strategist be concerned with before the start of a war? About what must be provided on the day of battleBook VIIIA. On the general instructions intended for the strategist B. EdificationBook IXBook XBook XI. On the customs and methods of warfare of various nationsBook XIIA. About mixed combat formationB. About the combat formation of the infantryC. Drawing of a camp fortification or fossateD. About hunting; how to hunt wild animals without suffering harm, accidents or injuries

List of abbreviationsMain bibliographyIndex of proper names, ethnographic and geographical termsSubject terminological index