Editing Roman army (section)

== Komnenian Byzantine army (1081–1204) ==
{{main|Byzantine army (Komnenian era)}}
[[File:Jean II Comnene.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Emperor [[John II Komnenos]], the most successful commander of the Komnenian army.]]
The [[Komnenian period]] marked a rebirth of the [[Komnenian Byzantine army|Byzantine army]]. At the beginning of the [[Komnenian period]] in 1081, the Byzantine Empire had been reduced to the smallest territorial extent. Surrounded by enemies, and financially ruined by a long period of civil war, the empire's prospects looked grim.

At the beginning of the Komnenian period, the Byzantine army was reduced to a shadow of its former self: during the 11th century, decades of peace and neglect had reduced the old [[Theme (Byzantine district)|thema]]tic forces, and the [[Battle of Manzikert]] in 1071 had destroyed the professional ''[[tagma (military)|tagmata]]'', the core of the Byzantine army. At Manzikert and later at [[Battle of Dyrrhachium (1081)|Dyrrhachium]], units tracing their lineage for centuries back to [[Late Roman army]] were wiped out, and the subsequent loss of [[Asia Minor]] deprived the Empire of its main recruiting ground. In the Balkans, at the same time, the Empire was exposed to invasions by the [[Normans|Norman]] [[Kingdom of Sicily]], and by [[Pecheneg]] raids across the [[Danube]].

The Byzantine army's nadir was reached in 1091, when [[Alexios I Komnenos]] could manage to field only 500 soldiers from the Empire's professional forces. These formed the nucleus of the army, with the addition of the armed retainers of Alexios' relatives and the nobles enrolled in the army and the substantial aid of a large force of allied [[Cumans]], which won the [[Battle of Levounion]] against the [[Pechenegs]] (Petcheneks or Patzinaks).<ref>Angold, p. 127 {{who?|date=February 2025}}</ref> Yet, through a combination of skill, determination and years of campaigning, Alexios, John and Manuel Komnenos managed to restore the power of the Byzantine Empire by constructing a new army from scratch. This process should not, however, at least in its earlier phases, be seen as a planned exercise in military restructuring. In particular, Alexios I was often reduced to reacting to events rather than controlling them; the changes he made to the Byzantine army were largely done out of immediate necessity and were pragmatic in nature.

The new force had a core of units which were both professional and disciplined. It contained formidable guards units such as the [[Varangians]], the ''[[Immortals (Byzantine)|Athanatoi]]'', a unit of heavy cavalry stationed in [[Constantinople]], the [[Vardariotai]] and the [[Archontopouloi]], recruited by Alexios from the sons of dead Byzantine officers, foreign mercenary regiments, and also units of professional soldiers recruited from the provinces. These provincial troops included [[Cataphract|''kataphraktoi'']] cavalry from Macedonia, Thessaly and Thrace, and various other provincial forces such as [[Empire of Trebizond|Trebizond]] [[Archery|archers]] from the Black Sea coast of [[Anatolia]]. Alongside troops raised and paid for directly by the state the Komnenian army included the armed followers of members of the wider imperial family and its extensive connections. In this can be seen the beginnings of the feudalisation of the Byzantine military.  The granting of ''[[pronoia]]'' holdings, where land, or more accurately rights to revenue from land, was held in return for military obligations, was beginning to become a notable element in the military infrastructure towards the end of the Komnenian period, though it became much more important subsequently.

In 1097, the Byzantine army numbered around 70,000 men altogether.<ref>Konstam, p. 141.{{who?|date=February 2025}}</ref> By 1180 and the death of Manuel Komnenos, whose frequent campaigns had been on a grand scale, the army was probably considerably larger. During the reign of Alexios I, the field army numbered around 20,000 men which was increased to about 30,000 men in John II's reign.<ref name="Treadgold680">W. Treadgold, ''A History of the Byzantine State and Society'', 680</ref> By the end of Manuel I's reign the Byzantine field army had risen to 40,000 men.