Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/538

 516 APPENDIX organisation, the drill, the rules for marching and camping, the arms, are still the same as in the 6th century. But there is a great deal that is new. A good account and criticism of the work wll be found in Mr. Oman's History of the Art of "War, vol. 2, p. 184 i^qq. ' ' The reader is distinct!}- prepossessed in favour of Leo by the franls: and handsome acknowledgment which he makes of the merits and services of his general, Xicephorus Phocas, whose successful tactics and new military devices are cited again and again with admiration. The best parts of his book are the chapters on organisation, recruiting, the services of transport and supply, and the methods required for dealing with the various barbarian neigh- bours of the empire. . . . The weakest point, on the other hand, — as is perhaps natural, — is that which deals with strategy. . . . Characteristic, too, of the author's want of aggressive energy, and of the defensive system which he made his policy, is the lack of directions for campaigns of invasion in an enemy's country. Leo contemplates raids on hostile soil, but not permanent conquests. . . . Another weak point is his neglect to support precept by example ; his directions would be much the clearer if he would supplement them by definite historical cases in which they had led to success" {ih., p. 184-5). Zacharia von Lingenthal propounded ■* the theory that the Leo to whom the title of the Tactics ascribes the authorship was not Leo VI. but Leo III., and that consequently the work belongs to the first half of the eighth century. But internal evidence is inconsistent with this theor}".-^ Besides the I'eferences to Xicephorus Phocas mentioned above, the author speaks of "our father the Emperor Basil," and describes his dealings with the Slavs, 18, § 101 ; the Bulgarians who were still heathen in the reign of Leo the Iconoclast appear as Christians in this treatise, 18, § 4'i, 44, and fil ; the capture of Theodosiopolis from the Saracens (under Leo VI., cp. Const. Porph., de Adm. Imp. c. 4.5, p. 1D9-200. ed. Bonn) is mentioned. The most interesting chapters of the work are c. 18, which contains an account of the military customs of the nations with which the empire was brought into hostile contact (Saracens, Bulgariau.s, Hungarians, Slavs, Franks), and c. 19, on naval warfare (see below, Appendix 5). [The edition of Meursius used bj- Gibbon is reprinted in Migne's Patr. Gr. 107, p. 671 sqq.' Only a part of the two Books De Cerimoniis aulae Bj-zantinae which pass under the name of Constantise Porphykogennetos is really due to that Emperor. ■The first 8.3 chapters of Bk. I. represent the treatise on the Court Ceremonies which he compiled b}- putting together existing documents which prescribed the order of the various ceremonies. The work is arranged as follows : Chaps. 1-37, religious ceremonies (thus chap. 1 gives the order of processions to the Great Church — St. Sophia ; chap. 2, the ceremonies on Christmas Day ; chap. 3, those on the Epiphany, kc, in the order of the calendar) ; chaps. 38-44, the ceremonies on great secular occasions, such as the coronation of the Emperor and the Empress ; chaps. 4.5-59, ceremonies on the promotions of ministers and palace functionaries ; chaps. 60-64, an Emperor's funeral, and other solemnities ; chaps. 65-83, palace banquets, public games, and other ceremonies.^ The remaining chapters of Bk. I. are an excrescence and were added at a later date. Chaps. 84-95 are an extract from the work of Peter the Patrician who vrote imder Justinian I. (cp. headings to chaps. 84 and 95). Chap. 96 contains an account of tlie inauguration of Xicephorus Phocas, and chap. 97 perhaps dates from the reign of Tzimisces. There are two Appendices to Bk. I. concerning the proceedings to be adopted when an Emperor goes forth on a militarj- expedition. Both date from the reign of Constantine VII. ; and the second (p. 455 sqq. ed. Bonn) is from the pen of Constantine himself. ■* In Byz. Zeitschrift, ii. 6o6 sqq.; iii. 437 sqq- 5 Which is accepted by K. Schenk, Byz. Zeitschrift, v. 29S-9. SC. 83 contains the famous Tot9i.k6v or Gothic Weihnachtspiel which has given rise to much discussion, German antiquarians vainly trying to find in the acclamations old German words.