INZTITOYTO EAAHNOANATOAIKQN KAI A®PIKANIKQN ZTIOYAQN INSTITUTE FOR GRAECO-ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES. Graeco-Arabica E AIEONES ZYNEAPIO EAAHNO-ANATOAIKON KAI EAAHNO-AOPIKANIKQN ZITOYAQN FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON GRAECO-ORIENTAL AND GRAECO-AFRICAN STUDIES VOLUME VI CA OHNA_ 1995The Navy in the Works of Constantine Porphyrogenitus* ‘The historian who wishes to study the Byzantine navy of the tenth century faces, as every historian does, a problem of sources. This is not to say that there are no sources for 10th-century naval organization and tactics; the problem lies in the fact that what few sources we have are too rich for us to understand fully. This is best exemplified by the documents dealing with naval expeditions in 911, 934-5 and 949, incorporated in Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus’ “Book of Ceremonies”.' This work, along with a number of manuals on naval warfare (one composed by Constantine's father, Leo the Wise)’, provide much valuable information concerning the empire’s navy. Unfortunately, all these works were written primarily for {if not by) people who already knew how the navy worked, a knowledge that modern histo- rians lack. Our only way of knowing is by closely scrutinising these sources, * It is a pleasure to express from this place my gratitude to Professors T. G. Kolias. V. Christides and E. Chrysos of the University of Ioannina, from whose invaluable remarks this paper has greatly profited. Needless to say, responsibility for any remaining errors in either form or substance is entirely mine. 1, De Cerimoniis aulae bycantinae, ed. 1.1, Reiske. Bonn 1829. Unless otherwise indicated, all references to Byzantine authors are in the Bonn corpus. 2, See the introduction in the edition of A. Dain, Naumachica, Paris 1943; in addition, see A. Dain, “Les stratégistes byzantins”, Travaux et Mémoires 2 (1967) 317-392, esp. 363, 66; see also H. Hunger, Die hochsprachliche profane Literatur der Bycantiner. vol. 2 (Munich 1978), 323-340.THE NAVY IN THE WORKS OF CONSTANTINE PORPHYROGENITUS 153 a study vitiated by our difficulty in interpreting them correctly. Attempts have been made to incorporate these sources in the study of Byzantine military and naval organization in general. The latest contri- bution comes from W. T. Treadgold,* whose article deals primarily with army organization and payroll. The present study, as is apparent from its title, is concerned exclusively with the navy. We will try to use all infor- mation available in the works of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, along with the naval treatises, to shed some light in the naval organization of Byzan- tium in the tenth century; we will also attempt, to the best of our abilities, to clarify certain problems pertaining to naval technology. Our views, we may add, often differ from those of Treadgold. It is our hope that this article will stimulate discussion and allow those more capable than us to deal in a more satisfactory way with the problems here discussed. Fleet organization 911-949 The picture that emerges from the documents concerning the expeditions of 911 and 949 is quite clear. The documents show that the Byzantine navy in the first half of the tenth century comprised, as it did in the later part of the ninth, a “home fleet” (the Saouuxov ztlesysov)> and the thematic fleets of the Cibyrrhaeots, Samos and the Aegean Sea®. Apart from these, other themes with extensive coastlines possessed warships of their own, like Hellas in 911 and Peloponnesus in 949’. In addition to its own re- sources (including the people known as “Mardaitai” who were settled in 3. Hélane Ahnweiler. Byzance et la mer, Paris 1966; Héléne Antoniadis-Bibicou, Etudes d’ histoire maritime de Byzance. A propos du "Theme des Caravisiens”, Paris 1966; K. Alex- andres, H @akacoia Sivas sic tiv iotogiay tig Bufevenic attoxcatooias, Athens 1956; J, F. Haldon. Byzantine Praetorians (TIOIKIAA BYZANTINA 3), Bonn 1984 4.W. T. Treadgold. “The Army in the Works of Constantine Porphyrogenitus”, Rivista di Studi Byzantini e Neoellenici n.s. 29 (1992) 77-162. 5. De Cer, 652, 9-14: 664, 7-17. 6. De Cer, 652. 15-653, 13; 664, 17-665, 18. 7. De Cer, 653, 14-16; 665, 18-19; the latter force is probably to be identified with the four ships under tourmarch Meliton mentioned in the year 921 in the “Life of St. Theod- ore of Cythera”, ed. by N. Oikonomides, “O 6iog toi “Ayiov Oxodido0w Kuda (1005 2 Toizov Menoviou Zuvedoiow, (Athens 1967), 264-291, Il, 186-189.