The Armenian Military
in the Byzantine Empire
Conflict and Alliance under Justinian and Maurice
EAN : 9782917329597
Ed. SIGEST, 2014
152 pages, 15x21cm. € 16,00 / $ 22,00
In English
With 21x27cm battlefield maps inserted
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Armen Ayvazyan
Foreword by Ilkka Syvanne
“Dr. Ayvazyan has managed to perform an almost impossible task. He has demonstrated
that, despite the perceived paucity of the relevant historical evidence, it is still possible
to arrive at a completely new, well-substantiated and plausible reconstruction of the
Armenian rebellion in 538-539.”
Dr. Ilkka Syvanne, Ph.D.
This book brings to light one of the least known, yet
most turbulent periods in the history of the ancient
Armenian military and its complex relationship with the
Byzantine Empire.
5 offbeat questions to the author:
1) Who are you ? A scholar.
2) What is the central theme of your book ?
Armenian resistance to the colonial policies of the Byzantine Empire.
3) If you had to bring forward a sentence of your book, which
you would choose?
In spite of all countermeasures taken by the Eastern Roman Empire and Sassanid Persia, the major powers of the time, the Armenian armed forces continued to maintain an exceptional level
of professional skill and combat effectiveness (in Pers-Armenia –
their organizational and command structure, too), regularly demonstrating them in subsequent military vicissitudes and, in the
long run, effectively retaining Armenia’s opportunity to restore its
full independence, if as late as 885.
4) If your book was a music, which it would be?
“Ride of the Valkyries” from Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre.
“...Dr. Ayvazyan has managed to perform an almost
impossible task. ...a pioneering piece of scholarship, indeed
capable of triggering a renewed interest by Western military
historians into the too-often ignored Armenian material.”
Dr. Ilkka SYVANNE
Excerpt from Foreword
“...extremely interesting and insightful... I heartily
recommend this book to all readers interested in Armenian
military history of Late Antiquity. At last, light is being shed
on ancient Armenia. It is to be hoped that both the author
and other historians are spurred on by this example and take
up the challenge of writing more.”
Ian HUGHES
5) What would you like to share with your readers first and
foremost?
The booming studies of the Romano-Byzantine and Partho-Persian militaries could hardly claim to be inclusive without a closer
analysis of the resiliently dynamic armed forces of Armenia, an
intermittently fully independent or autonomous actor in the
ancient-early medieval Near East. Almost incessant wars waged
against the armies of such superpowers as Parthia/Persia and
Rome/Byzantium (more often than not in alliance with one of
them against the other) as well as against the Caucasian mountaineers and the invading nomads from Central Asia acquainted
the Armenian military with the most potent war machines of the
time and, by necessity, helped to develop strategies for opposing each of them. On the other hand, adopting their foes’ warfare
practices further enriched the resourcefulness of Armenian battlefield tactics.
Ancient Warfare,VI.5
“Ayvazyan’s detailed analysis... is impressive in the richness
of the notes and quotations, and shows his encyclopedic
knowledge of the period - which characterizes the
whole book.”
Dr. Raffaele D’AMATO
Medieval Warfare, III-6
ARMEN AYVAZYAN (Aivazian) holds doctoral degrees in
History (1992) and Political Science (2004). He was a Carnegie
Corporation of New York/IREX fellow at Syracuse University,
New York and a Visiting Senior Fulbright Scholar at Stanford
University, California. Ayvazyan has authored many books and
scholarly articles in Armenian, Russian, and English.
Editions SIGEST
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