Droungos
Droungos (
History and functions
The term drungus is first attested in
The term first occurs in Greek as droungos (δροῦγγος) or drongos (δρόγγος), with the same meaning, in the early 5th century.[4] In the late 6th century, the Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602) applies droungos to a specific tactical deployment, usually of cavalry, characterised as a compact non-linear grouping suited to outflanking tactics, ambushes and irregular operations. He is the first author to employ the cognate adverb droungisti (Greek: δρουγγιστί), with the sense of "in group formation" or "small-group tactics".[5] Maurice also occasionally employs droungos as a generic expression for larger "groupings" or "formations" of troops, though in this sense he refers only to a "division" (meros) and never to a "brigade" (moira) with which droungos became associated in later sources.[6]
By the middle of the 7th century, this meaning had been superseded by a new meaning, which it held until the 11th century. The droungos, alternatively known as a moira (μοίρα), was now formalized as a regular subdivision of a
From the late 12th century onwards, the term droungos was applied to mountainous areas in Greece, and was associated with the meaning of "pass" or "mountain range" (zygos). In the 13th century, it also came to designate the military units detailed to guard these locations, similar to the earlier kleisourai.[1]
References
- ^ a b Kazhdan 1991, p. 664.
- ^ Rance 2004, pp. 97–105.
- ^ Vegetius. Epitoma rei Militaris, III.16 and III.19.
- ^ John Chrysostom. Epistulae ad Olympiadem, 4.2.
- ^ Maurice. Strategikon, III.14 and IV.5.
- ^ Maurice. Strategikon, I.3 and IX.3; Rance 2004, pp. 109–114.
- ^ Treadgold 1995, pp. 104–105.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
- Rance, Philip (2004). "Drungus, Δροῦγγος and Δρουγγιστί – A Gallicism and Continuity in Roman Cavalry Tactics". Phoenix. 58: 96–130. JSTOR 4135199.
- Treadgold, Warren T. (1995). Byzantium and Its Army, 284–1081. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-3163-2.