C6th Byzantine Buckellaroi

[davidharvey1]

Has a consensus been reached on the status of earlier Byzantine Buckallaroi before c 540 and the use of deeper formations

I'm minded that they are Cavalry, armoured and drilled, with lance, swordsmen and either Bow* or Bow ; the Training Procopius describes for Buckellaroi before the battle of Daras suggestes to me that in some cases Buckellaroi are indeed multi armed speacialists, opting to use lance or bow; however since no-other troops seem to be capable of multi tasking this might be controvertial. Equally, as bow* they lack the superiority over ordinary stratiotoi usually described.

Generally, they should be superior, with a possible option for Belisarius's household to be elite and since Buckellaroi were private troops, a cash poor general might only be able to afford average.

Thoughts please

Thanks

[willb]

answered in this thread regarding armament viewtopic.php?t=5857&highlight=early+byzantine

[davidharvey1]

Will await the lists, do hope that the Strategikon has not particularly inspired the early part of the early Byzantine lists; the army described by Procopius is significantly different from that of Mauricius, with the significant reforms described in the Strategikon. Battle accounts circa 530 make it clear thatit was the Persians who were at advantage in melee not the Byzantines....