Making a 10th century byzantine spathion

John Dandoulakis ©

(BA War Studies, MA European and International Politics)

The inspiration

The idea to reconstruct a byzantine spathion was borne out of my engagement in Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA). I was training in sword and buckler techniques so the idea of working and experimenting on it from a byzantine perspective was too strong to resist. The main goal was twofold: a) to make an as historically accurate as possible sword and b) to make an infantry sword, not a cavalry one as the western european arming sword is. Making a byzantine round medium shield was the easy part. Making the spathion was the hard part.

 The sources

The main archeological sources available to the common public, as myself, are threefold: a) military treatises from 9^th and 10^th centuries CE, b) depictions from art, which includes mainly ivory carvings, a far more reliable source than byzantine hagiography and we are lucky to have those form 10^th century, and c) the work of modern scholars on byzantine military history and weaponry.

Hence, we find at Sylloge Tacticorum the exact dimensions for a byzantine infantry sword. “Ζωνύσθωσσαν δε και παραμήρια ξίφη, δηλαδή ετερόστομα, σπιθαμών μετά της κώπης όντων τεσσάρων”: “They should gird themselves also with parameria, that is doulble-edged swords, of four spans together with the hilt” (Sylloge, 2001) (Grotowski, 2010) . A span is the distance of a stretched adult human palm from the thumb to the little finger. It is averagely 22 cm long. 4 x 0,22 = 0,88. Therefore, I needed a sword no longer than 0,88 cm together with the hilt. The next issue to be solved was of course the shape and design itself.

The 10^th century byzantine spathion was an evolution from the late roman spatha, which was a cavalry sword. Following influences from Goths and Vandals, the spatha was passed on to the infantry, replacing the traditional shorter gladius. In the following centuries, and as Maurice’s Strategikon suggests, influence was also born upon by Sassanids, Avars and other steppe nomadic cultures. Nevertheless, evidence suggests that the infantry byzantine spathion didn’t become that much longer than it's ancient roman predecessor. As Sylloge informs us, the cavalry spathion was in fact 42cm (two spans) longer than the infantry version, and that makes perfectly logical sense from a martial arts perspective. Furthermore, artistic and archeological evidence from the same era, implies that the shape of the byzantine spathion never quite departed from that of the original late roman spatha. What actually varied, was the length (and henceforth width) of the blade and the ratio between blade and hilt.

 

Figure 1: Typology of byzantine swords from 10^th-11^th c. (Dawson, 2009)

Figure 2: Pommels from the wider byzantine area (https://sword-site.com/thread/131/byzantine-swords-centuries-romania-yotov)

Figure 3: Sword-guard from Pliska, Bulgaria and blade from Danube river areas (https://sword-site.com/thread/131/byzantine-swords-centuries-romania-yotov)

Figure 4: Sword found at Sfântu Gheorghe (Sepsiszentgyörgy), Covasna county (https://sword-site.com/thread/131/byzantine-swords-centuries-romania-yotov)

Figure 5: Other sword from Galovo village, Bulgaria (https://sword-site.com/thread/131/byzantine-swords-centuries-romania-yotov)

Figure 6: Joshua of Nun from Hosios Loukas Monastery at Steirion, Greece (10^th century)

Figure 7: Modern reconstruction of the Joshua sword (http://www.aresacademy.it/1-byzantine.html)

Figure 8: The Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia ivory triptych, 10th century, Hermitage, St Petersburg.

Figure 9: 10th century byzantine ivory statuette

Figure 10: Panel from an ivory casket with scenes of the Story of Joshua, 900–1000 AD, (Alamy Stock Photo) 

The final result of my research and reconstruction was a sword that is slightly longer at 0,91 cm. The reason for this is that the pommel was made exceptionally solid and heavy to provide better balance.

Figure 11

Figure 12

The sword in byzantine culture

From a cultural perspective I believe it is worth to mention that the sword in fact, was never a key element in byzantine culture, as it was in medieval western european culture. As Grotowski explains, other weapons such as the lance or spear bore a much higher symbolic value in byzantine anthropology. This is evident in byzantine hagiography at the depiction of military saints. The lance, sometimes with a cross finial (the crux hastata) dominates hagiography of military saints, who are typically depicted striking the enemy with the lance, not the sword, which is most often presented inside the scabbard, hanging on the left hip from the shoulder. This realisation matches perfectly a) with the place the sword is given in military treatises themselves and b) with martial traditions of the Mediterranean since the ancient times. As far as military treatises are concerned, both Leo VI Wise’s Tactica and Sylloge Tacticorum devote only very short and generic references to the spathion. On the contrary there is a significantly larger reference to spears and bows. This is explained by the fact that the sword was never a primary battlefield weapon for the byzantine army. The primary striking weapons for both infantry and cavalry were the spear/lance, axe, mace and finally the bow. Leo VI Wise gives increased attention the use of the bow, instructing the Strategos to equip every single man in his thema with a bow, even if they are not trained to use it. Taking in account the fact that the bow was also a hunting tool at that time, it is not unsafe to assume that Byzantines literally must have walked around towns and cities carrying a bow, much like Vikings and later Norman and Crusader knights would carry a sword as a symbol of socio-political strength. In a feudal, highly militarized, and warlike society, such as medieval western Europe was, this was the order of the day. In byzantine culture however, we find the sword to own a rather inferior and limited place of importance.

 

Finally, with regard to deep rooted martial traditions of the eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia, the spear is the primary weapon, not the sword. For more on this, however, I strongly suggest the book by Kostas Dervenis, “Pammachon: Martial Art of the West”.

 

Bibliography

Dawson, T., 2009. Byzantine Cavalryman c. 900-1204. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.

Grotowski, P., 2010. Arms and Armour of the Warrior Saints - Tradition and innovation in byzantine hagiography. Boston: Brill.

Sylloge, 2001. Sylloge Tacticorum addition in "Tactica by Leon VI the Wise" (trs. K. Potamionos). Athens: Eleftheri Skepsis.