Walter Emil Kaegi, Jr.

Some Thoughts on Byzantine Military Strategy

© Hellenic College Press, Brookline, Massachusetts, 1983

 

Page 15

In a major statement of his philosophy of warfare and the use of strategy, he states that, "Just as no ship can sail the sea without a captain, so one cannot defeat the enemy without tactics and strategy, through which not only a strong mass of enemy can be beaten with God's help, but also a much larger number. Because wars will not be decided, as some uneducated men believe, through boldness and the number of men, but by God's favor, through tactics and strategy, about which it is more important to concern oneself than about the assembling of an inopportune mass, for the former brings safety and utility [effectiveness] while the latter brings defeat and harmful cost." [20]

[20. Ibid. 7A, pr.]

Some other military wisdom from the Strategikon includes the following statements that reemphasize the author's stress on caution and prudence: "Wars resemble the hunt." Again, "The wise general learns as much as possible about his enemy and attacks at the weakest point." "Because open and frontal attack on the enemy, even with the belief in winning over him, causes the outcome of the affair to be dangerous and [results in] heavy losses. Whence it is typical for those who do not think to win a victory with heavy losses, which brings only empty fame." [21]

[21. Ibid. 7A, pr.]

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