d of swords, battle-axes, and spears; but the
Macedonian pike was shortened a fourth of its length, and reduced to the
more convenient measure of twelve cubits or feet. The sharpness of the
Scythian and Arabian arrows had been severely felt; and the emperors
lament the decay of archery as a cause of the public misfortunes, and
recommend, as an advice and a command, that the military youth, till the
age of forty, should assiduously practise the exercise of the bow. [78]
The bands, or regiments, were usually three hundred strong; and, as a
medium between the extremes of four and sixteen, the foot soldiers of
Leo and Constantine were formed eight deep; but the cavalry charged in
four ranks, from the reasonable consideration, that the weight of the
front could not be increased by any pressure of the hindmost horses.
If the ranks of the infantry or cavalry were sometimes doubled, this
cautious array betrayed a secret distrust of the courage of the troops,
whose numbers might swell the appearance of the line, but of whom only
a chosen band would dare to encounter the spears and swords of the
Barbarians. The order of battle must have varied according to the
ground, the object, and the adversary; but their ordinary disposition,
in two lines and a reserve, presented a succession of hopes and
resources most agreeable to the temper as well as the judgment of the
Greeks. [79] In case of a repulse, the first line fell back into the
intervals of the second; and the reserve, breaking into two divisions,
wheeled round the flanks to improve the victory or cover the retreat.
Whatever authority could enact was accomplished, at least in theory,
by the camps and marches, the exercises and evolutions, the edicts and
books, of the Byzantine monarch. [80] Whatever art could produce from
the forge, the loom, or the laboratory, was abundantly supplied by the
riches of the prince, and the industry of his numerous workmen. But
neither authority nor art could frame the most important machine, the
soldier himself; and if the ceremonies of Constantine always suppose the
safe and triumphal return of the emperor, [81] his tactics seldom soar
above the means of escaping a defeat, and procrastinating the war. [82]
Notwithstanding some transient success, the Greeks were sunk in their
own esteem and that of their neighbors. A cold hand and a loquacious
tongue was the vulgar description of the nation: the author of the
tactics was besieged in his capital; and