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This analysis of the ships of the Byzantine navy from the sixth to twelfth centuries is a fascinating, and totally original discussion of the surviving texts which record and report them and the relationship of those texts to the physical reality of the ships themselves.
List of contents
Preface and Appreciations; List of Figures, Maps, and Tables; Note on Orthography, Translation, Citation, and Dating; Note on Metrology and Hours of Daylight; Selective Gazeteer of historical place names; Selective Glossary of Greek, Latin, and Arabic terminology; Glossary of English nautical terminology; Note on citation of Greek and Latin Glossaries; Abbreviations; Maps; Introduction; Chapter One: The operational context; The first period, ca 400-560: the Germanic assault and imperial recovery; The second period, ca 560-750: the Muslim assault and imperial recovery; The third period, ca 750-875: equilibrium of chaos; The fourth period, ca 875-1025: Byzantine ascendancy; The fifth period, ca 1025-1204: the triumph of the Latin West; Chapter Two: The origins of the Dromon; First mentions; Deck and oarage system; The ram and the spur; Square sails and lateen sails; Chapter Three: From the sixth to ninth centuries; Chapter Four: The Dromon in the age of the Macedonian emperors; (a) The sources; (b) Terminology and ship types; (c) Hull; (d) Prow; (e) Poop; (f) Deck and Castles; (g) Masts, yards, and sails; (h) Rigging; (i) Crews; (j) Oarage system and dimensions; (k) Horse transports; (l) Performance capabilities, water supplies, and logistics; (m) Armaments; (n) Tactics, strategy, and techniques; Chapter Five: The demise of the Dromon; Chapter Six: The triumph of the Galea; Conclusion; Postscript; Appendix One: Syrianos Magistros, Naumacivai Surianou Magivstrou, edition and translation; Appendix Two: Leo VI, Naumacika; Levonto" Basilevw", edition and translation; Appendix Three: Anonymous, Naumacika; suntacqevnta para; Basileivou patrikivou kai; parakoimoumevnou, edition and translation; Appendix Four: Fleets, armaments, and equipment for dromons, pamphyloi, and ousiaka chelandia according to the inventories for the expeditions to Crete of 911 and 949 in the; De cerimoniis aule Byzantinae attributed to Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos; Appendix Five: Nikephoros Ouranos, Peri; qalassomaciva", edition and translation; Appendix Six: Greek Fire; Appendix Seven: The galleys of the manuscript, Madrid, Biblioteca National, vitr. 26-2, of John Skylitzes' Synopsis historion and its dating and art styles; Appendix Eight: Muhammad ibn Mankali, [a] Al-Adilla al-Rasmiyya fi 'l-Ta'a bi al-H arbiyya [b] Al-Ahka m al-Mulu kiyya wa 'l-Dawa bit al-Na musiyya, translation; Bibliography; Indices; Acknowledgments
About the author
John H. Pryor, Ph.D. (1974), Medieval Studies, University of Toronto, is an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney in Medieval Studies and History. He has published extensively on medieval Mediterranean history, especially on the Crusades and on Maritime History. Elizabeth M. Jeffreys, B. Litt (1969) Oxford, Bywater and Sotheby Professor of Byzantine and Modern Greek language and literature, Oxford. She has published extensively on Byzantine literature, including editions of 6th, 12th, and 14th century literary texts.
