# What did Byzantine soldiers look like ?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-byzantine-soldiers-look-like/482401>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 22, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-byzantine-soldiers-look-like/482401 "2009-01-22T03:14:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-byzantine-soldiers-look-like/482401/1 "2009-01-22T03:14:35Z")

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Every schoolkid “knows” what [Roman soldiers](http://images.google.com/images?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hl=en&q=Roman+Soldier&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2) looked like when they were equipped for battle. But what did a Byzantine soldier (of any era, from the first Constantine to the last) look like ?

Would a regular Byzantine infantryman (as opposed to a mercenary or auxiliary) have met the stereotype of a Roman soldier to a modern observer ? What about a contemporary western-European observer (I assume our image of what a roman soldier “should” look like is not a recent thing) ?

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**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-byzantine-soldiers-look-like/482401/2 "2009-01-22T05:00:04Z")

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The Byzantine Empire lasted for nearly a thousand years after the western Roman Empire fell. Military dress changed dramatically in that period. Some details of troop types over that period [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_army) and text descriptions [here](http://www.roman-empire.net/army/army.html#laterarmy3). For pictures you really need the Ospey series of books, you could try the “Look Inside” function on their website:

[http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Romano-Byzantine-Armies-4th–9th-Centuries\_9781855322240](http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Romano-Byzantine-Armies-4th%E2%80%939th-Centuries_9781855322240)  
[http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Byzantine-Armies-AD-1118–1461\_9781855323476/](http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Byzantine-Armies-AD-1118%E2%80%931461_9781855323476/)  
[http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Byzantine-Infantryman\_9781846031052/](http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Byzantine-Infantryman_9781846031052/)  
[http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Decline-and-Fall\_9781846034022But](http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Decline-and-Fall_9781846034022But) they recruited soldiers and mercenaries from all over the Near East so there is hugely more variety than in the archetypal Roman Republican or Imperial army.

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**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-byzantine-soldiers-look-like/482401/3 "2009-01-22T12:59:18Z")

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> [@griffin1977](#):
>
> Every schoolkid “knows” what [Roman soldiers](http://images.google.com/images?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hl=en&q=Roman+Soldier&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2) looked like when they were equipped for battle. But what did a Byzantine soldier (of any era, from the first Constantine to the last) look like ?
> 
> Would a regular Byzantine infantryman (as opposed to a mercenary or auxiliary) have met the stereotype of a Roman soldier to a modern observer ? What about a contemporary western-European observer (I assume our image of what a roman soldier “should” look like is not a recent thing) ?

Askance has given the links, but the short answer here is no, the average Byzantine soldier was not typically “Roman”-looking. There was a heavy Eastern/Persian (ultimately Central Asian, I believe) influence on the empire’s armour towards [lamellar](http://members.ozemail.com.au/~chrisandpeter/lamellar/lamellar.html) rather than the maille that was becoming _de rigeur_ in the West.

Also, Byzantium relied more on its heavy cavalry ([Cataphracts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataphract), as any AoE player knows) than its [infantry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_battle_tactics#Skoutatoi), which again reduces the similarities with legion-focused Rome.