scholarly journals Caliph Al-Mu‘tasim’s Expedition against Amorion in 838 AD: The Chronology Reconsidered

Author(s):  
Pavel V. Kuzenkov ◽  

This research offers a detailed reconstruction of one of the most famous episodes of Byzantine-Arab relations in the ninth century, the victorious campaign of the Abbasid army led by Caliph al-Mu‘tasim deep into the territory of Byzantium in 838 AD, which ended with the defeat of the army of Emperor Theophilos and the destruction of two most important fortresses in Asia Minor, Ankyra and Amorion, the native place of the ruling dynasty. The accounts of the circumstances and the route of this expedition kept by Arab, Syrian, and Greek sources make it possible to build a detailed chronological map of this military campaign with the use of new methodology created for the project of the comprehensive database of events of Byzantine history. The bringing together chronological and topographic indications of all available sources made it possible not only to make a complete reconstruction of the military operations, but also to revise the date of one of the most important events in the ninth-century history of Byzantium, the battle of Anzen at Dazimon plain, when the Arab-Turkic-Armenian army commanded by Afshin inflicted a crushing defeat on the Byzantine army of Emperor Theophilus, which included the Persian detachments of the ex-Khurramites of Babek. Taking the data in possession into account, there are reasons to date the battle to July 4th, 838 AD. It is proposed to correlate the previously accepted date indicated by at-Tabari, July 22nd, with another key event of the 838 campaign, the destruction of Ankyra. In addition, a comprehensive analysis of the sources makes it possible to clarify the chronology and circumstances of the fall of Amorion, which surrender to the Arabs was resulted by an ethno-religious conflict.

Epohi ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Momchil Mladenov ◽  
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◽  

The current publications present information about the history of church union negotiations in the second half of the 13th century. The mane goal of emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus is to stop the military campaign against Byzantium. At the Second Council of Lyons (6 July 1274) was declared a union between Catholics and Orthodox. This is the most significant opportunity for the unity of Christendom. But the union also became an occasion for final division. Then any attempt at rapprochement is doomed to failure.


1996 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 547-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saadia Touval

AbstractThe article tries to explain why the American mediation at Dayton resulted in agreement, whereas previous attempts to settle the Bosnian conflict had failed. After examining the evolution of American policies prior to 1995, the article discusses the US initiative of taking the lead in the negotiation, and the methods and tactics it employed. It argues that the military operations against the Serbs do not fit the description of the mediator as a manipulator inducing a mutually hurting stalemate. The military campaign having endowed Western policies with credibility, intimidated the Serbs, and redrawn the front-lines, might be called coercive mediation. It suggests that the description of the mediator as an intervenor who does not employ force needs to be revised.


Author(s):  
S.M. Rubtsov

The article is devoted to the military action of the Roman Empire in the Middle-Danube valley in the early spring 170 year 2-nd centuries A.D. The main aim of this article consists in reconstruction one of the important events in Roman wars against the Germans tribe marcomanni, who lived on the territory of modern-day Czechia (ancient Boygemia). The author uses the analytical and comparative methods, analyzing the historical works of Roman authors and epigraphic facts. One of the main new aspects of article consists in chronology of events. The author tries to prove that defeat of Roman army and death of praefectus Marc Macrinius Vindex took place at the same time in early spring 170 year 2-nd centuries A.D.. This defeat had the important influence on the other military operations in the next time. Marcomanni and his allies seriously threatened the Roman province of Pannonia situated on the right bank of the Danube. The emperor Marcus Aurelius (161 — 180 A.D) waged several wars against the marcomanni and their allies quadi in 167 — 180 A.D. In winter 169 A.D. Marcus Aurelius became the sole emperor. He came back in Carnuntum in Upper Pannonia and began to complete the army for the offensive against marcomanni. The legatus Augusti Marc Macrinius Avitus Catonius Vindex with vexillationes of five Pannonia's legions and a few auxiliums forced a crossing the Danube in the early spring 170 A.D. Marcomanni defeated the Roman army and killed the legatus Augusti. The Germans captivated many soldiers from legions and auxiliums, burned several war-camps in Upper and Lower Pannonias. They reached the borders of the North Italy and besieged the Aquileja again. The author comes to the conclusion, that in result of the defeat of Marc Macrinius Vindex the Roman troops in the Middle and Lower Danube stood on the defensive.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-200
Author(s):  
Tibor Horváth ◽  
József Zsolt Szatai

AbstractThis study presents the history of explosive devices and that of their detection. With the invention of explosive devices and their subsequent use, the methods of warfare changed significantly. New procedures emerged that were already unthinkable to implement without the use of such tools. In parallel with the emergence of explosive devices with increasing destructive power, the need to deactivate them also came to the fore. Opposing parties made increasing efforts to detect, deactivate, and destroy explosive devices. After the completion of military operations, the detection of explosive devices did not lose its importance, and developed into an essential mission, since the areas had to be cleared of devices left over from the military actions and posing a murderous danger.


Author(s):  
Adil Markhaba ◽  
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Islam Zhemeney ◽  
Aman K. Rakhmetullin ◽  
Kalamkas B. Bolatova ◽  
...  

The relevance of this topic lies in the analysis of the study of medieval Kazakh history. After gaining independence, the processes of the revival of national identity, reinstatement of primitive spiritual and moral values and human mentality, which were sharply suppressed during the period of the Soviet totalitarian system, became widespread. Therewith, the widely discussed national-historical structure of the population, the knowledge of ethnic roots, the restoration of traditions and customs, which served as a connecting link, as well as the specificity and originality of the approach are of particular importance. Currently, the problem of objective reading, coverage, and popularisation of the ancient and medieval Kazakh history and culture is acute. By rejecting one-sided interpretations of historical events, established clichés require impartial, academic analysis based on evidence drawn from a wide range of sources. The purpose of this study is to identify the problems of the history of Kazakhstan in the 13th-14th centuries, the general laws of world historical development and the features of the historical process, folk traditions by using a scientific and systematic approach. Based on the systematisation and classification of data from the geographical and Arab historical records of the 13th-14th centuries, the analysis of written monuments is performed, their interdependence is established, and the degree of completeness and reliability of the data in the works of the narrative is determined in an integral system. Due to the scientific expeditions and research trips to Mongolia, China, and Germany, Kazakh orientalists analysed and performed the first systematic processing of archival materials and historical evidence of the early history of resettlement based on the ancient Turkic manuscript, ancient Indian, and Chinese sources that formed a picture of the proto and ancient history. For example, the features of stone figures give an idea of the military hierarchy, military operations, the settlement of ethnic groups (ethnogeography), the worldview of the Turks, etc.


Author(s):  
Javier Osorio

The history of strategic planning begins in the military. According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, strategy is the science of planning and directing large-scale military operations, of maneuvering forces into the most advantageous position prior to actual engagement with the enemy (Guralnic, 1986). Although the way we conceive strategy has changed when applied to management, one element remains key: the aim to achieve competitive advantage. Strategic planning in organizations originated in the 1950s and was very popular and widespread from the mid 1960s to mid 1970s, when people believed it was the answer to all problems and corporate America was “obsessed” with strategic planning. Following that “boom,” strategic planning was cast aside and abandoned for over a decade. The 1990s brought the revival of strategic planning as a process with particular benefits in particular contexts (Mintzberg, 1994).


Head Strong ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Michael D. Matthews

This chapter explores the history of military psychology and its influence on war. Beginning with World War I and continuing to today’s military operations, psychology has provided the military with better ways to select, train, develop, and lead soldiers in combat. Notable contributions of military psychology include aptitude testing, human factors engineering, clinical psychology, cyber technology, and positive psychology. Military psychologists may be civilians or uniformed members of all branches of service. They are employed in universities, government laboratories, hospitals, and nongovernment organizations including corporations and private consulting firms. The Society for Military Psychology is a founding division of the American Psychological Association. Given that the human element is the most important factor in warfare, military psychology is an essential science for winning the wars of today and tomorrow.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Huniya Shahid ◽  
Munam Ali Shah ◽  
Ahmad Almogren ◽  
Hasan Ali Khattak ◽  
Ikram Ud Din ◽  
...  

The rapid advancement in information and communication technology has revolutionized military departments and their operations. This advancement also gave birth to the idea of the Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBT). The IoBT refers to the fusion of the Internet of Things (IoT) with military operations on the battlefield. Various IoBT-based frameworks have been developed for the military. Nonetheless, many of these frameworks fail to maintain a high Quality of Service (QoS) due to the demanding and critical nature of IoBT. This study makes the use of mist computing while leveraging machine learning. Mist computing places computational capabilities on the edge itself (mist nodes), e.g., on end devices, wearables, sensors, and micro-controllers. This way, mist computing not only decreases latency but also saves power consumption and bandwidth as well by eliminating the need to communicate all data acquired, produced, or sensed. A mist-based version of the IoTNetWar framework is also proposed in this study. The mist-based IoTNetWar framework is a four-layer structure that aims at decreasing latency while maintaining QoS. Additionally, to further minimize delays, mist nodes utilize machine learning. Specifically, they use the delay-based K nearest neighbour algorithm for device-to-device communication purposes. The primary research objective of this work is to develop a system that is not only energy, time, and bandwidth-efficient, but it also helps military organizations with time-critical and resources-critical scenarios to monitor troops. By doing so, the system improves the overall decision-making process in a military campaign or battle. The proposed work is evaluated with the help of simulations in the EdgeCloudSim. The obtained results indicate that the proposed framework can achieve decreased network latency of 0.01 s and failure rate of 0.25% on average while maintaining high QoS in comparison to existing solutions.


1965 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
D. M. Metcalf

In the decades around the millennium the issues of bronze coinage of the Byzantine Empire, except at Cherson, were exclusively ‘Rex Regnantium’ folles. In accordance with the theocratic political philosophy of the time, the portrait they bore was that not of the emperor but of Christ, ‘the King of those who Rule’. The inscriptions were analogous: Ἐμμανουήλ and Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Βασιλεὺς τῶν Βασιλευόντων. Some issues were similar in size and fabric to the earlier issues of the Macedonian dynasty, but others were large, heavy coins, superior to any that had been generally available since the days of Justinian the Great. Quite probably, indeed, they were modelled on the sixth-century folles, as those of Constantine IV certainly had been, with the intention of recalling the glories of the past. The intervening period had witnessed an almost total decline in the circulation of petty currency in the provinces. It is to be seen as evidence of a corresponding decline in city life, for which, in turn, a complex of causes is to be discerned—demographic decline; the Islamic expansion into the eastern provinces and into the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean; the pressure of the Avars, Slavs, and Bulgars in the north-west; the strain imposed on the Byzantine treasury by the military effort expended in containing these threats; provincial self-sufficiency, and lowered standards which necessarily followed from the impoverishment of the state and its peoples. The revival of the Empire's fortunes began in the ninth century, and reached a climax under Basil II (976–1025), who re-established Byzantine rule firmly over territories extending from the Adriatic coasts to the upper valley of the Euphrates. By the end of Basil's reign the use of petty currency, which during the ninth and tenth centuries had still been significantly restricted to a few cities of the Aegean and Black Sea coastlands, was spreading much more widely through the Balkans and Asia Minor. Also, the reconquest of Antioch and the cities of Cilicia added to the needs that the imperial coinage had to meet.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heiko Lang

This book offers the first systematic and comprehensive analysis of the Japanese debate on the nation’s South East Asia policy from 1938–1941 and 1952–1960. In a detailed discourse analysis, it compares competing arguments offered by business circles, the military, the political and diplomatic elites, and intellectuals on Japan’s regional strategy. This book advances the field of the history of Japan’s diplomatic thinking, not only by addressing the issue of continuity and change in the discourse on Japan’s relations with South East Asia, but also by demonstrating how this debate served to explore more fundamental questions about Japan’s identity, its relations with Western nations and its stance on Asian solidarity. Heiko Lang (PhD) completed his doctoral studies at the Universities of Tokyo and Munich and is currently teaching international relations at Hosei University, Tokyo.


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