User:Sfjyu/drafts/Late Roman battle tactics

Late Roman battle tactics describes the military tactics used by the Late Roman army and its successor the East Roman army, during a period the period which lasts from the 2nd century into the late 6th century.

Evolution of the army
During the Crisis of the Third Century, the empire underwent a period of turmoil and near collapse as a series of short-reigned emperors fought in nearly constant civil wars against rebellions and usurpers, while the weakening of the frontiers caused by internal conflict created the opportunities for foreign invasions from barbarian tribes and the well-organized Sasanian Empire. Starting with Gallienus, who created a mobile cavalry reserve who could move quickly from crisis to crisis, subsequent emperors would withdraw more troops from the frontiers to accompany themselves, both as a deterrent to would-be usurpers and as a mobile force which could be deployed against foreign invaders. The mobile troops evolved to become the comitatenses, or field armies, accompanying the emperor, while the frontier garrisons became known as the limitanei or ripenses troops.

Foreign influences
"Barbarian" peoples, especially from the Germanic peoples, became an important source of recruits for the Roman army. Germanic influence is believed to have introduced a number of influences into the Roman army, such as number of loanwords into the Roman military lexicon, and cultural practices like the barritus war cry and the practice of acclaiming leaders by raising them on the shields of soldiers. Increased interactions with the steppe peoples, including the Huns, the Bulgars, and the Avars, led to the adoption of equites sagitarii, or horse archers, either recruited from eastern Roman subjects with indigenous archery traditions, or as allied foederati hired from the steppe peoples.