Byzantine ArmyMilitary parade in front of the Emperor

Byzantine Army

Military parade in front of the Emperor

Byzantine Army, especially in late era, were more likely army of mercenaries. But indeed their native units were always there. Here, imperial troops parade in front of the Emperor. Heavily armored cavalry in this picture are native Byzantine soldiers known as Klibanophoroi which simply means "metallic furnace" and I'm going to explain why they were called like this. And behind them, Pelekyphoroi Barbaroi or in English "Axe-bearing barbarians" but people mostly know them with the name "Varangian Guards".

Klibanophoroi

In the 10th century, during Nikephoros II Phokas era, they reconstituted an ancient cavalry regiment ‘Kataphraktoi’ and made them more offensive. Those new ‘Kataphraktoi’ -Now called Klibanophoroi*- were more dangerous and had different tactics on the battlefield than their ancient version. They were completely armored with the finest armors from head to toe. Klibanophoroi had 4 layers of armor; padded cloth gambeson, scale hauberk, lamellar cuirass and quilted cloth gambeson. It was almost impossible to penetrate their armor and their horses were also completely armored. Besides all those armors, they also had armguards and greaves. Taktika of Leo VI mentions armguards & greaves "made of iron or wood" but for cavalry he uses “cheiromanika sidera” (iron armguards). Most likely infantry were using wood. Plus, they had a small shield but it wasn’t necessary because just like mentioned above, their armors were almost impossible to penetrate. And as you can imagine, carrying those armors is not easy. It's heavy and would be so hot inside. Plus, they were not just carrying it but fighting in it and they were mostly using maces in close combat. Now I think it's easier to understand why they were called "Klibanophoroi". "Klibanos" simply means "furnace" in Greek.

Very few would be able to wear and fight in that armor and their armors were very expensive so, due these reasons, their number was pretty small when comparing to other soldiers. Kataphraktoi, completely armored cavalry troops in earlier Byzantine army were not charging the enemy directly but Klibanophoroi's tactic was different. Their main mission was penetrating front lines of the enemy army like a spear and once they open a gap in enemy lines, other light cavalry were following them and that was causing serious panic among enemy armies. They were highly disciplined riders and that was something scary for the enemy soldiers. Before engaging, they were hurling their javelins. Those javelins, actually, were not meant to kill but causing little panic and make them break their formation even for a short time. That was helping those elite riders more than we can imagine. And once they open a gap, the enemy usually were starting to flee because Klibanophoroi were like tanks and they were aiming the point where the enemy general stands. And fleeing soldiers were becoming easy prey for the light cavalry in the Byzantine army.

Pelekyphoroi Barbaroi

Those Northern Barbarians also wore decent armors, almost as good as Klibanophoroi. They had same lamellar armor and armguards/greaves. In early era, Varangians were mostly immigrants from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland but after Norman Conquest of England, English people started to run from the island and emigrated to Byzantine Empire. Especially after 1080, the Varangian guard saw a significant increase of participation from English immigrants. Even tho there were still Scandinavians among Varangian troops, they were called "Englinvarrangoi". They were definitely not battlefield soldiers but assault and defend troops yet they had one great virtue which was their loyalty. Historically, elite guards were usually doing more harm than good after gaining power, such as “Praetorians of Rome”, “Turkish Guards of Abbasids”, “Janissaries of Ottomans”. Yet, Axe-bearing barbarians remained loyal.

By the late 13th century, most of those Northern Barbarians were assimilated by Byzantines. Not only culturally or linguistically but also ethnically. They married Byzantine women in Anatolia and their children were called "Varangopouloi", "Sons of Varangians" but soon they all lost their identity.

*The name Klibanophoroi or Clibanarii was already in use in earlier centuries but Byzantines(more correctly Romans) brought it back in 10th century with new tactics.