Imperial Army of Basileia ton Antiokheion: An Overview

The Guardians of the Great Leukos Mountains, The Protectors of Heaven, The Bulwark against the Barbarians; these are a few of many names that can be applied to the Antiocheian Imperial Army that has against all odds, held the remnants of the once great Antiochian Empire together. It has kept the barbarians from getting into the new nation heartland around Lake Theikos; using the terrain and the immense skill it has developed from 500 years of fighting back to destroy many invaders and it pridefully will do it again, should anyone try their luck once more against them.

Post-Invasion History

A brief note on the pre-invasion army. Many of the sources regarding it talk in reflection how it was the lack of motivation during the invasion that saw it like many other armies that were hit by the invasion destroyed. The Army was defeated by the Veeshojoi in the east, but its western domains were kept intact until the second wave came in 444 VTE, this time being the Syndeoneians, the Ayakkayolians and the Diastimaians. The latter two conquered the northern parts of the Empire after a catastrophic defeated at Nikopolis in 446. But it was the Syndeoneians that were the most warlike and they had overrun the heartland of the empire by 450 and took Antiocheia itself by 458 after a long siege.

At the Rhoedias River, the borders stabilized for 150 years until the Syndeoneians utterly crushed the Imperial Army in its attempt to regain Antiocheia under Emperor Antiochos XVII at Makrakomeia in 684. This defeat saw the Emperor killed and the entire army destroyed, and result in the loss of all of Eurydice, Megalos, Protomedeia and much of Laomedeia and Opis. Furthermore, the defeat would lead to the fall of the rest of Laomedeia, Opis and Dione by 753 VTE.

The Empire was now hemmed in the Leukos mountains and there it would make its final stand against the Syndeoneians in 764, when the Emperor of Syndeoneia, Alexandros II, invaded with an army of 80,000. Standing against him was Emperor Demetrios III, the 10,000 remaining veterans of the Imperial Army and 30,000 of the Leukoi, who had volunteered out of pride to protect their homeland. The Leukoi were fierce warriors, having repelled many invasions from their lands nearly 1000 years before from the Empire itself before being finally conquered. They had fought off the Veeshojoi and the Syndeoneians numerous times already, but they had never faced a force like this before. Fortunately, the Divines were on the side of Demetrios and over the course of the year, he whittled down the invading army before surrounding it in Amplianian Pass. There, the Syndeoneians were forced to watch hopeless as their supplies ran out and they froze to death. By the time of the new year, only 250 men made it back to Syndeoneia alive. Demetrios was hailed as a national hero and the city of Demetriopolis was founded in his honor; But he was a smart man and signed peace with the Syndeoneians. In the meantime, he set about reforming the nation into the state it is today, and that included the army. He has become known as the Father of the Fatherland by both the native Leukoi and the displaced Antiocheians, but that is another story for another time.

The matter that is important is the reforms Demetrios put in place, which centered around a combination of Elastic Defense, and Key Point Defense doctrine; and the organization of the Synoriophylakos, the frontier armies, and the Phoritesomos, the central highly professional mobile armies. The combination of these grand strategic defensive tactics and the organization of the armies in this manner is still to this day the overall basis of national defense, which will be detailed later.

Regardless, these reforms have proven to be successful, regularly defeating ambitious Dynatoi from Syndeoneia, Veeshojoi attacks and full-scale attacks from Syndeoneia. Most recently, in what is called the Nikephoras War, against Syndeoneia again which saw for the first time in centuries land taken back.

Organization and Composition

The Army is organized, as stated previously, into two different forces. The Synoriophylakos and the Phoritesomos, but the main difference in organization between the two comes from how they are mustered, whom they are by, and the regions which they are located.

Synoriophylakoi are local levies from the border regions. They are drawn from the most healthy and skilled fighters from these regions by Kleisourarches , the often-hereditary district commanders that rule over an Kleisoura. These Kleisourarches, in turn are placed under the command of the regional Kephale , a non-hereditary regional governor, who ultimately would fall under the command of finally the Katepano and the Emperor. Katepanos are in charge of the centralized command of all of the Synoriophylakoi but often leave most operations to the Kephale unless a great threat is posed. The advantages of this system have been made clear, as the hardened warriors from the frontier have often alone been able to repel invaders, and even under more aggressive Kleisourarches raided into their lands.

However, the Synoriophylakoi aren't expected to be able to hold out against a large, determined invader and this is where the Phoritesomoi come into play. A volunteer, highly professional force, the Phoritesomoi are able to quickly respond to invasions and are masters at maneuver warfare. To ensure their ability to quickly arrive where they are needed, all men in their ranks are mounted, regardless of if they are infantry or cavalry, because they all will dismount when they arrive on the scene. Unlike many armies, they do not have a baggage train and carry everything they need on themselves. This is because they can rely on the road network and supply depots to give them whatever they need. The rapidness of them has shocked many over the years, as their arrival usually has come to mean the end of a raid or invasion because of how well equipped, trained and motivated they are. In fact, the elite of the elite, the Basilike Hetaireia and Basilike Somatophylakes, are truly feared as they represent likely the best soldiers on the entire continent in all matters.

(Insert map showing the different Kephalatikion, and Katepanikion. As well as the Phoritesomoi interior locations.)
(Insert information about these districts and other offices with the Phoritesomoi such as their leaders)

(Insert information the standard organization for all units from the bottom up)

(Talk about how artillery is organized, in that it is not with the armies but based at locations to be brought into the forces rapidly)

(Insert information about the different types of infantry, cavalry and artillery.)