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The ''bandon'' ((ギリシア語:βάνδον)) was the basic military and territorial administrative unit of the middle Byzantine Empire. Its name, like the Latin ''bandus'' and ''bandum'' ("ensign, banner"), had a Germanic origin. It derived from the Gothic ''bandwō'', which is the witness of foreign influence in the army at the time this type of unit evolved. The term was used already in the 6th century, mentioned by Procopius, as a term for a battle standard, and soon came to be applied to the unit bearing such a standard itself. Since the time of ruling Nikephoros I (802–811) it was the name for a subdistrict of the Byzantine ''thema''. In the Byzantine army of the 8th–11th centuries, the ''bandon'' formed the basic unit, with five to seven ''banda'' forming a ''tourma'', the major subdivision of a ''thema'', a combined military-civilian province. Each ''bandon'' was commanded by a ''komes'' ("count"), with infantry ''banda'' 200–400 strong and cavalry ''banda'' 50–100 strong. It is considered that the ''bandon'' in the ''Tactica'' (9th century) previously in the ''Strategikon'' (6th century) was alternatively written as ''tagma'' or ''arithmos''. Infantry ''banda'' was formed by sixteen ''lochaghiai'', each with sixteen man, commaned by an officer ''lochaghos'' (file leader), which was assited by ''dekarchos'' (leader of ten), ''pentarchos'' (leader of five), ''tetrarchos'' (leader of four), and ''ouraghos'' (file closer). Each four ''lochaghiai'' formed an ''allaghion'' (winglet), and around three-quarters of the men were spearmen ''skutaoi'' and one-quarter were archers. At the time the ''Strategikon'' was written, the cavalry ''banda'' was subdivied into three ''hekatontarchia'', each commaned by a ''hekatontarchos'' with a senior second-in-command ''illarches''. Since the time of ruling Leo VI the Wise (886–912), the ''hekatontarchia'' disappeared and the ''bandon'' was divided into six ''allaghia'' (probably commanded by ''pentekontarchai''), and each pair was still commanded by a ''hekatontarchos'' or ''kentarchos''. Each of six ''allaghia'' had fifty men, organized in five ''dekarchiai'' of ten men each. All four officers (''dekarchos'', ''pentarchos'', ''tetrarchos'', ''ouraghos'') were lancers. At the beginning of the 10th century the infantry unit consisted of 256 men (16x16), and cavalry unit of 300 men (6x50), but the manuals indicate that the unit strength in fact varied between 200 and 400 men. The work ''Praecepta Militaria'' by Nikephoros II Phokas (963–969) indicates that the cavalry ''bandon'' was only 50 strong. Unlike other middle Byzantine administrative and military terms, the ''bandon'' survived well into the late Byzantine period, and remained the basic territorial unit of the Empire of Trebizond until its fall. ==References== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bandon (Byzantine Empire)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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