New Researches on the Late Antique History of Warfare. Review of the book: Меkhаmаdiev, Е. А. (2019). Voennaia organizatsiia pozdnei Rimskoi imperii v 253–353 gg.: epokha Konstantina I Velikogo i ego dinastii (306–353) [Military Organization of the Late Roman Empire in 253–353 AD: The Age of Constantine I the Great and His Dynasty (306–353)]. St Petersburg: Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie. 424 p.

Abstract

This paper states that E. A. Mekhamadiev’s book is a fundamental study on the military organization of the Late Rome Empire and Early Byzantium, with particular emphasis on epigraphy and papyrology. The use of the said data allowed the author to reconstruct the history of individual military units, their territorial movements, participation in various military campaigns, and changes of their ranks. Chronologically, the book studies the Late Roman Period from 253 to 305 AD. The researcher has examined the internal (organizational) structure of all regional armies in the age of Emperor Constantine I the Great (306–337) and his sons, not restricting himself to the study of individual and narrow plots related to the history of a particular province. He has analyzed the data relating to both the eastern and western regions of the Empire, uncovered their close relations, and revealed the permanent movements of the military units from the west to the east and in the opposite direction, depending on the geopolitical and domestic political situation.