Osprey's study of the Byzantine cavalrymen, who were regarded as the elite arm of the military during the Middle Byzantine period (867-1204). The cavalry executed high speed reconnaissance, agile arrow barrages and crippling blows to enemy formations. Its ranks were filled primarily through direct recruitment or hereditary service by holders of military lands, but in times of crisis irregulars would be temporarily enlisted. Few books provide any accessible study of the medieval Romaic soldier's
