Methods of Influence on the Moral and Psychological State of Byzantine Army in a Combat (Late 9th — 12th Century)

The article considers negative reactions of Byzantine soldiers to combat stress cases and to an analysis of their causes. The analysis is based on materials of the byzantine historiography and military treatises of the late 9th — 12th century. Methods of military historical anthropology are used in the article. The Byzantine authors’ views about ways of raising the morale of soldiers, fear fighting and panic spread are considered in the article. The Byzantines' views about the physiological manifestations of fear, about the special role of rumors and unfavorable omens in the panic sentiment of the entire army are clarified. According to the views of Byzantine authors, the moral and psychological stability of the troops could be ensured through social educational work with soldiers, various types of positive and negative motivation of soldiers to active hostilities, meeting the soldiers' needs for food, drink and rest, identifying cowardly ones and isolating them from the rest of the troops

Byzantine architecture · Combat stress reaction · Criminology · Historiography · Military history · Moral panic · Political science · Rest (music · State (computer science · Byzantine Studies and History · Classics · Eurasian Exchange Networks · History · Law · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology