The Isaurian military units of East Roman army during 4th - the first half of 5th c. A.D.

The present paper deals with the little-studied aspect of Late Roman and Early Byzantine military history: a military organization of Isauria, a small and distant province, situated at the south-east of Asia Minor. The fundamental internal problem of Isauria consisted of the mountain Isaurian tribes, which constantly attacked the flat lands of this region and the territories of neighbouring provinces, therefore the social and political situation in Isauria was characterized by permanent instability. The local Roman troops could not control and oppress these uncivilized mountain tribes. Meanwhile, many sources on the Early Byzantine period contain evidence about existence of some special military units within the East Byzantine army, which were levied among the Isaurians. Considering evidence relating to one of these units, the Felices Theodosiani Isauri, the author makes an attempt to trace the main stages of Isaurian's military history and to stress the most important factors of interrelations between Byzantine state and Isaurian tribes during the 4th and the first half of 5th century A.D.