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Phoulkon

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The Phoulkon (Greek: φοῦλκον) or fulcum was an infantry formation utilized by the military of the Byzantine Empire.

Etymology

The term "phoulkon" is attested to only in the Strategikon of Maurice [1], a military manual written in the 590s. Written in Greek, the author of the Strategikon "also frequently employed Latin and other terms which have been in common military use", as the language of the army continued to be in Latin at that time. [2] Therefore the word, like other military terminology found in the manual, is likely a Greek transliteration of the Latin word *fulcum, though this Latin term is not attested to in any surviving texts. [3]

No consensus exists on the etymology of "phoulkon". One proposal derives it from the word furca, a fork, to describe a body of troops arranged in a wedge shape. Another proposal derives the term from a Germanic word describing a body of troops; similar terms are found in the Germanic languages, including Old English folc ("host, army"; cf. gefylce "troop, division"), Old Saxon folc ("troop, division”), and Old Norse fólk ("people, host, troop"), fylki ("array, formation").[4] Germanic soldiers were attested to in the Late Roman army, recruited either directly into the army or serving as allied foederati.

Formation

The Strategikon describes the phoulkon as a close-order infantry formation. Before close contact with the enemy, infantry were to close ranks and form a shield wall from the first two lines. As they advanced, [5] light infantry from the rear would shoot arrows at the enemy while the heavy infantry could hurl martiobarbuli darts or throw their spears before closing in to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the spatha. [6] If faced with enemy cavalry, the first three ranks of the phoulkon would form a shield wall and thrust their spears outwards while fixing the ends to the ground, while the third and rear ranks would hurl projectiles and the light infantry shoot arrows. [7]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Rance (2004) p. 280
  2. ^ Rance (2004) p. 267
  3. ^ Rance (2004) p. 286
  4. ^ Rance (2004) pp. 287-289
  5. ^ Rance (2004) pp. 271-272
  6. ^ Rance (2004) pp. 274-275
  7. ^ Rance (2004) pp. 276-280

Bibliography