Lion Rampant – Battle of Dyrrhachium, October 1081.

Background

Following the Norman conquest of Byzantine Italy and Saracen Sicily, the Byzantine emperor, Michael VII Doukas (r. 1071–1078), betrothed his son to Robert Guiscard’s daughter. When Michael was deposed, Robert took this as an excuse to invade the Byzantine Empire in 1081. His army laid siege to Dyrrhachium, but his fleet was defeated by the Venetians. On October 18, the Normans engaged a Byzantine army under Alexios I Komnenos outside Dyrrhachium. The battle began with the Byzantine right wing routing the Norman left wing, which broke and fled. Varangian troops joined in the pursuit of the fleeing Normans, but became separated from the main force and were massacred. Norman knights attacked the Byzantine centre and routed it, causing the bulk of the Byzantine army to rout.

Alexios advanced from Salonica and pitched camp on the river Charzanes near Dyrrhachium on October 15. He held a war council there and sought advice from his senior officers; among them was George Palaiologos, who had managed to sneak out of the city. A majority of the senior officers, including Palaiologos, urged caution, noting that time was with the Emperor. Alexios, however, favoured an immediate assault, hoping to catch Guiscard’s army from the rear, while they were still besieging the city. Alexios moved his army to the hills opposite the city, planning to attack the Normans the next day.

Guiscard, however, had been informed of Alexios’ arrival by his scouts and on the night of October 17, he moved his army from the peninsula to the mainland. Upon learning of Guiscard’s move, Alexios revised his battle plan. He split his army into three divisions, with the left wing under the command of Gregory Pakourianos, the right wing under the command of Nikephoros Melissenos, and himself in command of the centre. Guiscard formed his battle line opposite Alexios’s, with the right wing under the command of the Count of Giovinazzo, the left under Bohemond and Guiscard facing Alexios in the centre.

The Varangians had been ordered to march just in front of the main line with a strong division of archers a little behind them. The archers had been commanded to move in front of the Varangians and loose a volley before retreating behind them. The archers continued this tactic until the army neared contact.

As the opposing armies closed in, Guiscard sent a detachment of cavalry positioned in the centre to feint an attack on the Byzantine positions. Guiscard hoped the feint would draw up the Varangians; however, this plan failed when the cavalry was forced back by the archers. The Norman right wing suddenly charged forward to the point where the Byzantine left and centre met, directing its attack against the Varangian left flank. The Varangians stood their ground while the Byzantine left, including some of Alexios’ elite troops, attacked the Normans. The Norman formation disintegrated and the routed Normans fled towards the beach. There, according to Comnena, they were rallied by Guiscard’s wife, Sikelgaita, described as “like another Pallas, if not a second Athena”.

In the meantime, the Byzantine right and centre had been engaging in skirmishes with the Normans opposite them. However, with the collapse of the Norman right, the knights were in danger of being outflanked. At this point, the Varangians (mainly Anglo-Saxons who had left England after the Norman Conquest) joined in the pursuit of the Norman right. With their massive battle axes, the Varangians attacked the Norman knights, who were driven away after their horses panicked. The Varangians soon became separated from the main force and exhausted so they were in no position to resist an assault. Guiscard sent a strong force of spearmen and crossbowmen against the Varangian flank and inflicted heavy casualties on them. A few Varangians, including the Varangian commander Nabites, escaped. The few remaining Varangians fled into the church of the Archangel Michael. The Normans immediately set the church on fire, and all Varangians perished in the blaze.

Meanwhile, George Palaiologos sortied out of Dyrrhachium, but failed to save the situation. Alexios’s ally, Serbian King Constantine Bodin stayed aside with his army, intending to await the outcome of the battle. When the Byzantines were defeated and started to flee, Bodin retreated with his army. The Turks who had been lent to him by the Seljuk Sultan Suleyman I followed Constantine’s example.

Deprived of his left wing (still in pursuit of the Norman right), Alexios was exposed in the centre. Guiscard sent his heavy cavalry against the Byzantine centre. They first routed the Byzantine skirmishers before breaking into small detachments and smashing into various points of the Byzantine line. This charge broke the Byzantine lines and caused them to rout. The imperial camp, which had been left unguarded, fell to the Normans.

Alexios and his guards resisted as long as they could before retreating. As they retreated, Alexios was separated from his guard and was attacked by Norman soldiers. While escaping, he was wounded in his forehead and lost a lot of blood, but eventually made it back to Ohrid, where he regrouped his army.

After this victory, the Normans took Dyrrhachium in February 1082 and advanced inland, capturing most of Macedonia and Thessaly. Robert was then forced to leave Greece to deal with an attack on his ally, the Pope, by the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV (r. 1084–1105). Robert left his son Bohemond in charge of the army in Greece. Bohemond was initially successful, defeating Alexios in several battles, but was defeated by Alexios outside Larissa in 1083. Forced to retreat to Italy, Bohemond lost all the territory gained by the Normans in the campaign. The Byzantine recovery began the Komnenian restoration.

The Game

We did the skirmish before the battle a month ago, so it was time to try the actual battle! The battlefield was pretty much open with a few areas of swamp scrub, beach scrub and a few hills. We also had the church that the Varangians occupied in the actual battle.

Each side had four commands (three forward and a reserve), lined up to face off. We had players for each command, with each side making their plan. The Byzantines plan was to feint toward the center and then concentrate to the left and do a single envelopment, using their archer advantage to win the day. The Normans plan was to advance broadly and send their knight into the center to crush the enemy.

The Byzantines did a better job executing and managed to gain archery superiority through maneuver. The Norman knights got intermingled with their infantry and archers and were unable to get into position for an early charge.

The convention in the center, gave the Byzantines the chance to do their left hook and overwhelm the Byzantine flank. The Byzantines managed to hold on a delay the massed attack long enough for their center to sort themselves out and counter the attack.

While the fight in the center was sorting it itself out, the Norman left was able to approach and overwhelm the stretched out Byzantine right and pretty much wipe the out.

When the dust settled, both sides still had combat capability on the table, but the Normans managed to charge their way to a minor victory!

• Manteuffel