Which Byzantine emperor wrote the military manual Strategikon? The traditional answer is Maurice. The Strategikon is a late-sixth-century Greek handbook covering cavalry formations, infantry, discipline, logistics, sieges, training, and the tactics of neighboring peoples. It is one of the most important surviving guides to the Byzantine army of late antiquity.
Maurice ruled as Eastern Roman emperor from 582 to 602 and was an experienced soldier who led campaigns in the Balkans and against the Sasanian Empire. The manual is closely associated with his military reforms and is commonly titled Strategikon of Maurice. Its practical focus reflects the problems Byzantine armies faced during his reign, including Avar cavalry, Slavic warfare, difficult terrain, and the need for flexible combined-arms operations.
Historians do qualify the traditional attribution. Maurice may have commissioned the work rather than personally composing every section; his brother Peter or another general has sometimes been proposed as the actual author. Nevertheless, Maurice is the standard answer in historical reference works and quiz settings. It should not be confused with Leo VI’s later Tactica or military treatises attributed to Nikephoros II Phokas.