De velitatione bellica De velitatione bellica is the conventional Latin title for the Byzantine military treatise on skirmish ing and guerrilla - type border warfare , composed circa 970 . Its original Greek title is ( " Peri Paradromēs " , " On Skirmishing " ) . Historical context . In the mid - 7th century , the Byzantine Empire had lost most of its lands in the East to the Muslim conquests . Following the repulsion of two Arab sieges of Constantinople , the imperial capital , the situation was stabilized , and the border between Byzantium and the Muslim Caliphate was established along the Taurus Mountains defining the eastern edge of Asia Minor . For the next several centuries , warfare would assume the pattern of larger or smaller raids and counter - raids across this barrier . For the Arabs , these raids ( " razzia s " ) were carried out as part of their religious obligation against their major infidel enemy , and assumed an almost ritualized character . The Byzantines remained generally on the defensive , organizing Asia Minor into combined civil - military provinces called " thema ta " . On the mountainous border , smaller districts , the " kleisourai " ( singular : " kleisoura " meaning " defile , enclosure " ) , were established . From the late 9th century , however , the fracturing of the Muslim world and the increasing strength of Byzantium caused a shift in the balance of power , as Byzantine campaigns penetrated into Cilicia , Armenia , northern Mesopotamia , and northern Syria . The last major enemy to face the Byzantines in the region was the Hamdanid Emir of Aleppo , Sayf ad - Dawla . For ten years , from 944 to 955 , he conducted raids into Asia Minor , inflicting several heavy defeats on the Byzantines in the process . In the next decade , however , the situation was reversed , as the brothers Leo and Nikephoros Phokas ( soon to be proclaimed emperor Nikephoros II ) inflicted several defeats on his forces and proceeded to invade and occupy northern Syria in the late 960s . Book . Purpose and authorship . The " De velitatione " was composed as a treatise on this type of border fighting , but ironically at a time when this type of warfare became obsolete , due to Byzantine successes . The author himself was aware of that , and notes at the beginning of the work that Muslim power had been " greatly cut back " , and that his instructions might " not find application in the eastern regions at the present time " , but that they would be " readily available " should a need for them arise in the future . The " De velitatione " is thus a backward - looking work , unique among the contemporary treatises , dedicated to codifying and preserving the experience gathered during the previous centuries . Although the work has been attributed to Nikephoros Phokas himself , the real author is unknown . He was certainly an experienced and high - ranking officer , close to the Phokas family , whose leading members he praises for their martial prowess . Since many of the events used to illustrate tactics in the " De velitatione " were actually carried out under Leo Phokas , George Dennis considers him as the likely author , or at least the guiding hand behind the book ' s composition . Chapters . The book is divided into twenty - five chapters : Analysis . The treatise gives emphasis on good reconnaissance , the use and control of terrain features , the desirability of achieving surprise , and the avoidance of pitched battle until the Byzantine forces have mobilized and are able to choose the appropriate time and place for their attack . Various options are presented , depending on the size of the force available as well as the size and composition of the enemy forces . The treatise is also interesting for revealing the militant Christian fervour of the times , particularly espoused by the ascetic Nikephoros Phokas , and for illustrating , especially in Chapter 19 , the disdainful attitude of its author , clearly a member of the provincial military aristocracy , to the Constantinopolitan bureaucracy and its agents in the provinces . Editions . The original Greek text is preserved in three 11th - century manuscripts , second - hand or third - hand copies of the original treatise . Two of them are in Rome , and the third , the only complete version , in the Escorial .