Bandon (Byzantine Empire)
Introduction The '''''bandon''''' () was the basic military unit and administrative territorial entity of the middle Byzantine Empire. Its name, like the Latin  and  ("ensign, banner"), had a Germanic origin. It derived from the Gothic , which is proof of foreign influence in the army at the time this type of unit evolved.
Origin The term was used already in the 6th century, mentioned by Procopius, as a term for a battle standard, and soon came to be applied to the unit bearing such a standard itself. From the reign of Nikephoros I (802–811) it was the name for a subdistrict of the Byzantine .
Organization In the Byzantine army of the 8th–11th centuries, the  formed the basic unit, with five to seven  forming a , the major subdivision of a , a combined military-civilian province. Each  was commanded by a  ("count"), with infantry  200–400 strong and cavalry  50–100 strong. It is considered that the  in the  (9th century) previously in the  (6th century) was alternatively written as  or .Infantry  were formed by sixteen , each with sixteen man, commanded by an officer  (file leader), which was assisted by  (leader of ten),  (leader of five),  (leader of four), and  (file closer). Each four  formed an  (winglet), and around three-quarters of the men were spearmen  and one-quarter were archers. At the time the ''Strategikon'' was written, the cavalry  were subdivided into three , each commanded by a  with a senior second-in-command .By the reign of Leo VI the Wise (886–912), the  disappeared and the  was divided into six  (probably commanded by ), and each pair was still commanded by a  or . Each of six  had fifty men, organized in five  of ten men each. All four officers (, , , ) were lancers.
Late empire At the beginning of the 10th century the infantry unit consisted of 256 men (16x16), and cavalry unit of 300 men (6x50), but the manuals indicate that the unit strength in fact varied between 200 and 400 men. The work ''Praecepta Militaria'' by Nikephoros II Phokas (963–969) indicates that the cavalry  was only 50 strong. Unlike other middle Byzantine administrative and military terms, the  survived well into the late Byzantine period, and remained the basic territorial unit of the Empire of Trebizond until its fall.
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