Bandon (Byzantine Empire)

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.