3. Garments supplied by the eidikon [18]
The eidikon supplied garments in various qualities, but all apparently of lesser value than those mentioned above. There are 340 of each item of clothing, and (usually) three grades of quality of each item, listed best to least. By cross-referencing the quantities required (Table 1), it is possible to reconstruct 'outfits' which would have been given to each of three ranks of recipient:
One hundred and forty men received garments of better quality, of whom a subgroup of 40 got the choicest selection. That included himatia esōphoria with matching leggings, which were presumably not so fine as those given by the koitōn - but still, with a valuation of 7 to 10 nomismata (gold coins), each costs about the annual wage of the average Byzantine soldier or citizen. [19] A tailored garment valued at 10 nomismata was suitable for a merarchēs (commander of 1,000) from one of the border themes [20], however it seems more likely that these particular items were not intended for Gongyles' officers, but rather as gifts for the Cretans, as they were tailored in 'Saracen style'. [21] Oddly, it appears that only these best forty outfits came with belts - perhaps the list only specified belts of significant value [22], or the other types of garments destined for the lower orders were normally worn ungirdled?
The next-ranked 100 got tailored garments with leggings, both in striped Egyptian cloth. [23] According to 'On Imperial Expeditions' these would be imports, bought on the open market [24], as would the silken clothes of the 100 second-grade outfits, which were domestic products (though not from the imperial workshops). [25] As even the second-quality outfits are silk, so presumably all the better grade of garments were also, though no doubt improving on them in both delicacy of fabric and decoration. [26] Either better or second grade could be presented to foreigners, or to those attending the Emperor. [27]
The third grade of common garments and their leggings are of cotton (vamvakiou). By the tenth century cotton was cultivated throughout the entire Islamic world [28], and presumably also in suitable areas of Byzantium, as it is required in all the military manuals of the era except the earliest (Leo VI's Taktika, c.905AD). [29] In 'On Imperial Expeditions', the eidikon supplies green- and purple-dyed cotton garments among the clothing bought at market. [30]
Even though flax cultivation for fibre and oil is well attested in Byzantine sources [31], linen (linon, linarion) is rarely mentioned in these manuals. Sets of underwear (hypokamisovrakia) were produced in two grades for the Cretan expedition, but of unspecified materials - presumably they were of linen, at least for the lower grade. The better grade may have been distinguished by using a finer quality or an imported linen, though silk is not out of the question. Interestingly, no underwear was supplied with the third-quality cotton outfits.
Three qualities of hoods are provided, but our sources are not informative about their particulars. [32]
Hypodēmata can mean footwear in general, but is used in another military manual when clearly describing boots and distinguishing them from other shoes (sandalia). [33] Again three grades are specified but no details are provided. In 'On Imperial Expeditions', 'various' (sized?) boots are called for, the better sort being hypodēmata adēmina, which seems to mean made of a particular tanned leather - the same is used for a portable sauna so it may be notably water-resistant. [34]
