A Byzantine fresco of Saint Mercurius armed with a paramerion, dated 1295, from Ohrid, North Macedonia

The paramerion (Medieval Greek: Παραμήριον) was a saber-like curved sword used by the Byzantine military.[1] The one-edged cutting weapon was primarily used by Byzantine cavalry and took inspiration from similar swords of the Middle East.[1] Other scholars consider that it was directly influenced by the sabres used by Turkic steppe peoples, such as the Pechenegs and Cumans, that the Byzantines employed as mercenaries or who served in the Byzantine army. The name paramerion means 'by the thigh', this may reflect that it was worn suspended by slings from a waist-belt, rather than the usual baldric employed by Byzantines for straight double-edged swords.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Luttwak -- The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire". www.deremilitari.org. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  2. ↑ Dawson, Timothy (2007) Byzantine Infantryman, Eastern Roman Empire c.900–1204, Osprey, Oxford , ISBN 978-1-84603-105-2, p. 25.


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