Although he probably never set foot on a battlefield, emperor Leo VI (r. 886–912) was supreme commander of the Byzantine armed forces and successor to Caesar Augustus, Constantine, and Justinian; as such he was expected to carry out successfully Byzantium's continual warfare with its neighbors. To this end, Leo (called the Wise for his devotion to learning) applied his education to the thorough study of military science.

The Byzantines had inherited a voluminous series of treatises from antiquity on nearly every aspect of warfare, from archery to battle formations and the art of besieging or defending a city. In creating the Taktika, Leo's intent was to review all this, to summarize it, and to present an elementary handbook for his officers on how to prepare soldiers for war and how to move them on campaign and on the battlefield. He also added to the existing body of knowledge with a chapter on naval warfare and an explanation of Saracen (Arab) methods of war and how to defeat them.

Painstakingly prepared from a tenth-century manuscript now in Florence, this is the first modern critical edition of the complete text of the Taktika and includes a facing English translation, explanatory notes, and extensive indexes.