Akritai
Sign in to saveright|thumb|220px|Medieval plate depicting Akritai, the frontiersmen or border guards of the Byzantine Empire, about which Acritic songs|epic songs were written.
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4 sectionsContents
- History
- See also
- References
- Notes
right|thumb|220px|Medieval plate depicting Akritai, the frontiersmen or border guards of the Byzantine Empire, about which Acritic songs|epic songs were written.
The akritai (, akrites, ) is a term used in the Byzantine Empire in the 9th–11th centuries to denote the frontier soldiers guarding the Empire's eastern border, facing the Muslim states of the Middle East. Their exploits, embellished, inspired the Byzantine "national epic" of Digenes Akritas and the cycle of the Acritic songs.