The Byzantine invasion of Crete in AD 960 provides a good opportunity to re-examine questions about the relative ease of supplying pre-modern armies by water in the Mediterranean basin. A combination of documentary, historical, and archaeological evidence suggests that the logistics behind supply by sea is more difficult than previously supposed. The army of Nikephoros Phokas besieged Chandax from July 960 to March 961 and had trouble supplying themselves with resources from the island. This paper creates a simple logistical model to get a sense of what the expedition required in terms of victuals and examines how they reached the army. The model suggests that previous work done on military supply in the classical period cannot be applied wholesale to the medieval Mediterranean.

公元 960 年拜占庭对克里特岛的入侵提供了一个很好的机会来重新审视有关在地中海盆地用水供应前现代军队相对容易的问题。文献、历史和考古证据的结合表明，海上供应背后的物流比以前想象的要困难得多。从 960 年 7 月到 961 年 3 月，Nikephoros Phokas 的军队围攻了 Chandax，并且难以从岛上供应资源。本文创建了一个简单的后勤模型，以了解远征所需的食物并检查它们如何到达军队。该模型表明，以前在古典时期对军事供应所做的工作不能批发应用于中世纪的地中海。