Corresponding author: Georgios Theotokis, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G11 5NJ, UK. Email: Geo_theotokis@yahoo.gr Article War in History 17(4) 381–402 © The Author(s) 2010 Reprints and permission: sagepub. co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0968344510376463 http://wih.sagepub.com The Norman Invasion of Sicily, 1061–1072: Numbers and Military Tactics Georgios Theotokis University of Glasgow Abstract By 1060 the Normans of Melfi had greatly expanded their dominions in Apulia and Calabria. The next step in their ambitious plans in the Italian peninsula, the invasion of Sicily, took place in 1061: it was not completed before 1091, mostly owing to a combination of political setbacks in the mainland, along with several inefficiencies in Norman military organization. No comprehensive study of the military aspects of the Norman conquest of Sicily has been written, and this paper intends to cover this specific gap. It deals with the first two stages of the Sicilian conquest, the period between the first invasion of 1061 and the first unsuccessful siege of Palermo in 1064, and the second period, which is marked by the five-month siege and capture of the Muslim capital in 1072. It examines the composition of the Norman and Muslim armies, in terms not only of numbers but also of the ration of cavalry, infantry and auxiliary units. It also considers how far the Normans had been willing to adapt to the Mediterranean reality of warfare, more specifically the construction of siege engines and of a navy capable of imposing a blockade and transporting troops and horses from the Italian mainland to Sicily; the Norman fighting tactics used in the field of battle against the Muslims; and whether those tactics changed during the several stages of the Sicilian conquest. Keywords Guiscard, Hauteville, Italian Normans, Kalbite, Normans, Saracen, Sicily I. Primary Sources for the Conquest The only chronicle material that deals solely with the invasion of Sicily by the Normans, and thus the only detailed source we have for this period, is Geoffrey Malaterra’s Deeds of Count Roger of Calabria and Sicily and of His Brother Duke Robert Guiscard. Although we know very little about Malaterra’s life apart from the fact that he had come from a