In 1089, when David IV ‘the Builder’ (1089–1125) ascended the throne, the problem of the Turkmen nomads was probably the most difficult he faced. Confrontation with Turkmens was characterized by small-scale but high-intensity clashes distinguished by dynamism and mobility. Due to this, the struggle with the nomads and the suppression of their raids required specific methods of warfare. The theoretical foundations for dealing with raids had already been developed by the Byzantine military, which in the tenth century produced a detailed and practical manual, De velitatione bellica, whose author was a comrade-in-arms of Nikephoros II Phokas (963–69). Though it is hard to show with certainty that the Georgian king knew and followed De velitatione, it is very possible that he derived some ideas about warfare from this Byzantine treatise. In the military career of David the Builder can be seen both the observance of the recommendations of De velitatione (for instance the formation of a strategic barrier and stopping the enemy in a mountainous region with small forces in Trialeti; destroying the enemy camp by a surprise attack in Upper Tao and Botora; luring and then destruction at Avchala), and creative understanding and rethinking of the treatise. There is evidence that he extended the tactical recommendations of the treatise to the strategic level, including when the king addressed the method of luring his adversary at both the tactical (Avchala episode) and strategic level (marching beyond Likhi): David the Builder took the treatise's recommendation to detain the enemy in a border area to a new height when he attacked the nomads outside the country, meaning that he successfully used the military experience of the Byzantium treatise and enriched it with his own ideas.