Theme

The themata of the Byzantine Empire, at the death of Basil II in 1025.

The themes or themata (Greek: θέματα; singular θέμα, thema) were the main administrative divisions of the middle Byzantine Empire. They were established in the seventh century in the aftermath of the Muslim conquests of Byzantine territory and replaced the earlier provincial system established by emperors Diocletian and Constantine the Great.

History

Background

During the late sixth and early seventh centuries, the Byzantine Empire was under frequent attack from all sides. The Sassanid Empire was pressing from the east on Syria, Egypt, and Anatolia. Slavs and Avars raided Greece and settled in the Balkans. The Lombards occupied northern Italy, largely unopposed. In order to face the mounting pressure, in the more distant provinces of the West, recently regained by Justinian, Emperor Maurice combined supreme civil and military authority in the person of an exarch, forming the exarchates of Ravenna and Africa. This trend had already featured in some of the administrative reforms of Justinian in the 530s, but had been limited to individual provinces. It was the establishment of the exarchates that overturned the strict division of civil and military offices that had existed since the reforms of Diocletian, 300 years earlier. However, in most of the old Empire, the old system continued to function until the 640s, when the eastern part of the Empire collapsed under the onslaught of the Muslim Caliphate. The rapid Muslim conquest of Syria and Egypt and consequent Byzantine losses in manpower and territory meant that the Empire found itself struggling for survival.

In order to respond to this unprecedented crisis, the Empire was drastically reorganized. Although some elements of the earlier administration survived until the latter seventh century, the remaining imperial territory in Asia Minor was divided into five large themata, each governed by a stratēgos ("general"), who also commanded the military forces of each thema.^[1] Until the early 20th century, the establishment of the themes was attributed by many historians, like George Ostrogorsky, to the Emperor Heraclius.^[2] This view has been objected to by others and most modern historians date their creation later to the period from the 640s to the 660s, under Constans II.^[3][4]

Establishment

The original Byzantine themata in c. 650. Aside from the too early date, the map is erroneous in depicting the themes of Optimatōn and Bukellariōn (not yet established), and the Cibyrrhaeotic Theme (still part of the Karabisianoi naval corps).

Map showing the extent of the Byzantine Empire in ca. 600 and ca. 900. The themes for the latter date are also shown.

Each of the original four themata was formed from the Empire's earlier mobile field armies, as their names testifies. These were mobile regional forces, in contrast to the static limitanei garrisons, and commanded each by a magister militum. In the aftermath of the loss of the Levant, these armies were withdrawn to Asia Minor, and assigned each to a specific area. The first themata were:

• the Armeniac Theme (Θέμα Άρμενιάκων, Thema Armeniakōn), first mentioned in 667, was the successor of the Army of Armenia. It occupied the old areas of the Pontus, Armenia Minor and northern Cappadocia, with its capital at Amasea
• the Anatolic Theme (Θέμα Άνατολικῶν, Thema Anatolikōn), first mentioned in 669, was the successor of the Army of the East (Άνατολῆ). It covered central Asia Minor, and its capital was Amorium.
• the Opsician Theme (Θέμα Ὀψικίου, Thema Opsikiou), first mentioned in 680, was where the imperial retinue (in Latin Obsequium), was established. It covered northwestern Asia Minor (Bithynia, Paphlagonia and parts of Galatia), and was based at Nicaea. Its commander bore the title of komēs ("count")
• the Thracesian Theme (Θέμα Θρακησίων, Thema Thrakēsiōn), first mentioned in 680, was the successor of the Army of Thrace. It covered the central western coast of Asia Minor (Ionia, Lydia and Caria), with capital at Ephesos.

In addition, the great naval division of the Karabisianoi (Kαραβισιάνοι), first mentioned in 680, was probably formed of the remains of the Army of the Illyricum or the old quaestura exercitus. It never formed a theme proper, but occupied the southern coast of Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands, with its stratēgos' seat at Attaleia. It provided the bulk of the Byzantine navy facing the new Arab threat (κάραβις means "ship"). It was eventually replaced by a fully-fledged theme, the Theme of the Cibyrrhaeots.

The new system of settling military units in vacant lands and thus strengthening local loyalties to the state greatly helped the Byzantine Empire survive. The price was paid in terms of a militarization of society and a decline of civil institutions and civil culture; for this reason, the introduction of the themes is often seen as marking the end of Late Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages for the Eastern Roman Empire.

Later development

This section requires expansion.

Organization

The term thema was ambiguous, referring both to a form of military tenure and to an administrative division. A theme was an arrangement of plots of land given for farming to the soldiers. The soldiers were still technically a military unit, under the command of a strategos, and they did not own the land they worked as it was still controlled by the state. Therefore, for its use the soldiers' pay was reduced. By accepting this proposition, the participants agreed that their descendants would also serve in the military and work in a theme, thus simultaneously reducing the need for unpopular conscription as well as cheaply maintaining the military. It also allowed for the settling of conquered lands, as there was always a substantial addition made to public lands during a conquest.

The commander of a theme, however, did not only command his soldiers. He united the civil and military jurisdictions in the territorial area in question. Thus the division set up by Diocletian between civil governors (praesides etc.) and military commanders (duces etc.) was abolished, and the Empire returned to a system much more similar to that of the Republic or the Principate, where provincial governors had also commanded the armies in their area.

The following table illustrates the thematic structure as found in the Thracesian Theme, circa 902-936:

List of the themata

Notes:
^† naval theme (θέμα ναυτικόν)

Sources

• Haldon, John F. (1999). Warfare, state and society in the Byzantine world, 565-1204. Routledge. ISBN 1857284941. 
• Treadgold, Warren T. (1995). Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804731632. 
• Treadgold, Warren T. (1997). A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804726302. 

References