Aegean (Byzantine theme)

The theme of the Aegean ( Middle Greek θέμα τοῦ Αἰγαίου Πελάγους thema tou Aigaiou Pelagous ) was a Byzantine province in the north Aegean Sea that was established in the middle of the ninth century. As one of the three dedicated fleet themes ( θέματα ναυτικᾶ themata nautika ), it mainly provided ships and troops for the Byzantine fleet , but also served as a civil administrative unit.

history

The theme had its origin in the late antique civil " province of the islands" ( Latin insulae ; Middle Greek Νήσοι Nesoi ), which comprised the southeast and eastern islands of the Aegean Sea to Tenedos . The term “Aigaion Pelagos” first appeared in the early 8th century as an administrative term, as can be read on the seals of various kommerkiarioi (customs officers). A seal, dated 721/722, even indicates an official to whom all Greek islands were subordinate, which indicates an expansion of the province to the northern and western islands of the Aegean Sea. Militarily, the islands were assigned to the naval command of the Karabisianoi and later to that of the Kibyrrhaoten . From the late 8th century, two independent commanders appear in the Aegean: the Droungarios of the Aegean ( Aigaion Pelagos ), to whom the northern half of the sea apparently belonged, and the Droungarios "of the twelve islands" ( Dodecanese ) or "of the Gulf" ( Kolpos ), to which the southern part was subordinate. The latter command eventually evolved into the theme of Samos , while the first developed on the theme of the Aegean. This included the northern Aegean islands, the Dardanelles , and the south coast of the Propontis . The theme of the Aegean Sea was probably established in 843: his commanding strategos does not appear in the Taktikon Uspensky of 842/843, which still lists him as Droungarios , but elsewhere he is titled as Strategos on Lesbos in the 843 year.

The theme of the Aegean was divided into turmai and banda . In the area of ​​the Dardanelles and the Propontis, the Droungarios and later Strategos of the Aegean Sea probably shared command with the strategos of the Opsikion , whose jurisdiction the areas were probably subject to. The strategos of the Opsik theme probably retained sovereignty in the civil administration and the local militia, while the sole task of the strategos of the Aegean was to take care of supplies of ships and recruits from the area. A similar division also existed in the Samos theme. This thesis is supported by the fact that there is evidence of opsikers, especially Slavs from Asia Minor ( Sklabesianoi ), who served as marines in the fleet. According to Emperor Constantine VII (ruled 913–959), in the 10th century the theme included Lesbos (the seat of Strategos ), Lemnos , Imbros and Tenedos , Chios (later added to the theme of Samos), the Sporades and the Cyclades . In 911 the number of men on the subject was 2,610 oars and 400 marines.

The subject survived until the late 10th or early 11th centuries when it was broken up into smaller units. After the Cyclades and Sporades, Chios and the area around Abydos received their own strategoi , the subject of the Aegean became a purely civil administrative unit that only included the coasts of the Propontis and the area around Constantinople . In the late 11th century, the remains of the Subject's fleet were transferred to the imperial fleet in Constantinople and placed under the command of the Megas Doux . In the 12th century, the Aegean theme was finally merged with the Opsikion theme, as described in the Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae from 1204. After the Fourth Crusade , the subject ceased to exist.

literature

• Hélène Ahrweiler : Byzance et la Mer: La Marine de Guerre, la Politique et les Institutiones Maritimes de Byzance aux VIIe – XVe Siècles. Presses universitaires de France, Paris 1966.
• Alexander Kazhdan (Ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . 3 volumes. Oxford / New York 1991.
• John Nesbitt, Nicolas Oikonomides (Eds.): Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art. Volume 2: South of the Balkans, the Islands, South of Asia Minor. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington DC 1994, ISBN 0-88402-226-9 .
• Nikolas Oikonomides: Les Listes de Préséance Byzantines des IXe et Xe Siècles. Editions du Center National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris 1972.
• Warren T. Treadgold: Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081. Stanford University Press, Stanford 1995, ISBN 0-8047-3163-2 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Nesbitt, Oikonomides: Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art. 1994 pp. 110-112.
2. ↑ Kazhdan: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 1991, p. 26.
3. ↑ Ahrweiler: Byzance et la Mer. 1966, pp. 76-81; Kazhdan: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 1991, pp. 26-27.
4. ↑ Oikonomides: Les Listes de Préséance Byzantines des IXe et Xe Siècles. 1972, pp. 46-47.
5. ^ Nesbitt, Oikonomides: Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art. 1994 pp. 109, 112.
6. ↑ Ahrweiler: Byzance et la Mer. 1966, p. 402.
7. ↑ Ahrweiler: Byzance et la Mer. 1966, pp. 76-79, 132-133 (note # 5); Nesbitt, Oikonomides: Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art. 1994 pp. 123, 139, 141.
8. ^ Treadgold: Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081. 1995, pp. 67, 76.
9. ↑ Ahrweiler: Byzance et la Mer. 1966, pp. 132-133.
10. ^ Nesbitt, Oikonomides: Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art. 1994 p. 112.
11. ^ Ahrweiler: Byzance et la Mer. 1966, p. 79.