Anatolicon

The subject Anatolikon ( Greek  Ἀνατολικόν [θέμα] , Anatolikón [Théma] ), also known as the subject of the Anatolics ( Greek  θέμα Ἀνατολικῶν , théma Anatolikōn ), was a Byzantine subject in central Asia Minor (present-day Turkey ). After the split of the Opsikion theme in the middle of the 8th century, it became the main Byzantine theme.

history

The exact date the theme was created is unknown. Together with the other three original themes, it was created in the middle of the 7th century as a new installation room for the defeated remains of the Eastern Roman army , which had withdrawn to Asia Minor in the face of Islamic expansion . The topic got its name from the "Anatolics", ie the troops of the magister militum per Orientem (Latin Oriens = Greek Άνατολῆ , Anatolē ), who withdrew there. It is mentioned as a topic for the first time in 669, whereby the exercitus orientalis (the army of the Eastern master ) is recorded until 687. The transition from a provisional retreat to a permanent administrative and military district is likely to have taken place gradually.  

Because it directly adjoined the hostile Muslim caliphate and was supported by the emperors of the Syrian dynasty , the Anatolicon theme was the most important in the Byzantine Empire (see below ). The accumulated power in this topic also meant a danger for the emperor: a first revolt is reported as early as 681, and in 714 the then Stratēgos of Anatolicon, Leo the Isaurian , managed to make himself emperor (Leo III). Another Stratēgos , Bardanes Turkos , rebelled in 803. Conversely, in 742 Constantine V found refuge and support there in the fight against the usurper Artabasdos .

The last mention of the Anatolian topic in the sources dates back to 1077, when his Stratēgos , Nikephoros Botaneiates , proclaimed himself emperor. A little later, the entire area fell to the Seljuks .

Geography and administration

The Byzantine subjects about 842

In its "classical expansion" in the 8th and 9th centuries, the theme included the ancient regions of Lycaonia , Pisidia , Isauria and most of Phrygia and parts of Galatia Salutaris . Originally it also included the western and southern coast of Asia Minor, but these were split off around 720 and redesigned to the theme of the Thrakesians and the theme of the Kibyrrhaoten . Under Emperor Theophilos (ruled 829-842), the southeastern areas of the subject, which bordered the Islamic caliphate and the fortresses that guarded the Cilician Gate , were transformed into the new border districts ( Kleisourai ) Cappadocia and Seleukeia . Emperor Leo VI later put the area west of Lake Tuz under the theme of Cappadocia.

The capital of the theme was Amorion until the sack of Amorion in 838. After that, the seat of Stratēgos was probably relocated to nearby Polybotos . The late antique urban production suffered considerably from the Arab attacks and the general decline of urbanization, but the cities within the subject survived in a reduced form. The cities of eastern Cappadocia (the ancient province of Cappadocia Secunda ) that bordered the Islamic caliphate were destroyed, as was Antioch in Pisidia .

According to the Arab geographers Qudama ibn Ja'far and Ibn al-Faqih , the subject of Anatolia, "the largest of all the provinces of the Rhomeans ", fielded 15,000 soldiers in the 9th century and had 34 fortresses. His commanding Stratēgos , first mentioned in 690, was the highest of all his colleagues. The office of Stratēgos of the Anatolics was one of the few that was expressly forbidden to be held by eunuchs . The Stratēgos were entitled to 40 pounds of gold and the title of Patrikios , Anthypatos and Protospatharios annually .

literature

• John B. Bury : The Imperial Administrative System of the Ninth Century: With a Revised Text of the Kletorologion of Philotheos. Oxford University Press, London 1911.
• John F. Haldon: Byzantium in the Seventh Century: The Transformation of a Culture. 2nd edition Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1997, ISBN 978-0-521-31917-1 .
• John F. Haldon: Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World, 565-1204. Taylor & Francis, London 1999, ISBN 1-85728-495-X .
• Alexander Kazhdan (Ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . 3 volumes. Oxford / New York 1991, ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6 .
• John Nesbitt, Nicolas Oikonomides (Eds.): Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art. Volume 3: West, Northwest, and Central Asia Minor and the Orient. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington DC 1996, ISBN 0-88402-250-1 .
• A. Pertusi: Constantino Porfirogenito: De Thematibus. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome 1952.
• Warren T. Treadgold: Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081. Stanford University Press, Stanford 1995, ISBN 0-8047-3163-2 .

Web links

• Sofia Gyftopoulou: Ανατολικών Θέμα . Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor. Foundation of the Hellenic World.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Pertusi: Constantino Porfirogenito: De Thematibus. 1952. p. 114.
2. ^ Haldon: Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World, 565-1204. 1999, p. 73; Treadgold: Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081. 1995, p. 23.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Gyftopoulou: Ανατολικών Θέμα. 2003 ( Chapter 1 ( Memento of May 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive )).
4. ↑ Kazhdan: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 1991, p. 89.
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Pertusi: Constantino Porfirogenito: De Thematibus. 1952. pp. 114-115.
6. ↑ Gyftopoulou: Ανατολικών Θέμα. 2003 ( Chapter 3 ( Memento of May 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive )).
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Kazhdan: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 1991, p. 90.
8. ^ Haldon: Byzantium in the Seventh Century: The Transformation of a Culture. 1997, p. 157.
9. ^ Nesbitt, Oikonomides: Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art. 1996, p. 144.
10. ^ Haldon: Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World, 565-1204. 1999, p. 114.
11. ↑ ^{a b} Gyftopoulou: Ανατολικών Θέμα. 2003 ( Chapter 5.2 ( Memento from May 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ))
12. ↑ Pertusi: Constantino Porfirogenito: De Thematibus. 1952. p. 115.
13. ↑ Gyftopoulou: Ανατολικών Θέμα. 2003 ( Chapter 5.1 ( Memento from May 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ))
14. ↑ Gyftopoulou: Ανατολικών Θέμα. 2003 ( Chapter 5.3 ( Memento from May 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ))