Mesopotamia (Byzantine theme)

Mesopotamia ( Greek  Μεσοποταμία ) was the name of a Byzantine theme in what is now Turkey . It is not to be confused with Mesopotamia between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers or with the eastern Roman province of Mesopotamia . The Byzantine theme was located between the Arsanias (now Murat ) and Çemisgezek rivers.

history

Seal of John Kastamonites, Vestes and Katepano (Mesopotamia)

The subject probably originated between 899 and 911 when Emperor Leo VI. (reigned 886–912) appointed the former strategos of the subject of Charsianon named Orestes as its commander. Most of the subject was the former Armenian principality of Takis, which was ruled by a certain Manuel. Manuel and his sons were persuaded to give up their property claims, for which they were compensated with land within the empire. The Armenian-populated districts of Keltzene ( subtracted from the subject of Chaldia ) and Kamacha (part of the subject of Koloneia ) were attached to this principality to form the new subject.

Although Emperor Constantine VII (ruled 913–959) states that Mesopotamia was previously a Kleisoura , there are indications that the issue previously held a more prominent position. The seal of a " Spatharios and Strategos of Mesopotamia" was dated to around 810, which indicates the existence of a short-lived theme of the same name at that time. Seal a tour Marche with the Armenian name Mousilikes is dated to about the 870th

So it is possible that Mesopotamia was established as the tower of a neighboring subject in the 9th century , even though it was in fact an independent Armenian principality.

Strategists on the subject were appointed throughout the 10th century, they coexisted with the new post of " Doux of Mesopotamia" (established around 975). Unlike the Strategos , the Doux did not have a fixed theme, but rather controlled the center of the Byzantine eastern border. In the 11th century almost all Doukes of Mesopotamia were Armenians, e . B. Gregorios Magistros and his son. After the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, Emperor Michael VII (ruled 1071-1078) tried to restore Byzantine sovereignty, but the area quickly fell to the Seljuks .

literature

• Peter Charanis: The Armenians in the Byzantine Empire. Lisbon 1963.
• Catherine Holmes: Basil II and the Governance of Empire (976-1025). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005, ISBN 0-19-927968-3 .
• Alexander Kazhdan (Ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . 3 volumes. Oxford / New York 1991.
• John W. Nesbitt, Eric McGeer, Nicolas Oikonomides (Eds.): Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art. Volume 4: The East. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington DC 2001, ISBN 0-88402-282-X .

Individual evidence

1. ^ McGeer, Nesbitt, Oikonomides: Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art. 2001, p. 134.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Kazhdan: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 1991, p. 1348.
3. ↑ Charanis: The Armenians in the Byzantine Empire. 1963, p. 29.
4. ^ ^{A b} McGeer, Nesbitt, Oikonomides: Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art. 2001, pp. 134-135.
5. ↑ McGeer, Nesbitt, Oikonomides: Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art. 2001, pp. 140-142.
6. ↑ McGeer, Nesbitt, Oikonomides: Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art. 2001, p. 135; Holmes: Basil II and the Governance of Empire (976-1025). 2005, pp. 322-330.