Optimatoi

The Optimatoi ( Greek  Ὀπτιμάτοι , from Latin Optimates , "the best") originally emerged as an Eastern Roman troop category. In the middle of the 8th century they were then downgraded to a supply and logistics unit and assigned to a theme in northwestern Asia Minor that was named after them. The administrative unit Thema der Optimaten (Greek: θέμα Ὀπτιμάτων , Thema Optimatōn ) existed until the Ottoman conquest of the area in the first decades of the 14th century.

history

The Optimates were first excavated in the late 6th century (approx. 575) by Emperor Tiberios I (reign 574-582). According to the strategicon of the emperor Maurikios , the Optimates were an elite regiment of the Foederati , most likely of Gothic origin. They were a cavalry unit, probably between one and five thousand strong, who formed the central part of the reserve army. Their commander carried the title of taxiarch ēs . The presence of descendants of the members of this regiment, called by the writer Theophanes Gothograeci (Greek: Γοτθογραῖκοι ), can be proven in Bithynia in the early 8th century. At that time the strength of the regiment was about 2000 men, which should have been the original strength.

In the middle of the 7th century during the reign of Constantine V in the course of his attempt to curtail the power of the generals of the Themata after the revolt of Artabasdos , the Doux of the Theme of Opsikion , the regiment was demoted. The part of the theme of Opsikion in which the Optimates had settled, including the peninsula opposite Constantinople , both banks of the Gulf of Nicomedia to the Sangarius River in the east, became the independent theme of the Optimates (Greek: θέμα Ὀπτιμάτων ), Nicomedia should be its capital. The first mention of the Optimatoi as a separate topic in the sources was in 774/775. However, it is certain that the subject was founded after the revolt of Artabasdo. At the same time, the once extensive Opsikic theme was further fragmented with the creation of the Boukellarion theme .

From this point on, the Optimatoi , unlike all other topics, no longer provided armed men , but formed a unit of 4,000 mule drivers , who made up the train ( Touldon ) of the imperial Tagmata . The unique role of the Optimatoi differentiated the topic from all others: their civilian supporting function was due to the lack of division into command levels ( Tourmai or Droungoi ), which Emperor Constantine VII saw as a sign of their lower status in the army. Logically, the domestic of the subject held the lowest rank of all Stratēgoi in the imperial hierarchy. As in the other topics , the Domestikos was provided with a representative ( Topotērētēs ), a chief financial officer ( Chartoularios ) and a secretariat, led by a Protokankellarios , to manage his topic .

The rural areas of the subject were sacked by the Seljuks after the battle of Manzikert ; Nicomedia, however, could be held. The subject was recovered for the Byzantine Empire by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118) with the help of the Crusaders of the First Crusade . After Constantinople was sacked in 1204 , the area was added to the Latin Empire . The subject was however from John III. Vatazes reconstituted after retaking the region in 1240 and existed until the gradual conquest of the Ottoman Beylik in the first half of the 14th century.

literature

• John F. Haldon: Byzantine Praetorians: An Administrative, Institutional and Social Survey of the Opsikion and the Tagmata, c. 580-900 . tape 3 . R. Habelt, Bonn 1984, ISBN 3-7749-2004-4 ( books.google.de ).
• John F. Haldon: Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World, 565-1204 . University College London Press (Taylor & Francis Group), London 1999, ISBN 1-85728-495-X ( books.google.de ).
• Alexander Kazhdan: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-504652-8 .
• TC Lounghis: The Decline of the Opsikian Domesticates and the Rise of the Domesticate of the Scholae Archived from the original on May 3, 2010. In: Byzantine Symmeikta . No. 10, 1996, pp. 27-36. ISSN  1105-1639 .
• Theophanes the Confessor, Harry Turtledove: The Chronicle of Theophanes: Anni mundi 6095-6305 (AD 602-813) . University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 1982, ISBN 0-8122-1128-6 ( books.google.de ).
• Warren T. Treadgold: Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081 . Stanford University Press, Stanford, California 1995, ISBN 0-8047-3163-2 ( books.google.de ).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Haldon: Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World, 565-1204. 1999, p. 196.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Kazhdan: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 1991, p. 1529.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Treadgold: Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081. 1995, pp. 96-97.
4. ↑ Kazhdan: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 1991, p. 2018.
5. ↑ Lounghis: The Decline of the Opsikian domesticates and the Rise of the domesticate of the Scholae. 1996, pp. 32-33.
6. ^ Treadgold: Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081. 1995, p. 99.
7. ↑ Turtledove: The Chronicle of Theophanes: Anni mundi 6095-6305 (AD 602-813). 1982, pp. 446-447 (p. 134).
8. ^ Haldon: Byzantine Praetorians: An Administrative, Institutional and Social Survey of the Opsikion and the Tagmata, c. 580-900. 1984, pp. 222-227.
9. ↑ Lounghis: The Decline of the Opsikian domesticates and the Rise of the domesticate of the Scholae. 1996, pp. 29-31.
10. ^ Haldon: Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World, 565-1204. 1999, p. 158.
11. ↑ Lounghis: The Decline of the Opsikian domesticates and the Rise of the domesticate of the Scholae. 1996, p. 34.
12. ^ Treadgold: Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081. 1995, p. 105.
13. ^ Treadgold: Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081. 1995, p. 218; Kazhdan: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 1991, p. 1483.
14. ↑ Kazhdan: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 1991, p. 1484.