Sicily (Byzantine theme)

The subject of Sicily ( Greek  θέμα Σικελίας ) was a Byzantine subject , i.e. an administrative unit in the Byzantine Empire that existed between the late 7th to the 10th century and included the island of Sicily and Calabria on the Italian peninsula . After the Arab conquest of Sicily , the topic was limited to Calabria from 902, but retained its name until the middle of the 10th century.

history

Since the Eastern Roman reconquest of Sicily from the Ostrogoths by Belisarius in 535/536, Sicily formed an independent province under a praetor , the army was under a Dux . A strategos is mentioned on the island by Arabic sources between 687 and 695; during this period, Sicily was probably organized around a theme.

The theme had its capital in Syracuse , the traditional capital of the island. It included not only Sicily, which was divided into tourmai , but also the doukaton Calabria ( Greek  δουκᾶτον Καλαυρίας ), which extended northward to the Crati River.

The Arab conquest of the island began in 826, triggered by the rebellion of the Byzantine naval commander Euphemios . After the fall of Syracuse in 878 and the conquest of Taormina in 902, the Strategos moved his seat to Rhegion , the capital of Calabria. In the first half of the 10th century the Byzantines tried unsuccessfully to recapture the island. They were able to hold some scattered forts near Messina until 965 when Rametta, the last Byzantine outpost, fell. The office of " Strategos of Sicily" continued until the middle of the 10th century when the title " Strategos of Calabria" began to appear in the records.

literature

• 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 .
• Nicolas Oikonomides: Les Listes de Préséance Byzantines des IXe et Xe Siècles. Editions du Center National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris 1972.
• A. Pertusi: Constantino Porfirogenito: De Thematibus. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome 1952.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kazhdan: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 1991, p. 1891; Nesbitt, Oikonomides: Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art. 1994, p. 22.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Oikonomides: Les Listes de Préséance Byzantines des IXe et Xe Siècles. 1972, p. 351.
3. ^ Nesbitt, Oikonomides: Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art. 1994, pp. 19, 22; Pertusi: Constantino Porfirogenito: De Thematibus. 1952, p. 179.
4. ↑ Oikonomides: Les Listes de Préséance Byzantines des IXe et Xe Siècles. 1972, pp. 351, 356; Pertusi: Constantino Porfirogenito: De Thematibus. 1952, pp. 178-180.