Strymon (Byzantine theme)

The Strymon theme ( Greek  θέμα Στρυμόνος ) was a Byzantine theme whose capital was Serres . After its creation in the 9th century, it experienced an eventful time in which it was regularly merged with other topics and then separated again.

location

Byzantine themes in the Balkans around 1045

The subject covered the area between the Strymon and Nestos , the Rhodope Mountains in the north and the Aegean Sea in the south. The area was strategically important because it guarded the mountain passes to the Slavic-dominated interior of the Balkan Peninsula and because it was crossed by the important Via Egnatia , which connected Byzantine Thrace with Thessalonike , the second largest city of the Byzantine Empire. From the late 7th century, the area was mainly populated by Slavs, who made up the majority of the population until the 11th century. The main cities of the subject were Serres, Philippi , Christoupolis and Chrysopolis , it could originally have included the cities of Xanthi and Mosynopolis east of the Strymon.

history

In the 8th century Strymon was a Kleisoura on the Macedonian theme . The exact date of its elevation as a separate topic is unknown, but is probably in the first half of the 9th century. A passage in the work of Theophanes from 809 could mean the existence of the theme at this point in time, but there is no reference to this in the Tacticon Uspensky from 842. The Strategos from Strymon appears for the first time in 899 in the Kletorologion , but there are a number of seals with it known by the titles of Archontes and Strategoi of Strymon from the second half of the 9th century. At the same time, the bishop of Serres was raised to archbishop at the same time, which could indicate the elevation of Serres to the thematic capital.

In the 10th century the theme was divided into two parts: the actual (old) strymon "Chryseuba" or "Chrysaba" ( Greek Χρυσεύβα / Χρυσάβα ) and "New Strymon" ( Greek Νέος Στρυμών ). The latter is only preserved for us through the tacticon Oikonomides from around 975. It consisted either of the eastern part of the old theme east of the Nestos, or around an area in the north of the river Strymon that after Emperor Johannes Tzimiskes (ruled 969–976) conquest of Bulgaria in 971 fell to the empire. Towards the end of the 10th century, the Strymon theme was apparently merged with the Thessalonike theme .

The Themma existed until the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire after the Fourth Crusade , when it became part of the short-lived Kingdom of Thessalonica . In 1246 the theme was restored after the area was rebuilt by the Nicene Emperor John III. had been retaken. In the 14th century it was reunited with the theme of Thessalonica, it also appears as the theme of "Serres and Strymon". The issue was finally resolved after a brief Serbian conquest during a Byzantine civil war.

literature

• Mark C. Bartusis: The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society 1204-1453 . University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1997, ISBN 0-8122-1620-2 ( books.google.de ).
• John Van Antwerp Fine: The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century . University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1991, ISBN 0-472-08149-7 ( books.google.de ).
• Alexander Petrovich Kazhdan : The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford University Press, New York, New York and Oxford, United Kingdom 1991, ISBN 0-19-504652-8 .
• John W. Nesbitt, Nicolas Oikonomides: Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art . tape 1 : Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea. . Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, District of Columbia 1991, ISBN 0-88402-194-7 ( books.google.de ).
• Dimitri Obolensky: The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500–1453 . Praeger Publishers, New York, New York 1971 ( books.google.de ).
• Nicolas Oikonomides: Les Listes de Préséance Byzantines des IXe et Xe Siècles . Editions du Center National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, France 1972 ( books.google.de ).
• Agostino Pertusi : Constantino Porfirogenito: De Thematibus . Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Città del Vaticano, Rome 1952, OCLC 912189938 .
• 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. ^ ^{A b} Fine: The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. 1991, p. 83.
2. ↑ Obolensky: The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500-1453. 1971, pp. 77-78.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Kazhdan: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 1991, p. 1968.
4. ↑ Obolensky: The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500-1453. 1971, p. 78.
5. ↑ Pertusi: Constantino Porfirogenito: De Thematibus. 1952, pp. 166-167; Treadgold: Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081. 1995, pp. 33, 76.
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Nesbitt, Oikonomides: Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art. 1991, p. 104.
7. ↑ Oikonomides: Les Listes de Préséance Byzantines des IXe et Xe Siècles. 1972, p. 357.
8. ↑ Bartusis: The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society 1204-1453. 1997, p. 68.