The Theme of Thrace () was a province (''thema'' or
theme
Theme or themes may refer to:
* Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos
* Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software.
* Theme (linguistics), topic
* Theme ( ...
) of the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
located in the south-eastern
Balkans
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
, comprising varying parts of the
eponymous geographic region during its history.
History
Traditionally, it has been held that the theme (at the time primarily a military command) was constituted in c. 680, as a response to the
Bulgar threat.
[.][.] This is based on the mention of a certain ''
patrikios
The patricians (from ) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after the Conflict of the Orders (494 BC to 287 B ...
'' Theodore, Count of the ''
Opsikion'' and ''
hypostrategos
''Strategos'' (), also known by its Latinized form ''strategus'', is a Greek term to mean 'military general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term was also used to describe a military governor. In the modern Hellenic ...
'' of Thrace, in 680/681. However, it is unclear whether this implies the existence of Thrace as a separate command, with Theodore holding a dual post, or whether Thrace was administratively united to the ''Opsikion''. In fact, separate ''strategoi'' of Thrace are not clearly attested in literary sources until 742, while seals of ''strategoi'' are also extant only from the eighth century on.
Initially,
Adrianople
Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...
was probably the theme's capital.
Under Empress
Irene of Athens
Irene of Athens (, ; 750/756 – 9 August 803), surname Sarantapechaena (, ), was Byzantine empress consort to Emperor Leo IV from 775 to 780, regent during the childhood of their son Constantine VI from 780 until 790, co-ruler from 792 unti ...
, in the late eighth century, the theme was divided, with the western part being constituted as the separate theme of
Macedonia
Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to:
* North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia
* Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity
* Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...
. From then on, the theme's capital was at
Arcadiopolis, with subordinate ''
tourmarchai'' at
Bizye and
Sozopolis. Another, called ''tourmarches tes Thrakes'' ("of Thrace") is also attested, possibly the ''strategos deputy at Arcadiopolis.
The
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
geographers
Ibn Khordadbeh
Abu'l-Qasim Ubaydallah ibn Abdallah ibn Khordadbeh (; 820/825–913), commonly known as Ibn Khordadbeh (also spelled Ibn Khurradadhbih; ), was a high-ranking bureaucrat and geographer of Persian descent in the Abbasid Caliphate. He is the aut ...
(wrote ca. 847) and
Ibn al-Faqih (wrote ca. 903) mention the theme as extending "from the long wall
he Anastasian Wall">Anastasian_Wall.html" ;"title="he Anastasian Wall">he Anastasian Wall to the theme of Macedonia, and north up to the country of the First Bulgarian Empire">Bulgars
The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic peoples, Turkic Nomad, semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between the 5th and 7th centu ...
, counting 10 fortified places and 5,000 troops.
Indeed, the boundaries of the theme fluctuated along with the northern frontier of Byzantium during the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars. Initially, the theme must have comprised most of the ancient Diocese of Thrace, except for the country along the Danube overrun by the Bulgars (Lower Moesia), but after the conquests of
(r. 803–814),
(r. 814–831), and
(r. 893–927) the border moved by stages south of the
. Thus, at around the start of the tenth century, the theme comprised essentially the eastern half of modern
.
From the eleventh century, Thrace and Macedonia appear to have been usually combined, as attested by numerous ''strategoi'' and judges (''
'') holding jurisdiction over both themes.
, but it is still encountered in some historians of the time as an antiquarian term.