The Hexapolis ( el, Ἑξάπολις) was a district in
Armenia Minor
Lesser Armenia ( hy, Փոքր Հայք, ''Pokr Hayk''; la, Armenia Minor, Greek: Mikre Armenia, Μικρή Αρμενία), also known as Armenia Minor and Armenia Inferior, comprised the Armenian–populated regions primarily to the west and no ...
, mentioned in the early
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
period (7th–8th centuries). It comprised the cities of
Melitene, which was the district capital,
Arka,
Arabissos,
Kukusos,
Komana
Komana is a village in North-West District of Botswana. It is located close to the Okavango Delta and Lake Ngami
Lake Ngami is an endorheic lake in Botswana north of the Kalahari Desert. It is seasonally filled by the Taughe River, an effl ...
and
Ariaratheia. It formed part of the
Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
of
Armenia Secunda, renamed to
Armenia Tertia
Roman Armenia refers to the rule of parts of Greater Armenia by the Roman Empire, from the 1st century AD to the end of Late Antiquity. While Armenia Minor had become a client state and incorporated into the Roman Empire proper during the 1st ce ...
after
Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renova ...
's provincial reorganization in 536.
The Hexapolis sustained several attacks from the Arabs beginning in 661.
An emir called Busr attacked the area west of Militene in 667
while, in 695, the Arabs - disregarding all treaties - raided Hexapolis and took many of its inhabitants captive. Justinian was about to launch an expedition to Hexapolis to counter the Arab attack but this was prevented after he was deposed by a mob led by
Leontios
Leontius ( el, Λεόντιος, Leóntios; – 15 February 706), was Byzantine emperor from 695 to 698. Little is known of his early life, other than that he was born in Isauria in Asia Minor. He was given the title of ''patrikios'', and mad ...
, his previously appointed ''
strategos'' of the
''Hellas'' Theme.
References
Sources
*
Byzantine Anatolia
Provinces of the Byzantine Empire
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