Longobardia ( el, Λογγοβαρδία, also variously Λογγιβαρδία, ''Longibardia'' and Λαγουβαρδία, ''Lagoubardia'') was a

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 ...

term for the territories controlled by the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

in the Italian Peninsula. In the ninth and tenth centuries, it was also the name of a Byzantine military-civilian province (or '' thema'') known as the Theme of Longobardia located in southeastern Italy.

History

The term was traditionally used for the Lombard possessions, with the chronicler

Theophanes the Confessor Theophanes the Confessor ( el, Θεοφάνης Ὁμολογητής; c. 758/760 – 12 March 817/818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking ...

distinguishing between "Great Longobardia" (Greek: Μεγάλη Λογγοβαρδία;

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

: '' Longobardia major''), namely the

Kingdom of the Lombards The Kingdom of the Lombards ( la, Regnum Langobardorum; it, Regno dei Longobardi; lmo, Regn di Lombard) also known as the Lombard Kingdom; later the Kingdom of (all) Italy ( la, Regnum totius Italiae), was an early medieval state established ...

northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative region ...

, and "Lesser Longobardia" (Latin: '' Longobardia minor''), which comprised

southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the pe ...

, with the Lombard duchies of

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and '' comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Sp ...

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

and

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrus ...

, the Byzantine possessions, and the city-states (

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

Gaeta Gaeta (; lat, Cāiēta; Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a city in the province of Latina, in Lazio, Southern Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The town has played a consp ...

and

Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramati ...

) under Byzantine suzerainty. In its strictest and most technical sense, the name referred to the province ('' thema'') which encompassed the modern Italian region of

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

and parts of

Basilicata it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

, with

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Ital ...

as its capital.. Its exact origin and evolution are not entirely clear. After a century of almost complete absence from the affairs of the Italian peninsula, Byzantium once more began to intervene actively under

Basil I Basil I, called the Macedonian ( el, Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, ''Basíleios ō Makedṓn'', 811 – 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a lowly peasant in the theme of Macedonia, he rose in the ...

(reigned 867–886), whose western policy aimed to clear the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to th ...

from

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia ...

raiders, re-establish Byzantine dominance over

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, str ...

, and extend Byzantine control once more over parts of Italy. In this process, Otranto was taken from the Saracens in 873, and in 876 the Byzantines took over

, which had been captured from its Saracen rulers in 871 by

Louis II of Italy Louis II (825 – 12 August 875), sometimes called the Younger, was the king of Italy and emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 844, co-ruling with his father Lothair I until 855, after which he ruled alone. Louis's usual title was ''imper ...

. It was probably at this juncture that the foundations of the later theme were laid, perhaps in the form of a subordinate division (''

turma A ''turma'' ( Latin for "swarm, squadron", plural ''turmae''), ( Greek: τούρμα) was a cavalry unit in the Roman army of the Republic and Empire. In the Byzantine Empire, it became applied to the larger, regiment-sized military-administrati ...

'') of the ''thema'' of Cephallenia. The campaigns of Nikephoros Phokas the Elder in the mid-880s and of his successors greatly expanded the area under Byzantine control, which came to include all of

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, Apulia, and the Basilicata. Even

, the centre of Lombard power in southern Italy, was captured in 891. The first reference to Longobardia as a theme dates to precisely this time, but at first it appears that it was administered jointly with other European ''themata'' of the Byzantine Empire: in 891 the first known ''

strategos ''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek to mean military general. In the Helleni ...

'' (military governor) of Longobardia, Symbatikios, was also governor of Macedonia,

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

and Cephallenia, while his successor George administered Longobardia jointly with its parent ''thema'', Cephallenia. A dedicated ''strategos'' solely for Longobardia is only attested from 911 on. In 938 and 956, it also appears united with the ''thema'' of

, although the duration of this arrangement is unclear. At any rate, after c. 965, the two ''themata'' were permanently united into the new

Catepanate of Italy The Catepanate (or Catapanate) of Italy ( el, ''Katepaníkion Italías'') was a province of the Byzantine Empire from 965 until 1071. At its greatest extent, it comprised mainland Italy south of a line drawn from Monte Gargano to the Gulf of S ...

, with the

katepano The ''katepánō'' ( el, κατεπάνω, lit. "he oneplaced at the top", or " the topmost") was a senior Byzantine military rank and office. The word was Latinized as ''capetanus/catepan'', and its meaning seems to have merged with that of th ...

's seat again at Bari. The

Varangian Guard The Varangian Guard ( el, Τάγμα τῶν Βαράγγων, ''Tágma tōn Varángōn'') was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army from the tenth to the fourteenth century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors. The Varang ...

fought as part of the Byzantine army in several campaigns in the area, known to them as ''Langbardland''; in their

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

n homeland, their exploits are commemorated in the

Italy runestones The Italy runestones are three or four Varangian runestones from 11th-century Sweden that tell of warriors who died in ''Langbarðaland'' ("Land of the Lombards"), the Old Norse name for Italy. On these rune stones it is southern Italy that is re ...

List of ''strategoi''

*Gregorios (876) *Prokopios (880) *Stephanos Maxentios (882–885) *

Nikephoros Phokas Nikephoros II Phokas (; – 11 December 969), Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless included brilliant military exploits whi ...

(885–886) *Theophylaktos (886–887) *Constantine (887–888) *Georgios Patrikios (888–891) *Symbatikos Protospatharios (891–892) *Georgios Patrikios (892–894) *Barsakios (894–895) *Melissenos (899–905) *Ioannikios Protospatharios (911) * Nicholas Picingli (914–915) *Ursileo (died 921) *Anastasios (928 × 936) *Basilios Kladon (938) *Limnogalactos (940) *Paschalios Protospatharios (943) *Malakinos (c. 950) * Marianos Argyros (955–962) *Nikephoros Hexakionites (965)

References

Sources

* * *

History

List of ''strategoi''

References

Sources

Further reading