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Armeniakon
The Armeniac Theme (, ''Armeniakon hema'), more properly the Theme of the Armeniacs (Greek: , ''thema Armeniakōn''), was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) located in northeastern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). History The Armeniac Theme was one of the four original themes, established sometime in the mid-7th century out of the territory of Lesser Armenia (also known as "Armenia Minor"). Although the mention of a "George, '' tourmarchēs'' of the Armeniacs" in 629, during the Persian campaigns of Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641), may suggest the existence of the theme at such an early date, the first unambiguous reference to it in literary sources occurs during the revolt of its general, Saborios, in 667/668.. It is next mentioned on a seal of 717/718. Together with the other themes, it was created from the remnants of one of the field armies of the old East Roman army following the disastrous defeats suffered during the first wave of the Muslim conquests, a pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Armenia
Roman Armenia refers to the rule of parts of Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), 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 until it was incorporated into the Roman Empire proper during the 1st century AD, Greater Armenia remained an Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), independent kingdom under the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, Arsacid dynasty. Throughout this period, Armenia remained a bone of contention between Rome and the Parthian Empire, as well as the Sasanian Empire that succeeded the latter, and the ''casus belli'' for several of the Roman–Persian Wars. Only in 114 would Emperor Trajan conquer and incorporate it as a short-lived Roman province. In the late 4th century, Armenia was divided between Rome and the Sasanians, who took control of the larger part of the Armenian Kingdom and, in the mid-5th century, abolished the Armenian monarchy. In the 6th and the 7th centuries, Armenia once ag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lesser Armenia
Lesser Armenia (; ; ), also known as Armenia Minor and Armenia Inferior, comprised the Armenian-populated regions primarily to the west and northwest of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia (also known as Kingdom of Greater Armenia), on the western side of the Euphrates River. It was also a kingdom, separate from Greater Armenia, from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD. The region was later reorganized into the Armeniac Theme under the Byzantine Empire. Geography Lesser Armenia (or Armenia Minor) was the portion of historic Armenia and the Armenian Highlands lying west and northwest of the river Euphrates. It received its name to distinguish it from the much larger eastern portion of historic Armenia—Greater Armenia (or Armenia Major). Early history Lesser Armenia corresponded to the location of the Late Bronze Age Hayasa-Azzi confederation, which is thought by some scholars to be the source of the Armenian endonym and the original state of the Proto-Armenians. It has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theme (country Subdivision)
The themes or (, , singular: , ) were the main military and Subdivisions of the Byzantine Empire, administrative divisions of the middle Byzantine Empire. They were established in the mid-7th century in the aftermath of the Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe and Early Muslim conquests, Muslim conquests of parts of Byzantine territory, and replaced the earlier Roman province#Late imperial period, provincial system established by Diocletian and Constantine the Great. In their origin, the first themes were created from the areas of encampment of the field armies of the East Roman army, and their names corresponded to the military units that had existed in those areas. The theme system reached its apogee in the 9th and 10th centuries, as older themes were split up and the conquest of territory resulted in the creation of new ones. The original theme system underwent significant changes in the 11th and 12th centuries, but the term remained in use as a provincial and financial c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koloneia (theme)
The Theme of Koloneia () was a small military-civilian province (''thema'' or theme) of the Byzantine Empire located in northern Cappadocia and the southern Pontus, in modern Turkey. It was founded sometime in the mid-9th century and survived until it was conquered by the Seljuk Turks soon after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. History Originally part of the Armeniac Theme, the theme was formed around the city of Koloneia on the river Lykos (modern Şebinkarahisar).. The theme is attested for the first time in 863,.. but it apparently existed as a separate district earlier: Nicolas Oikonomides interprets a reference by the Arab geographer al-Masudi to mean that it constituted first a '' kleisoura'' (a fortified frontier district).. In addition, a version of the ''Life of the 42 Martyrs of Amorium'' mentions that Emperor Theophilos (r. 829–842) appointed a certain ''spatharios'' Kallistos as its '' doux'' in circa 842, making it the likely date of its elevation to a full theme (a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaldia
Chaldia (, ''Khaldia'') was a historical region located in the mountainous interior of the eastern Black Sea, northeast Anatolia (modern Turkey). Its name was derived from a people called the ''Chaldoi'' (or '' Chalybes'') that inhabited the region in antiquity. Chaldia was used throughout the Byzantine period and was established as a formal theme, known as the Theme of Chaldia (Greek: θέμα Χαλδίας), by 840. During the Late Middle Ages, it formed the core of the Empire of Trebizond until its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1461. Anthony Bryer traces the origin of its name not to Chaldea, as Constantine VII had done, but to the Urartian language, for whose speakers Ḫaldi was the Sun God. Bryer notes at the time of his writing that a number of villages in the Of district were still known as "Halt". Other scholars, however, reject the Urartian connection. Χάλυψ, the tribe's name in Greek, means "tempered iron, steel", a term that passed into Latin as ''chalybs'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kleisoura (Byzantine District)
In the Byzantine Empire, a ''kleisoura'' (, "enclosure, defile") was a term traditionally applied to a fortified mountain pass and the military district protecting it.; . By the late 7th century, it came to be applied to more extensive frontier districts, distinct from the larger '' themata'', chiefly along the Empire's eastern border with the Caliphate along the line of the Taurus- Anti-Taurus mountains (in the West, only Strymon was in its early days termed a ''kleisoura''). A ''kleisoura'' or ''kleisourarchia'' was an autonomous command, under a ''kleisourarches'' (Greek: κλεισουράρχης). Eventually, most ''kleisourai'' were raised to full ''themata'', and the term fell out of use after the 10th century (in late Byzantine times, '' droungos'' had a similar meaning). Its Islamic counterpart in Cilicia and Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cappadocia (theme)
The Theme of Cappadocia () was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) encompassing the southern portion of the namesake region from the early 9th to the late 11th centuries. Location The theme comprised most of the late antique Roman province of Cappadocia Secunda and parts of Cappadocia Prima. By the early 10th century, it was bounded to the northwest by the Bucellarian Theme, roughly along the line of the Lake Tatta and Mocissus; the Armeniac Theme and later Charsianon to the north, across the river Halys, and to the northeast near Caesarea and the fortress of Rodentos; to the south by the Taurus Mountains and the border with the Caliphate's lands and the '' Thughur'' frontier zone in Cilicia; and to the east with the Anatolic Theme, the boundary stretching across Lycaonia from the area of Heraclea Cybistra to Tatta.. History Lying directly north of the Cilician Gates, the Arabs' major invasion route into Asia Minor, the region of Cappadocia suffered greatly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charsianon
Charsianon () was the name of a Byzantine fortress and the corresponding theme (a military-civilian province) in the region of Cappadocia in eastern Anatolia (modern Turkey). History The fortress of Charsianon (Greek: Χαρσιανόν κάστρον, ''Charsianon kastron''; Arabic: ''Qal'e-i Ḥarsanōs'') is first mentioned in 638, during the first wave of the Muslim conquests, and was allegedly named after a general of Justinian I named Charsios.. The fortress is now identified with the ruins of Muşalikalesi (Muşali Kale of old) in the Akdağmadeni district in Yozgat Province. The Arabs first seized it in 730, and it remained a hotly contested stronghold during the next century of Byzantine–Arab warfare. During the 8th century, it belonged to the Armeniac Theme and was the seat of a military and territorial district ('' tourma''). In the early 9th century, the fortress became the centre of a '' kleisoura'', a separately administered fortified frontier district. Someti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thracesian Theme
The Thracesian Theme (, ''Thrakēsion thema''), more properly known as the Theme of the Thracesians (, ''thema Thrakēsiōn'', often simply , ''Thrakēsioi''), was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) in western Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Created either in the mid-7th or the early 8th century as the settlement of the former Army of Thrace, after which it was named, it was one of the larger and more important themes of the Empire throughout its existence based on its proximity to Constantinople. The Thracesian Theme was one of the longest-lived themes, surviving until the region was conquered by the Turks in the early 14th century. History As with the other themes, the exact date of foundation is unclear. The Thracesians are first securely attested in 711, when a "'' tourmarchēs'' of the Thracesians" named Christopher was dispatched against Cherson by Emperor Justinian II, while a governing '' stratēgos'' is only attested as late as 741.... It is hence traditiona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anatolic Theme
The Anatolic Theme (, ''Anatolikon hema'), more properly known as the Theme of the Anatolics (Greek: , ''thema Anatolikōn''), was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) in central Asia Minor (modern Turkey). From its establishment, it was the largest and senior-most of the themes, and its military governors ('' stratēgoi'') were powerful individuals, several of them rising to the imperial throne or launching failed rebellions to capture it. The theme and its army played an important role in the Arab–Byzantine wars of the 7th–10th centuries, after which it enjoyed a period of relative peace that lasted until its conquest by the Seljuk Turks in the late 1070s. Geography and administration In its "classical" form during the 8th and 9th centuries, the theme stretched over the ancient regions of Lycaonia, Pisidia, Isauria, as well as most of Phrygia and parts of Galatia Salutaris.. Initially, the Anatolic Theme included the western and southern shores of Asia Minor as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strategos
''Strategos'' (), also known by its Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized form ''strategus'', is a Greek language, Greek term to mean 'military General officer, general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term was also used to describe a military governor. In the modern Hellenic Army, it is the highest officer rank. Etymology ''Strategos'' is a compound of two Greek words: ''stratos'' and ''agos''. ''Stratos'' (στρατός) means 'army', literally 'that which is spread out', coming from the proto-Indo-European root *stere-, 'to spread'. ''Agos'' (ἀγός) means 'leader', from ''agein'' (ἄγειν), 'to lead', from the pelasgic root *ag-, 'to drive, draw out or forth, move'. Classical Greece Athens In its most famous attestation, in Classical Athens, the office of ''strategos'' existed already in the 6th century BC, but it was only with the reforms of Cleisthenes in 501 BC that it assumed its most recognizable form: Cleisthenes instituted a boa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amasya
Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 313. It is the seat of Amasya Province and Amasya District.İl Belediyesi Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 January 2023. Its population is 114,921 (2021). Amasya stands in the mountains above the Black Sea (Karadeniz) coast, set apart from the rest of Anatolia in a narrow valley along the banks of the Yeşilırmak (river), Yeşilırmak River. Although near the Black Sea, this area is high above the coast and has an inland climate, well-suited to growing apples, for which Amasya province, one of the provinces in north-centr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
