Mesopotamia ( el, Μεσοποταμία) was the name of 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 Constantin ...

theme (a military-civilian province) located in what is today eastern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It should not be confused with the region of

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

or with the older Roman and early Byzantine province of Mesopotamia. The Byzantine theme was located between the rivers Arsanias (modern Murat) and Çimisgezek.

History

Seal of John Kastamonites, katepano of Mesopotamia

The theme was formed probably between 899 and 911, when Emperor

Leo VI the Wise Leo VI, called the Wise ( gr, Λέων ὁ Σοφός, Léōn ho Sophós, 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well r ...

(r. 886–912) appointed the former ''

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 Hellenisti ...

'' of the Charsianon, named Orestes, as its governor.. Most of the province was formed out the Armenian principality of Taron, ruled by the chieftain Manuel Bagratuni. Manuel and his four sons were persuaded to cede their territory to the Byzantine Empire in exchange for titles and estates in other themes. The Armenian-populated districts of Keltzene (detached from the theme of Chaldia) and Kamacha (part of the theme of Koloneia) were then joined to it to form the new theme. Although Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (r. 913–959) mentions that before its elevation to a theme, the region was an "unnamed ''

kleisoura Kleisoura ( el, Κλεισούρα, "enclosure" or "pass") may refer to: *Kleisoura (Byzantine district), a Byzantine military frontier province *Kleisoura, Kastoria, a village and a municipality in Kastoria regional unit, Greece ** Battle of Kleis ...

''", there is evidence of much earlier administrative structures than that.. A seal of a "'' spatharios'' and ''strategos'' of Mesopotamia" has been dated to c. 810, perhaps indicating the existence of a first short-lived theme there, and a seal of a ''

tourmarches 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-administrative ...

'' with the Armenian name Mousilikes, is tentatively dated to c. 870. It is thus possible that Mesopotamia was constituted in the late 9th century out of an Armenian principality as a division (''

tourma 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-administrative ...

'') of some neighbouring theme, with its prince receiving a Byzantine title and continuing to govern it, before it was expanded into a full theme. This may also explain the peculiar custom of its ''strategos'' drawing, until 911, his salary not from the imperial treasury but from the customs proceeds of the of his province. Commanders of the theme continued to be appointed throughout the 10th century, co-existing with the new post of "'' doux'' of Mesopotamia", established c. 975. Unlike the ''strategos'', the ''doux'' was a regional commander, controlling the central sector of Byzantium's eastern frontier.; . In the 11th century, most of the attested of Mesopotamia were Armenians, including Gregory Magistros and his son. In the aftermath of the

Battle of Manzikert The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, theme of Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and ...

in 1071, Emperor

Michael VII Doukas Michael VII Doukas or Ducas ( gr, Μιχαήλ Δούκας), nicknamed Parapinakes ( gr, Παραπινάκης, lit. "minus a quarter", with reference to the devaluation of the Byzantine currency under his rule), was the senior Byzantine e ...

(r. 1071–1078) tried to re-establish Byzantine authority, but the province fell to the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...

References

Sources

* * * * {{coord missing, Turkey Byzantine Anatolia Themes of the Byzantine Empire States and territories established in the 9th century