Optimatoi

The ''Optimatoi'' (, from , "the Best Men") were initially formed as an elite Byzantine military unit. In the mid-8th century, however, they were downgraded to a supply and logistics corps and assigned a province ('' thema'') in north-western Asia Minor, which was named after them. As an administrative unit, the Theme of the ''Optimatoi'' (, ''thema Optimatōn'') survived until the Ottoman conquest in the first decades of the 14th century.

History

The ''Optimates'' were first set up in the late 6th century (c. 575), by Emperor Tiberius II Constantine (r. 574–582). According to the '' Strategikon'' of Emperor Maurice, the ''Optimates'' were an elite regiment of ''Foederati'', most likely of Gothic origin.. They were a cavalry corps, somewhere between one and five thousand strong, and formed part of the central reserve army, their commander bearing the then unique title of ''taxiarchēs''. The presence of descendants of these men, called '' Gothograeci'' () by the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor, is attested in northern Bithynia as late as the early 8th century. At that time, Warren Treadgold estimates that the corps numbered 2,000 men, a figure that possibly corresponds to its original size as well..

In the mid-8th century, under the rule of Emperor Constantine V (r. 741–775), and as part of his measures to reduce the power of the thematic generals following the revolt of Artabasdos, the Count of the Opsician Theme, the corps was downgraded. Split off from the Opsician Theme, the region where the ''Optimates'' had settled, including the peninsula opposite Constantinople, both shores of the Gulf of Nicomedia and stretching to the shores of the river Sangarius, was then constituted as the separate ''thema'' of the ''Optimatoi'' () with Nicomedia as its capital. The first mention of the ''Optimatoi'' as a separate ''thema'' in the sources occurs only in 774/5, but it is clear that its creation must have come in the years after the suppression of Artabasdos's revolt. The same period also saw the further dismemberment and weakening of the once powerful Opsician Theme with the creation of the Bucellarian Theme.

Henceforth, unlike the other ''themata'', the ''Optimatoi'' no longer provided armed troops, but formed a corps of 4,000 mule-drivers with their animals, which provided the baggage train (''touldon'') of the imperial '' tagmata'' in Constantinople. The unique role of the ''Optimatoi'' set it apart from all other ''themata'': given their non-combatant functions, the ''Optimatoi'' were not divided into intermediate-level commands ('' tourmai'' or '' droungoi''), a fact pointed out by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (r. 913–959) as a sign of inferior status. Consequently, their commanding '' domestikos'' held the lowest rank of all provincial '' stratēgoi'' in the imperial hierarchy. As with the other ''themata'', for the administration of his duties as governor of the province, the ''domestikos'' was assisted by a deputy ('' topotērētēs''), a chief financial official ('' chartoularios'') and a secretariat headed by a ''prōtokankellarios''..

The rural districts of the ''thema'' were raided by Seljuk Turks after the Battle of Manzikert, but Nicomedia was retained, and the area secured again under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118) with the help of the First Crusade. The area was occupied by the Latins after the dissolution of the Empire by the Fourth Crusade in 1204, but the ''thema'' was re-established by John III Vatatzes when he retook the region in 1240, and survived until the area was gradually conquered by the rising Ottoman beylik in the first half of the 14th century.

References

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{{Byzantine themes in De Thematibus

Byzantine Bithynia
Military units and formations of the Byzantine Empire
Cavalry units and formations
Themes of the Byzantine Empire
Military units and formations established in the 6th century
People of Gothic descent
Byzantine mercenaries