''Strateia'' () is a term used in the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, which according to the ''

Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium The ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' (ODB) is a three-volume historical dictionary published by the English Oxford University Press. With more than 5,000 entries, it contains comprehensive information in English on topics relating to the Byzan ...

'' "signified enrollment into state (civil or military) or ecclesiastical service and the attendant obligations". The term is the direct analogue of the Latin term ''militia'', which applied to all categories of state officials already under the late

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. The most common usage of the term in middle Byzantine times was in the military sphere: the holder of a ''strateia'', or ''stratiotes'' (στρατιώτης), was obliged either to provide military service himself, or to provide money for the upkeep of a soldier, either as an individual or as a group/community (''syndotai'', "co-givers"). By the 10th century, the ''strateia'' had evolved from being a personal, hereditary duty of the ''stratiotes'' and his family, to a duty attached to the military lands (''stratiotika ktemata'') that were then allocated to the individual ''stratiotai''. The ''stratiotika ktemata'' probably originated in the military crisis of the 7th century, when the state was forced to offer land in lieu of cash payment in exchange for the ''strateia'', but they are not actually attested until the 10th century. By that time, various categories of ''strateiai'' existed, based on the income of the lands attached to them: alongside ''strateiai'' for the upkeep of sailors, infantrymen and cavalrymen, these included ''strateiai'' for the upkeep of '' demosios dromos'' (public post) and of a heavy cavalryman (

cataphract A cataphract was a form of armoured heavy cavalry that originated in Persia and was fielded in ancient warfare throughout Eurasia and Northern Africa. Historically, the cataphract was a very heavily armoured horseman, with both the rider and ...

), the latter a new service instituted under

Nikephoros II 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 greatly contributed to the resurgence of t ...

in the 960s. The ''strateiai'' of sailors fell in two categories: the sailors of the maritime themes, who had to equip and fight themselves and saw more action, received lands worth four pounds of gold, while the sailors of the smaller regional fleets, as well as the central Imperial Fleet in Constantinople held property of two pounds of gold (the Imperial Fleet received cash salaries in addition). In

Byzantine law Byzantine law was essentially a continuation of Roman law with increased Orthodox Christian and Hellenistic influence. Most sources define ''Byzantine law'' as the Roman legal traditions starting after the reign of Justinian I in the 6th century ...

, the ''stratiotai'' were distinguished from the general agricultural population (''georgoi''); the ''stratiotai'' were even prohibited from engaging in commerce or agriculture themselves, and exempted from all the other fiscal obligations save the ''

aerikon Aerikon or air tax was a tax levy (or fine) in the Byzantine Empire. It is estimated that initially it was an additional tax paid annually in cash (but probably in kind in the 9th/10th century), while in the 10th and 11th centuries it took the for ...

'' and ''

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'' taxes. They also received pay (''roga'') and state-sponsored supplies (''opsonion'') for taking part in military expeditions and performing labour in public works. Successive 10th-century emperors also took care to maintain the system by placing restrictions on the sale of the ''stratiotika ktemata'':

Constantine VII Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, an ...

set minimum inalienable values of four pounds of gold for cavalrymen and two pounds for sailors, which Nikephoros II Phokas raised it to 12 pounds to ensure that the cataphract ''strateiai'' would be maintained. Abandoned properties were automatically restored to the original owner without compensation, having a retroactive force of 40 years, and rights of pre-emption (''protimesis'') on any available military land was granted to relatives or members of the same community as the original holder's. The exact nature of the ''stratiotai'' during the heyday of the

theme system The themes or (, , singular: , ) were the main military and 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 Muslim conqu ...

in the 7th–11th centuries has been the subject of debate, with views ranging from their identification as "soldier-farmers" by

George Ostrogorsky George Alexandrovich Ostrogorsky (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Георгије Александрович Острогорски, Georgije Aleksandrovič Ostrogorski; 19 January 1902 – 24 October 1976) was a Russian-born Yugoslavian historian and Byzantin ...

to the view of Paul Lemerle that 10th-century ''stratiotai'' did not actually campaign themselves, but provided only material support. Evidence from contemporary documents seems to support the former view, however. By the 11th century, the ''strateia'' had become a purely fiscal obligation, and no longer entailed any requirement for rendering personal military service. Consequently, instead of native Byzantine soldiers, mercenaries were increasingly hired by the proceeds from the ''strateia'', a process accelerated after the late 11th century with the

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of the recruiting grounds of

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

to the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

. Like all other fiscal exactions, exemptions from it could be secured. Even after the fiscalization of the ''strateia'', the term "''stratiotes''" remained in usage as a fiscal term for a class of landowners until at least the 14th century. The ''strateia'' is not to be confused with ''

pronoia The ''pronoia'' (plural ''pronoiai''; Greek: πρόνοια, meaning "care", "forethought" or "providence," from πρό, "before," and νόος, "mind") was a system of granting dedicated streams of state income to individuals and institutions i ...

'', a similar but distinct term employed from the 12th century on. The ''strateioumenoi'' farmed their own land, while ''pronoiarioi'' merely received the proceeds from their grants to maintain themselves.

Citations

General and cited references

* {{Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ref={{harvid, ODB Byzantine military Conscription by country Taxation in the Byzantine Empire

See also

Citations

General and cited references