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Mesopotamia (theme)
Mesopotamia () was the name of a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) located in what is today eastern Turkey. It should not be confused with the region of Mesopotamia 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 The theme was formed probably between 899 and 911, when Emperor Leo VI (r. 886–912) appointed the former ''proconsul'' of the Province of Pontus, named Lucius, as its governor.. Most of the province was formed out the Georgian principality of Taron, ruled by the chieftain Manuel Bagratiom. 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 ... [...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] |
Byzantine Anatolia
Byzantine Anatolia refers to the peninsula of Anatolia (located in present-day Turkey) during the rule of the Byzantine Empire. Anatolia was of vital importance to the empire following the Muslim invasion of Syria and Muslim invasion of Egypt, Egypt during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius in the years 634–645 Anno Domini, AD. Over the next two hundred and fifty years, the region suffered constant raids by Arab Muslim forces raiding mainly from the cities of Antioch, Tarsus, Mersin, Tarsus, and Aleppo near the Anatolian borders. However, the Byzantine Empire maintained control over the Anatolian peninsula until the High Middle Ages (years 1080s), when imperial authority in the area began to collapse. The Byzantine Empire re-established control over parts of Anatolia during the First Crusade, and following the sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, Anatolia became the heartland of the successor states of the Empire of Nicaea and Empire of Trebizond. Followi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of the wealthiest charitable foundations in the world, the Gulbenkian Foundation was founded on 18 July 1956 according to the last will and testament of Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian, a Portugal-based oil magnate who bequeathed his assets to the country in the form of a foundation. Gulbenkian the Armenian oil magnate had one of the largest private art collections in Europe, which is housed in the foundation's Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. The foundation hosts numerous institutions and initiatives including the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Gulbenkian Science Institute, Gulbenkian Prizes and the Gulbenkian Commission. Organization Located in Lisbon (civil parish of Avenidas Novas), the Foundation's premises opened in 1969 and were designed by Ruy Athouguia, Pedro Ci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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-Persian tradition, Turco-Persian culture. The founder of the Seljuk dynasty, Seljuk Beg, was a descendant of a royal Khazar chief Tuqaq who served as advisor to the King of the Khazars. in West Asia and Central Asia. The Seljuks established the Seljuk Empire (1037–1194), the Kerman Seljuk Sultanate, Sultanate of Kermân (1041–1186) and the Sultanate of Rum (1074–1308), which stretched from Iran to Anatolia and were the prime targets of the First Crusade. Early history The Seljuks originated from the Kınık (tribe), Kinik branch of the Oghuz Turks, who in the 8th century lived on the periphery of the Muslim world; north of the Caspian Sea and Aral Sea in their Oghuz Yabgu State in the Kazakh Steppe of Turkestan. During the 10th century, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael VII Doukas
Michael VII Doukas or Ducas (), nicknamed Parapinakes (, , a reference to the devaluation of the Byzantine currency under his rule), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 1071 to 1078. He was known as incompetent as an emperor and reliant on court officials, especially of his finance minister Nikephoritzes, who increased taxation and luxury spending while not properly financing their army (which later mutinied). Under his reign, Bari was lost and his empire faced Uprising of Georgi Voyteh, open revolt in the Balkans. Along with the advancing Seljuk dynasty, Seljuk Turks in the eastern front, Michael also had to contend with his mercenaries openly turning against the empire. Michael stepped down as emperor in 1078 and later retired to a monastery. Life Michael VII was born 1050 in Constantinople, the eldest son of Constantine X Doukas and Eudokia Makrembolitissa. He was probably associated with the throne by the end of 1060, together with or shortly before his newly born b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, Iberia (theme), Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and the capture of the emperor Romanos IV Diogenes played an important role in undermining Byzantine authority in Anatolia and Medieval Armenia, Armenia, and allowed for the gradual Turkification of Anatolia. Many Turks, travelling westward during the 11th century, saw the victory at Manzikert as an entrance to Asia Minor. The brunt of the battle was borne by the Byzantine army's professional soldiers from the eastern and western Tagma (military), tagmata, as large numbers of mercenaries and Anatolian Conscription, levies fled early and survived the battle. The fallout from Manzikert was disastrous for the Byzantines, resulting in civil conflicts and an economic crisis that severely weakened the Byzantine Empire's ability to defend its bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gregory Magistros
Grigor Magistros (; "Gregory the ''magistros''"; ca. 990–1058) was an Armenian prince, linguist, scholar and public functionary. A layman of the princely Pahlavuni family that claimed descent from the dynasty established by St. Gregory the Illuminator, he was the son of the military commander Vasak Pahlavuni. After the Byzantine Empire annexed the Kingdom of Ani, Gregory went on to serve as the governor ('' doux'') of the province of Edessa. During his tenure he worked actively to suppress the Tondrakians, a breakaway Christian Armenian sect that the Armenian and Byzantine Churches both labeled heretics. He studied both ecclesiastical and secular literature, Syriac as well as Greek. He collected all Armenian manuscripts of scientific or philosophical value that were to be found, including the works of Anania Shirakatsi, and translations from Callimachus, Andronicus of Rhodes and Olympiodorus. He translated several works of Plato — '' The Laws'', the ''Eulogy of Socrate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tourma
A ''turma'' (; plural ''turmae''; ) 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 divisions of a '' thema''. The word is often translated as " squadron" but so is the term '' ala'', a unit that was made up of several ''turmae''. Roman army Republic In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, the time of the Punic Wars and Rome's expansion into Spain and Greece, the core of the Roman army was formed by citizens, augmented by contingents from Rome's allies (''socii''). The organization of the Roman legion of the period is described by the Greek historian Polybius (cf. the so-called " Polybian army"), who writes that each 4,200-strong infantry legion was accompanied by 300 citizen cavalry (''equites''). This contingent was divided into ten ''turmae''.. According to Polybius, the squadron members would elect as their officers three '' decuriones'' ("leaders of 10 men"), of whom the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spatharios
The ''spatharii'' or ''spatharioi'' (singular: ; , literally " spatha-bearer") were a class of Late Roman imperial bodyguards in the court in Constantinople in the 5th–6th centuries, later becoming a purely honorary dignity in the Byzantine Empire. History Originally, the term was probably applied to both private and imperial bodyguards.. The original imperial ''spatharioi'' were probably or later became also the eunuch '' cubicularii'' (Greek: ''koubikoularioi''), members of the ''sacrum cubiculum'' (the imperial "sacred chamber") charged with military duties. They are attested from the reign of Emperor Theodosius II (r. 408–450), where the eunuch Chrysaphius held the post. The existence of the specific title of ''spatharokoubikoularios'' for eunuchs in 532 probably suggests the existence by then of other, non-eunuch, ''spatharioi'' in imperial service. The various generals and provincial governors also maintained military attendants called ''spatharioi'', whilst those of t ... [...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] |
