The Armeniac Theme ( el, , ''Armeniakoi
hema'), more properly the Theme of the Armeniacs (Greek: , ''thema Armeniakōi'') was 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 Constantinopl ...
theme
Theme or themes may refer to:
* Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work
* Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos
* Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...
(a military-civilian province) located in northeastern
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
(modern
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
).
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
Lesser Armenia ( hy, Փոքր Հայք, ''Pokr Hayk''; la, Armenia Minor, Greek: Mikre Armenia, Μικρή Αρμενία), also known as Armenia Minor and Armenia Inferior, comprised the Armenian–populated regions primarily to the west and n ...
(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
The Eastern Roman army refers to the army of the eastern section of the Roman Empire, from the empire's definitive split in 395 AD to the army's reorganization by themes after the permanent loss of Syria, Palestine and Egypt to the Arabs in the ...
following the disastrous defeats suffered during the first wave of the
Muslim conquests
The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He estab ...
, a process probably complete by the late 640s. Thus, the army of the ''
magister militum
(Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...
per
Armeniae'' (the "Armeniacs") was withdrawn and settled in the areas of
Pontus
Pontus or Pontos may refer to:
* Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea)
* Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology
* Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...
,
Paphlagonia
Paphlagonia (; el, Παφλαγονία, Paphlagonía, modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; tr, Paflagonya) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus (region), Pontus t ...
and
Cappadocia
Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde.
According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Re ...
, giving its name to the region.
The theme's capital was at
Amaseia, and it was governed by a ''
stratēgos'', who ranked, together with the ''stratēgoi'' of the
Anatolic and
Thracesian themes, in the first tier of ''stratēgoi'', drawing an annual salary of 40 gold pounds.
In the 9th century, it fielded some 9,000 men and encompassed 17 fortresses. Its size and strategic importance on the Byzantine Empire's north-eastern frontier with the Muslims made its governor a powerful figure, and the theme's forces participated in several revolts in the 8th century.
Consequently, in the 9th century it was broken up: the smaller provinces of
Charsianon and
Cappadocia
Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde.
According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Re ...
were formed, first as ''
kleisourai'' and later as full themes, along the border in the south and east, while in circa 819, the coastal themes of Paphlagonia and
Chaldia were split off, followed later by the area of
Koloneia (first under a ''doux'', by 863 under a full ''strategos''), leaving a rump Armeniac theme encompassing the western Pontus.
The theme remained in Byzantine hands until the late 11th century. In 1073, however, following the disastrous
Battle of Manzikert,
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
mercenaries under
Roussel de Bailleul
Roussel de Bailleul (died 1077), also known as ''Phrangopoulos'' ( gr, Φραγγόπουλος, , son-of-a-Frank) and ''Norman Chief Roussel'' (lit. tr, Norman Reisi Ursel), or in the anglicized form Russell Balliol was a Norman adventurer (or ex ...
seized control and governed the region, until Byzantine authority was restored by future emperor
Alexios Komnenos in 1075.
Shortly after, the region was overrun by 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 ...
, with only a few coastal forts holding out. The
Komnenian emperors managed to recover the coastal regions for the Empire, but the Armeniac theme was not restored.
References
Sources
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{{Byzantine themes in De Thematibus, state=uncollapsed
States and territories established in the 7th century
States and territories disestablished in the 1070s
Byzantine Anatolia
Themes of the Byzantine Empire