The Theme of Koloneia ( el, θέμα Κολωνείας) 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
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 th ...
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 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 ...
'' (a fortified frontier district).
[.] In addition, a version of the ''Life of the
42 Martyrs of Amorium
The 42 Martyrs of Amorium ( grc-gre, οἰ ἅγιοι μβ′ μάρτυρες τοῦ Ἀμορίου) were a group of Byzantine senior officials taken prisoner by the Abbasid Caliphate in the Sack of Amorium in 838 and executed in 845, after r ...
'' 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 (alongside neighbouring
Chaldia
Chaldia ( el, Χαλδία, ''Khaldia'') was a historical region located in the mountainous interior of the eastern Black Sea, northeast Anatolia (modern Turkey). Its name was derived from a people called the ''Chaldoi'' (or ''Chalybes'') that i ...
).
Koloneia's remote location preserved it from the worst of the Arab raids, except for a major raid by
Sayf al-Dawla in 939/940. In 1057, the local regiment, under
Katakalon Kekaumenos, supported the uprising of
Isaac I Komnenos
Isaac I Komnenos or Comnenus ( grc-gre, Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός, ''Isaakios Komnēnos''; – 1 June 1060) was Byzantine emperor from 1057 to 1059, the first reigning member of the Komnenian dynasty.
The son of the gene ...
. In 1069, the theme was occupied by the rebel
Norman mercenary
Robert Crispin Robert Crispin (french: Crépin, died 1072), called Frankopoulos, was a Norman mercenary who fought in the Reconquista and the Byzantine Empire.
Early life
Robert was the son of Gilbert Crispin. He had two older brothers, Gilbert, lord of Tillie ...
. The region fell to the
Seljuk Turks soon after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.
Location
In the ''
De Thematibus'', Emperor
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (r. 913–959) describes the theme as a small circumscription, encompassing, aside from Koloneia,
Neocaesarea in the east, Arabraca, Mount Phalakros (probably modern Karaçam Dağı),
Nicopolis and
Tephrike. It also comprised sixteen unnamed fortresses.
Porphyrogennetos also records that his father,
Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912), separated the ''
tourma'' of
Kamacha from Koloneia to form (along with
Keltzene) the new theme of
Mesopotamia.
[.]
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
{{Byzantine themes in De Thematibus
States and territories established in the 9th century
Themes of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Cappadocia