Lucania 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 ...

province (

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 ...

) in

southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

that was probably established c. 968, under Emperor

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 included brilliant military exploits whi ...

.Catapanato d'Italia (in Italian)
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History

It was situated between the two older Byzantine provinces of

Longobardia Longobardia ( el, Λογγοβαρδία, also variously Λογγιβαρδία, ''Longibardia'' and Λαγουβαρδία, ''Lagoubardia'') was a Byzantine term for the territories controlled by the Lombards in the Italian Peninsula. In the ni ...

in the east and

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

in the west, and was formed to encompass the areas in the mostly Lombard-populated theme of Longobardia where

Byzantine Greeks The Byzantine Greeks were the Greek-speaking Eastern Romans of Orthodox Christianity throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. They were the main inhabitants of the lands of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire), of Constantinople ...

from Calabria had settled in the early 10th century (the regions of Latinianon,

Lagonegro Lagonegro ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is part of the Valle del Noce and has (2017) a population of 5,471. Geography The municipality, located southwest of its ...

and Mercurion).

Tursi Tursi ( Tursitano: ; grc, Θυρσοί, translit=Thursoí; la, Tursium) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Matera, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata. History In the 9th century it was a stronghold of the Saracens in southe ...

was chosen as the theme's capital and also as the seat of a new

metropolitan bishopric A metropolis religious jurisdiction, or a metropolitan archdiocese, is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces. ...

to encompass the province. The theme of Lucania was probably under the overall authority of the

Catepan of Italy The Catepanate (or Catapanate) of Italy ( el, ''Katepaníkion Italías'') was a province of the Byzantine Empire from 965 until 1071. At its greatest extent, it comprised mainland Italy south of a line drawn from Monte Gargano to the Gulf of Sa ...

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

. The Lucania Theme lasted nearly one hundred years: from 968 to 1050 AD. It was fully conquered by the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...

, with the help of the Longobards of the

Principate of Salerno The Principality of Salerno ( la, Principatus Salerni) was a medieval Southern Italian state, formed in 851 out of the Principality of Benevento after a decade-long civil war. It was centred on the port city of Salerno. Although it owed all ...

. The province corresponds roughly to the modern Italian region of

Basilicata it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

Notes

Sources

* * Italian states Geographical, historical and cultural regions of Italy Byzantine Italy Themes of the Byzantine Empire History of Basilicata States and territories established in the 960s States and territories disestablished in the 1050s {{Italy-hist-stub

History

Notes

See also

Sources