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The Theme of Samos (, ''thema Samou'') was a
Byzantine 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 the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
military-civilian province, located in the eastern
Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...
, established in the late 9th century. As one of the Byzantine Empire's three dedicated naval themes (Greek: , ''themata nautika''), it served chiefly to provide ships and troops for the
Byzantine navy The Byzantine navy was the Navy, naval force of the Byzantine Empire. Like the state it served, it was a direct continuation from its Roman navy, Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defence and survival of the state than its ...
.


Origins

The dates of establishment and the territorial reach of the various Byzantine naval commands in the 7th–9th centuries are mostly unclear. After the unitary navy of the '' Karabisianoi'' was split up in the early 8th century, regional naval commands were established, of which the naval theme of the Cibyrrhaeots is the first known and most important. Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos () records that "at the time the Empire was divided into themes", Samos became the seat of the "theme of the sailors" (); the meaning of this passage is unclear. The historian Warren Treadgold interprets this to mean that Samos was the first seat of the ''Karabisianoi'' fleet, until their disbandment . Alternatively, it could imply a command that formed part of the ''Karabisianoi'' and was abolished with them, or a later, short-lived successor, perhaps even identical with the Cibyrrhaeots. The existence of a "''
strategos ''Strategos'' (), also known by its Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized form ''strategus'', is a Greek language, Greek term to mean 'military General officer, general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term was also use ...
'' of Samos" in the 8th century is attested through a surviving seal of a ''strategos'' named Theodore. In the late 8th century, the southern Aegean appears to have come under the jurisdiction of the "'' droungarios'' of the ''Dodekanesos''", whom some scholars (following Hélène Ahrweiler) identify with the post of "''droungarios'' of Kos" and the later "''droungarios'' of the Gulf (''Kolpos'')", listed in the mid-9th century '' Taktikon Uspensky''. This command then, or at least the eastern part of it, apparently evolved into the theme of Samos.


History

The theme of Samos, with its governing ''strategos'', is first documented in Philotheos's '' Kletorologion'' of 899. It included the islands of the eastern Aegean, as well as the western coast 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 ...
between Adramyttion and
Ephesos Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital ...
(also known as Theologos at the time). The seat of the theme was at
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...
, while subordinate '' tourmarchai'' (vice-admirals) had their seats at Adramyttion and Ephesos. In 911, the forces of the naval theme of Samos are recorded as being 3,980 oarsmen and 600 marines, with a fleet of 22 warships. The mainland portion of the theme, however, is also explicitly mentioned as belonging to the Thracesian Theme, which had a special ''tourmarches'' in charge of defending the coast. This, along with a lack of mention of civil officials attached to the naval theme, most probably reflects a division of tasks: the ''strategos'' of Samos and his officials were responsible for furnishing the ships and crews of the thematic fleet as well as defending the islands, while the mainland coast, with its cities and population, came under the control of the Thracesian ''strategos'' and his officials, who were responsible for their taxation and defence. Samos seems to have remained a purely military formation until the late 11th century, when its fleet was disbanded and it was converted into a regular theme with its own civil officials.


Strategoi

* Theodore (8th/9th century) * Constantine Paspalas (c.888) * Nikephoros (9th/10th century) * Theodore (10th century) * Epiphanios (10th century) * Nicholas (10th century) * Theognostos (10th century) * Leo (10th century) * Theotimos (10th century) * Romanos Lekapenos (911-912) * George (10th/11th century) * Bakur (after 1001- before 1009) * Basil Argyros (1009-1010) * David (c.1024) * George Theodorokanos (before 1026- after 1028) * Christodoulos (Late 10th/ mid 11th century * Niketas Xylinites the Younger (1050s) * Theophylaktos Hagiozacharites (Mid 11th century) * Michael Tornikes (Early/ Middle 11th century) * Constantine Argyropolos (Mid/late 11th century)


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * {{Byzantine Greece Themes of the Byzantine Empire Medieval Aegean Sea Byzantine navy States and territories established in the 9th century History of Samos