The Theme of Sicily ( el, θέμα Σικελίας, ''Thema Sikelias'') 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 ...

) existing from the late 7th to the 10th century, encompassing the island of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and the region of Calabria in the Italian mainland. Following the

Muslim conquest of Sicily The Muslim conquest of Sicily began in June 827 and lasted until 902, when the last major Byzantine stronghold on the island, Taormina, fell. Isolated fortresses remained in Byzantine hands until 965, but the island was henceforth under Musli ...

, from 902 the theme was limited to Calabria, but retained its original name until the middle of the 10th century.

History

Ever since its reconquest from the

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...

Belisarius Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean terr ...

in 535–536, Sicily had formed a distinct

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

under a ''

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...

'', while the army was placed under a ''

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, '' ...

''. A ''

strategos ''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek language, Greek to ...

'' (military governor) is attested on the island in

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

sources between 687 and 695, and it is at that time that the island was probably made into a theme. The theme was based in

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, traditionally the chief city of Sicily. It comprised not only the island, which was divided into districts called ''

tourma A ''turma'' (Latin for "swarm, squadron", plural ''turmae''), (Greek: τούρμα) 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 di ...

i'', but also the mainland duchy of Calabria (Greek: , ''doukaton Kalavrias''), which extended roughly up to the river

Crati The Crati is a river in Calabria, southern Italy. It is the largest river of Calabria and the third largest river of southern Italy after the Volturno and the Sele. In classical antiquity it was known as the Crathis or Crater (Greek: ). Geograp ...

. In addition, the ''strategos'' of Sicily exercised some authority—varying according to the prevailing local political faction—over the autonomous duchies of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Gaeta Gaeta (; lat, Cāiēta; Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a city in the province of Latina, in Lazio, Southern Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The town has played a consp ...

and

Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic c ...

. The

Muslim conquest 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 esta ...

of the island began in 826. Following the fall of Syracuse in 878 and the conquest of

Taormina Taormina ( , , also , ; scn, Taurmina) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on ...

in 902, the ''strategos'' moved to

Rhegion Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label=Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popula ...

, the capital of Calabria. During the first half of the 10th century, the Byzantines launched a number of failed expeditions to regain the island and maintained a few isolated strongholds near

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

until 965, when

Rometta Rometta (Sicilian language, Sicilian: ''Ramietta'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italy, Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina. It was the last bastion of Sic ...

, the last Byzantine outpost,

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...

. The post of "''strategos'' of Sicily" was thus retained as the official title until the mid-10th century, when the "''strategos'' of Calabria" begins to appear in the lists.

List of known ''strategoi'' of Sicily

''Note: Holders of the office known only from seals who can not be precisely dated are not included. Uncertain or conjectural entries are denoted in italics.''

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{Former monarchies Italian peninsula Byzantine Italy Byzantine Sicily States and territories established in the 7th century Themes of the Byzantine Empire

History

List of known ''strategoi'' of Sicily

See also

References

Sources