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) 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 pe ...

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 i ...

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 south ...

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 at

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 Ital ...

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

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

, with the help of the Longobards of the Principate of Salerno. 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