The ''quaestura exercitus'' was an administrative district of the

Eastern Roman Empire 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 Constantin ...

with a seat in Odessus (present-day

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

) established by Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) on May 18, 536. Territorially, the ''quaestura exercitus'' contained the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

s of Moesia Inferior and

Scythia Minor Scythia Minor or Lesser Scythia (Greek: , ) was a Roman province in late antiquity, corresponding to the lands between the Danube and the Black Sea, today's Dobruja divided between Romania and Bulgaria. It was detached from Moesia Inferior by th ...

within the Diocese of Thrace, located in the lower

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

region, as well as the provinces of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined ...

, and the Aegean Islands within the

Diocese of Asia The Diocese of Asia ( la, Dioecesis Asiana, el, Διοίκησις Ἀσίας/Άσιανῆς) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of western Asia Minor and the islands of the eastern Aegean Sea. The diocese was ...

. All of these provinces were detached from the

Praetorian prefecture of the East The praetorian prefecture of the East, or of the Orient ( la, praefectura praetorio Orientis, el, ἐπαρχότης/ὑπαρχία τῶν πραιτωρίων τῆς ἀνατολῆς) was one of four large praetorian prefectures into whic ...

and placed under the authority of a new army official known as the ''quaestor exercitus'' (" Quaestor of the army"). The authority of the ''quaestor'' was the equivalent to that of a ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

''. Since the strategically vital

Danubian provinces The Danubian provinces of the Roman Empire were the provinces of the Lower Danube, within a geographical area encompassing the middle and lower Danube basins, the Eastern Alps, the Dinarides, and the Balkans. They include Noricum, Dacia ( Trajan ...

were economically impoverished, the purpose of the ''quaestura exercitus'' was to help support the troops that were stationed there. By connecting the exposed provinces of the Lower Danube with wealthier provinces in the interior of the empire, Justinian was able to transport supplies via the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

. This territorial restructuring relieved both the destitute populations and devastated countryside of the Danubian provinces from sustaining any stationed troops. There is a lack of subsequent evidence on the history of the ''quaestura exercitus''. However, since the position of ''quaestor'' was still extant during the mid-570s, this indicates that the overall territorial unit achieved a modicum of success. Ultimately, the Danubian provinces associated with the ''quaestura exercitus'' did not survive the

Slav Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

and Avar invasions of the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

in the 7th century. However, isolated fortresses on the Danube delta and along the coast of the Black Sea were maintained via supplies by sea.

Charles Diehl Charles Diehl (; 19 January 1859 – 1 November 1944) was a French historian born in Strasbourg. He was a leading authority on Byzantine art and history. Biography He received his education at the École Normale Supérieure, and later taught cl ...

first raised the suggestion that the great naval corps of the ''

Karabisianoi The ''Karabisianoi'' ( el, Καραβισιάνοι), sometimes anglicized as the Carabisians, were the main forces of the Byzantine navy from the mid-7th century until the early 8th century. The name derives from the Greek ''karabos'' or ''karabis ...

'', which appears in the 680s, was first formed by the remainders of the ''quaestura''. This argument has been adopted by some scholars since but challenged by others, notably

Helene Ahrweiler Helene Glykatzi-Ahrweiler FBA (; el, Ελένη Γλύκατζη-Αρβελέρ; born 29 August 1926) is a Greek-French academic Byzantinologist. She is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Greece. In the 2008 show '' Great Greeks'', she was ...

in her study of the Byzantine navy. This question is bound up with the discussion on the respective formations' nature as military-naval or civil-administrative entities.cf. and , for a discussion of the controversy and literature. Lead seals from Moesia Inferior and Scythia Minor provide evidence supporting the existence of the ''quaestura exercitus''. Specifically, thirteen imperial seals (nine of which are from Justinian) demonstrate that communications between officials from Scythia Minor and

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

occurred on a somewhat regular basis.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{Byzantine Empire topics States and territories established in the 530s 536 establishments Late Roman provinces Subdivisions of the Byzantine Empire Justinian I Ancient history of Romania History of Eastern Romance people History of Varna, Bulgaria