Chaldia
Theme of Chaldia Χαλδία, θέμα Χαλδίας | ||
---|---|---|
Seljuk incursions | 1091/1095–1098 | |
• Rebellion of Constantine Gabras | 1126–1140 | |
• Autonomy from Byzantine rule after Fourth Crusade | 1204 | |
• Fall to the Ottomans | 1461 | |
Chaldia (Greek: Χαλδία, Khaldia) was a historical region located in the mountainous interior of the eastern Black Sea, northeast Anatolia (modern Turkey). Its name was derived from a people called the Chaldoi (or Chalybes) that inhabited the region in antiquity. Chaldia was used throughout the Byzantine period and was established as a formal theme, known as the Theme of Chaldia (Greek: θέμα Χαλδίας), by 840. During the Late Middle Ages, it formed the core of the Empire of Trebizond until its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1461.
Anthony Bryer traces the origin of its name not to Chaldea, as Constantine VII had done, but to the Urartian language, for whose speakers Ḫaldi was the Sun God. Bryer notes at the time of his writing that a number of villages in the Of district were still known as "Halt".[1] Other scholars, however, reject the Urartian connection. Χάλυψ, the tribe's name in Greek, means "tempered iron, steel", a term that passed into Latin as chalybs, "steel". Sayce derived the Greek name Chalybe from Hittite Khaly-wa, "land of Halys".[2] More than an identifiable people or tribe, "Chalybes" was a generic Greek term for "peoples of the Black Sea coast who trade in iron".[3]
Geography
Initially, the name Chaldia was consigned to the highland region around
History
The one surviving word from the Chaldian language, Kakamar (the Chaldian name for the Black Sea), points toward an Indo-European connection.[5] Strabo identifies the Chaldians with the ancient people of Chalybia and describes them as rough and warlike.[6] The first local inhabitants, the Chalybes, were counted among the earliest ironsmith nations by Classical writers.[7] Indeed, the Greek name for steel is chalybas (Greek: χάλυβας), possibly deriving from them.[8] According to Apollonius of Rhodes, the Chalybes were Scythians.[9] The first Greek colony was that of Trapezus, founded by Greek traders from Miletus, traditionally dated to 756 BC. Greek colonization was restricted to the coast, and in later ages Roman control remained likewise only nominal over the tribes of the interior.[4]
The coastal regions, however, belonged to the
In the second half of the 7th century, with the establishment of the
Until the eastern gains in the latter 10th century, Chaldia remained the northeastern frontier of the Byzantine Empire. During the periods 1091/1095–1098 and 1126–1140, the theme was practically autonomous from the Byzantine government. During the first period, under its doux,
References
- ^ Anthony Bryer, "Greeks and Türkmens: The Pontic Exception", Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 29 (1975), p. 116f
- ^ The Greek Colonisation of the Black Sea Area p. 74
- ISBN 9780882060392. "The Greeks evidently used the name Chalybes for all of the inhabitants of the Pontus who traded in iron ore (see Pauly, s.v. Chalybes); in some cases we might suspect that the Moschi (in Pontus) and/or the Chalybes were foreign designations for the Chaldians (Halitu, Xaghtik') who actually did live between the Tibareni in the west, the Mosynoeci in the north, and the Matieni in the southeast."
- ^ a b Talbert 2000, p. 1226.
- ^ Robert H. Hewsen. Armenia: A Historical Atlas. University of Chicago Press. 2001.
- ^ Jones, H.L. (ed.), Strabo, Geography (Loeb, New York 1917-1932), 548.18, 549.19.
- ^ "Ancient Georgian iron metallurgy and its ore base" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
- ^ Smith 1854, p. 602.
- ^ Apollonius Rhodius. Tr. by R. Merkel, by Edward P. Coleridge. The Argonautica. pp. 49, 65. [1]
- ^ Evans 2000, p. 93.
- ^ a b Pertusi 1952, p. 138
- ^ a b McGeer, Nesbitt & Oikonomides 2001, p. 85
- ^ Treadgold 1995, p. 31.
- ^ Pertusi 1952, pp. 138–139
- ^ Pertusi 1952, p. 139
- ^ A. A. Vasiliev, "The Foundation of the Empire of Trebizond (1204–1222)", Speculum, 11 (1936), pp. 18f
- ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 817.
Sources
- Evans, James Allan Stewart (2000). The Age of Justinian: The Circumstances of Imperial Power. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-23726-0.
- McGeer, Eric; Nesbitt, John; ISBN 0-88402-282-X.
- Pertusi, A. (1952). Constantino Porfirogenito: De Thematibus (in Italian). Rome: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.
- Smith, William (1854). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company.
- Talbert, Richard J. A. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World: Map-by-Map Directory. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-04945-8.
- Treadgold, Warren T. (1995). Byzantium and Its Army, 284–1081. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-3163-2.
- ISBN 0-8047-2630-2.
Further reading
- Bryer, Anthony; Winfield, David (1985). Byzantine Monuments and Topography of the Pontos, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. ISBN 0-88402-122-X.
- Gyftopoulou, Sofia; Papadaki, Irene (March 10, 2005). "Chaldia (Byzantium)". Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World: Asia Minor. Foundation of the Hellenic World. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.