Hellas (theme)
Theme of Hellas Ἑλλάς, Ἑλλάδα, θέμα Ἑλλάδος | |
---|---|
Theme of the Byzantine Empire | |
687/695 – 12th century | |
Map of Byzantine Greece c. 900, with the themes and major settlements. | |
Historical era | Middle Ages |
• Established | 687/695 |
• Dissolution into smaller districts. | 12th century |
Today part of | Greece |
The Theme of Hellas (Greek: θέμα Ἑλλάδος, Thema Hellados) was a Byzantine military-civilian province (thema, theme) located in southern Greece. The theme encompassed parts of Central Greece, Thessaly and, until c. 800, the Peloponnese peninsula. It was established in the late 7th century, and survived until the late 11th/12th century, when it was broken up into smaller districts.
History
7th–8th centuries
The ancient term "Hellas" was already in use in the 6th century to designate southern Greece in an administrative context, being employed in the
The creation of the theme of Hellas is dated to sometime between 687 and 695, during the first reign of Emperor
Given its lack of depth in the hinterland, the theme was originally probably oriented mostly towards the sea and comprised the coastal areas that the Byzantine navy was able to control.[5] It was not until the reign of Leo III the Isaurian (r. 717–741) that major land operations are recorded, and not until the early 9th century that the re-establishment of imperial control in the hinterland was completed.[10] Thus Justinian II settled several thousand Mardaites in Hellas, who provided garrisons and crews for local naval squadrons. The number of land troops on the other hand remained rather low throughout the theme's existence, numbering perhaps 2,000, according to the estimates of Warren Treadgold.[11] The fleet of Hellas played a prominent role during the anti-iconoclast revolt of 726/7. During the course of the 8th century, however, imperial authority was gradually extended to the interior. The local Slavic inhabitants were Christianized and subjected to Byzantine authority, often in autonomous districts under their own archontes.[12][13] This process was interrupted, but not halted, by another wave of Slavic settlement in c. 746/7 from Bulgaria; imperial possessions appear not to have been greatly affected, and the fact that in 766, Emperor Constantine V (r. 741–775) was able to call upon 500 artisans from "Hellas and the islands" to Constantinople suggests a secured and regular contact between the province and the imperial centre.[14] The anti-Slavic expedition of the minister Staurakios in 783 restored and extended imperial control once again, especially in the Peloponnese and northern Greece. In Central Greece and Thessaly, the campaign seems to have been mostly a show of force to strengthen imperial rule and subdue the new settlers, while in the Peloponnese it probably involved actual fighting against the Slavs.[15] Although the local Slavs of the Peloponnese were not fully subdued at this time, the gradual strengthening of imperial authority eventually led to the splitting off of the Peloponnese to form a separate theme around or soon after the year 800.[15]
9th–12th centuries
During the 9th and early 10th centuries, Hellas suffered from
During the 10th and 11th centuries, Hellas was often governed jointly with the Peloponnese under a single strategos, and as the civilian administration rose in importance, the same practice appears there as well, with
The 11th century was largely a period of peace for southern Greece, interrupted only by raids during the
In 1148, the Normans under
At the turn of the 13th century the Byzantine Empire's decay was in full swing. In the northwestern Peloponnese,
Notes
References
- ^ a b c d e ODB, "Hellas" (T. E. Gregory), p. 911.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, p. 52.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, pp. 54–55.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, pp. 55–56.
- ^ a b c d e Koder & Hild 1976, p. 57.
- ^ Pertusi 1952, p. 170.
- ^ a b Nesbitt & Oikonomides 1994, p. 22.
- ^ Pertusi 1952, p. 171.
- ^ Pertusi 1952, p. 172.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, pp. 57, 59–60.
- ^ Treadgold 1995, pp. 26, 66–69, 72.
- ^ Nesbitt & Oikonomides 1994, pp. 22–24.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, pp. 57–58.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, pp. 58–59.
- ^ a b Koder & Hild 1976, p. 59.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, p. 60.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, pp. 60–61.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, p. 61.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, p. 62.
- ^ a b Koder & Hild 1976, p. 63.
- ^ a b c Nesbitt & Oikonomides 1994, pp. 22, 62.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, pp. 61, 66.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, pp. 62, 66.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, p. 66.
- ^ Magdalino 2002, p. 234.
- ^ a b c Koder & Hild 1976, p. 67.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, p. 64.
- ^ a b Koder & Hild 1976, p. 65.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, pp. 65–66.
- ^ Koder & Hild 1976, p. 68.
- ^ a b Koder & Hild 1976, p. 69.
- ^ Magdalino 2002, pp. 162ff., 234.
- ^ Magdalino 2002, pp. 234–235.
Sources
- ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
- Koder, Johannes; Hild, Friedrich (1976). Tabula Imperii Byzantini, Band 1: Hellas und Thessalia (in German). Vienna: ISBN 978-3-7001-0182-6.
- ISBN 0-521-52653-1.
- Nesbitt, John; ISBN 0-88402-226-9.
- Pertusi, A. (1952). Constantino Porfirogenito: De Thematibus (in Italian). Rome, Italy: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.
- Treadgold, Warren T. (1995). Byzantium and Its Army, 284–1081. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-3163-2.