From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Sebasteia (theme)

Province of the Byzantine Empire

Summary

Province of the Byzantine Empire

Field	Value
native_name	Σεβαστεία, θέμα Σεβαστείας
conventional_long_name	Theme of Sebasteia
common_name	Sebasteia
subdivision	Theme
nation	the Byzantine Empire
era	Middle Ages
capital	Sebasteia
image_map	Theme-sebastea 1000ad.png
image_map_caption	Map of the Theme of Sebasteia within the Byzantine Empire in 1000 AD.
life_span	911 – ca. 1074
year_start	911
date_event1	ca. 1074
event1	de facto autonomy
year_end	ca. 1090
event_end	Fall to the Seljuks.
today	Turkey

The Theme of Sebasteia () was a military-civilian province (thema or theme) of the Byzantine Empire located in northeastern Cappadocia and Armenia Minor, in modern Turkey. It was established as a theme in 911 and endured until its fall to the Seljuk Turks in the aftermath of the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.

History

The theme was formed around the city of Sebasteia (modern Sivas). The region formed part of the Armeniac Theme from the mid-7th century. The theme is not mentioned in any source prior to the 10th century. In 908, Sebasteia appears for the first time as a distinct fortified frontier district (kleisoura), and by 911 it had been raised to the status of a full theme. As a kleisoura, it was probably subordinate of the newly established theme of Charsianon.

The theme comprised the entirety of the Byzantine frontier regions along the middle course of the northern Euphrates. With the expansion of the Byzantine frontier, it was extended south and east as far as Melitene, Samosata and Tephrike, corresponding roughly to the ancient Roman provinces of Armenia Prima and parts of Armenia Secunda and Syria Euphratensis. After the mid-10th century, however, its extent was much reduced by the creation of new smaller themes. According to Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, the theme comprised two districts (tourmai): Larissa (south of modern Mancınık) and Amara or Abara (modern Amran near Arguvan or Emirköy). Both districts were briefly raised to kleisourai—Larissa in and Amara/Abara under Romanos I Lekapenos—and became the seat of independent strategoi by 975, leading to the theme's progressive diminution and decline in significance.

In the 10th century, the region experienced a great influx of Armenians, who became the dominant population. After 1019/1021, Sebasteia and adjoining lands were given as a fief to the Armenian Seneqerim Ardzruni, in exchange for the cession to the Empire of his kingdom of Vaspurakan. From c. 1074, following the Byzantine defeat against the Seljuk Turks at Manzikert in 1071, the Ardzruni ruled the territory as independent lords, until it was conquered by the Turks around 1090.

References

Sources

References

{{harvnb. ODB

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

themes-of-the-byzantine-empire byzantine-anatolia states-and-territories-disestablished-in-the-1070s 911-establishments

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Sebasteia (theme) — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report