During the late sixth and early seventh centuries, the Byzantine Empire was under frequent attack from all sides. The Sassanid Empire was pressing from the east on Syria, Egypt, and Anatolia. Slavs and Avars raided Greece and settled in the Balkans. The Lombards occupied northern Italy, largely unopposed. In order to face the mounting pressure, in the more distant provinces of the West, recently regained by Justinian, Emperor Maurice combined supreme civil and military authority in the person of an exarch, forming the exarchates of Ravenna and Africa. This trend had already featured in some of the administrative reforms of Justinian in the 530s, but had been limited to individual provinces. It was the establishment of the exarchates that overturned the strict division of civil and military offices that had existed since the reforms of Diocletian, 300 years earlier. However, in most of the old Empire, the old system continued to function until the 640s, when the eastern part of the Empire collapsed under the onslaught of the Muslim Caliphate. The rapid Muslim conquest of Syria and Egypt and consequent Byzantine losses in manpower and territory meant that the Empire found itself struggling for survival.
In order to respond to this unprecedented crisis, the Empire was drastically reorganized. Although some elements of the earlier administration survived until the latter seventh century, the remaining imperial territory in Asia Minor was divided into five large themata, each governed by a strat?gos ("general"), who also commanded the military forces of each thema. Until the early 20th century, the establishment of the themes was attributed by many historians, like George Ostrogorsky, to the Emperor Heraclius. This view has since been overturned, and modern historians date their creation to the period from the 640s to the 660s, under Constans II.[1]
Establishment
The original Byzantine themata in c. 650. Aside from the too early date, the map is erroneous in depicting the themes of Optimat?n and Bukellari?n (not established until the mid-8th century), and the Cibyrrhaeotic Theme (still called the Carabisian Theme).
Each of the original five themata was formed from the Empire's earlier mobile field armies, as their names testifies. These were mobile regional forces, in contrast to the static limitanei garrisons, and commanded each by a magister militum. In the aftermath of the loss of the Levant, these armies were withdrawn to Asia Minor, and assigned each to a specific area. The first themata were:
the Armeniac Theme (, Thema Armeniak?n), first mentioned in 667, was the successor of the Army of Armenia. It occupied the old areas of the Pontus, Armenia Minor and northern Cappadocia, with its capital at Amasea
the Anatolic Theme (, Thema Anatolik?n), first mentioned in 669, was the successor of the Army of the East (). It covered central Asia Minor, and its capital was Amorium.
the Opsician Theme (, Thema Opsikiou), first mentioned in 680, was where the imperial retinue (in Latin Obsequium), was established. It covered northwestern Asia Minor (Bithynia, Paphlagonia and parts of Galatia), and was based at Nicaea. Its commander bore the title of kom?s ("count")
the Thracesian Theme (???? ?????????, Thema Thrak?si?n), first mentioned in 680, was the successor of the Army of Thrace. It covered the central western coast of Asia Minor (Ionia, Lydia and Caria), with capital at Ephesos.
the Theme of the Carabisiani (???? K???????????, Thema Karav?sian?n), first mentioned in 680, was the successor of the Army of the Illyricum or the old quaestura exercitus. It occupied the southern coats of Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands, with its capital at Attaleia. It was a naval theme (??????? means "ship"), and its commander bore the title of droungarios.
The new system of settling military units in vacant lands and thus strengthening local loyalties to the state greatly helped the Byzantine Empire survive. The price was paid in terms of a militarization of society and a decline of civil institutions and civil culture; for this reason, the introduction of the themes is often seen as marking the end of Late Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages for the Eastern Roman Empire.
Later development
Organization
The term thema was ambiguous, referring both to a form of military tenure and to an administrative division. A theme was an arrangement of plots of land given for farming to the soldiers. The soldiers were still technically a military unit, under the command of a strategos, and they did not own the land they worked as it was still controlled by the state. Therefore, for its use the soldiers' pay was reduced. By accepting this proposition, the participants agreed that their descendants would also serve in the military and work in a theme, thus simultaneously reducing the need for unpopular conscription as well as cheaply maintaining the military. It also allowed for the settling of conquered lands, as there was always a substantial addition made to public lands during a conquest.
The commander of a theme, however, did not only command his soldiers. He united the civil and military jurisdictions in the territorial area in question. Thus the division set up by Diocletian between civil governors (praesides etc) and military commanders (duces etc) was abolished, and the Empire returned to a system much more similar to that of the Republic or the Principate, where provincial governors had also commanded the armies in their area.
The following table illustrates the thematic structure as found in the Thracesian Theme, circa 902-936.
Note: The names have been Latinized and terms in quotations are continuations of the Roman Legion system. Those with an asterisk (*) are direct translations.
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