Seleucia (theme)

{{Short description|Province of the Byzantine Empire}} {{Infobox Former Subdivision |native_name = Σελευκεία, θέμα Σελευκείας |conventional_long_name = Theme of Seleucia |common_name = Seleucia |subdivision = Theme |nation = the Byzantine Empire |era = Middle Ages |capital = Seleucia in Isauria |image_map = Theme-seleucia 1000ad.png |image_map_caption = Map of the Theme of Seleucia within the Byzantine Empire in 1000 AD. |life_span = 927/934–1070s<br>1099/1100 – c. 1180 |year_start = 927–934 |event_start = |date_event1 = 1070s |event1 = Conquest by Seljuks |date_event2 = 1099/1100 |event2 = Byzantine recovery |year_end = c. 1180 |event_end = Conquest by Armenians. |today = Turkey }} The '''Theme of Seleucia''' ({{langx|el|θέμα Σελευκείας}}, ''thema Seleukeias'') was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) in the southern coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), headquartered at Seleucia (modern Silifke).

==History== In Late Antiquity, the port of Seleucia was the chief city of the Roman province of Isauria and seat of the ''comes Isauriae''.<ref name="ODB">{{harvnb|Foss|1991|p=1866}}.</ref> In the 8th century, it is attested as a subordinate command, first under a ''tourmarches'' and then under a ''droungarios'', of the naval theme of the Cibyrrhaeots.<ref name="ODB"/><ref>{{harvnb|Hild|Hellenkemper|1990|pp=45, 47, 403}}.</ref> In the early 9th century, however, it appears as a small ''kleisoura'' (a fortified frontier command) sandwiched between the larger Byzantine themes of the Cibyrrhaeots, the Anatolics, and Cappadocia and the sea, and bordering on the Abbasid Caliphate's domains in Cilicia along the river Lamos.<ref name="TIB403">{{harvnb|Hild|Hellenkemper|1990|p=403}}.</ref><ref name="Pertusi">{{harvnb|Pertusi|1952|pp=147–148}}.</ref> According to the Arab geographers Qudamah ibn Ja'far and Ibn Khordadbeh, in the 9th century the ''kleisoura'' comprised Seleucia as capital and ten other fortresses, with 5,000 men, out of which 500 were cavalry.<ref name="TIB403"/><ref name="Pertusi"/>

The ''kleisoura'' was raised to the status of a full theme sometime in the reign of Romanos I Lekapenos (r. 920–944), most likely c. 927–934.<ref name="TIB403"/><ref name="Pertusi"/><ref>{{harvnb|Oikonomides|1972|p=250}}.</ref> According to the ''De Thematibus'' of Emperor Constantine VII (r. 913–959), the theme was divided in two commands, one for the hinterland and a coastal/maritime one.<ref name="Pertusi"/>

The region fell into the hands of the Seljuk Turks after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. At the time, the mountainous interior of the region was predominantly inhabited by Armenians who had settled there over the previous century.<ref>{{harvnb|Hild|Hellenkemper|1990|pp=62, 403}}.</ref> The Byzantines recovered the area and refortified Seleucia and Corycus in 1099/1100, after which it became anew the seat of a Byzantine military governor (''doux''). It remained a Byzantine province until shortly after 1180, when it was conquered by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.<ref name="ODB"/><ref>{{harvnb|Hild|Hellenkemper|1990|pp=67–74, 403}}.</ref>

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==Sources== {{refbegin|2}} *{{ODB|last=Foss|first=Clive|title=Seleukeia|page=1866}} *{{Tabula Imperii Byzantini | volume = 5}} *{{cite book|last=Oikonomides|first=Nicolas|authorlink=Nicolas Oikonomides|title=Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles|location=Paris|publisher=Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique|year=1972|language=French|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RFdmAAAAMAAJ}} *{{cite book|last=Pertusi|first=A.|title=Constantino Porfirogenito: De Thematibus|location=Rome|publisher=Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana|year=1952|language=Italian}} {{refend|2}}

Category:Themes of the Byzantine Empire Category:States and territories established in the 10th century Category:Byzantine Anatolia