Iberia (theme)

Theme of Iberia
Ἰβηρίας, θέμα Ἰβηρίας
Theme of the Byzantine Empire
1001–1074
CapitalTheodosioupolis
Area
 • Coordinates39°54′31″N 41°16′37″E / 39.90861°N 41.27694°E / 39.90861; 41.27694
Government
Doux 
• 1025/6
Niketas of Pisidia
• 1045
Katakalon Kekaumenos
• 1047
Leo Tornikios
• 1054–59
Basil Apokapes
• 1071–74
Gregory Pakourianos
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Established
1001
• Kingdom of Ani was incorporated into Theme.
1045
• Constantine IX disbanded "Iberian Army"
1053
• Disestablished
ca. 1074
Succeeded by
Kingdom of Georgia
Duchy of Kldekari
Today part ofTurkey

The theme of Iberia (Greek: θέμα Ἰβηρίας) was an administrative and military unit (theme) within the Byzantine Empire carved by the Byzantine Emperors out of several Georgian lands in the 11th century. It was formed as a result of Emperor Basil II’s annexation of a portion of the Bagrationi dynasty domains (1000–1021) and later aggrandized at the expense of several Armenian kingdoms acquired by the Byzantines in a piecemeal fashion in the course of the 11th century. The population of the theme—at its largest extent—was multiethnic with a possible Georgian majority, including a sizable Armenian community of Chalcedonic rite to which Byzantines sometimes expanded, as a denominational name, the ethnonym "Iberian", a Graeco-Roman designation of Georgians.[1][2][3] The theme ceased to exist in 1074 as a result of the Seljuk invasions.

  1. ^ Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts, p. 414. Peeters Bvba ISBN 90-429-1318-5.
  2. ^ Арутюновой – Фиданян, В. А. Типик Григория Пакуриана. Введение, перевод и комментарий. Ереван, 1978, с. 249.
  3. ^ Garland, L. (2006). Byzantine Women: Varieties of Experience 800–1200. Ashgate. p. 92. ISBN 9780754657378. Retrieved 2015-04-13.

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