Byzantine Military Organization on the Danube, 10th-12th Centuries

Ultimo aggiornamento: 25 maggio 2021

Madgearu A.

Byzantine Military Organization on the Danube, 10th-12th Centuries

BRILL, Leiden (The Netherlands) 2013

Scheda a cura di: Madgearu A.

Collana: East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450


The current state of research on this contact area between Byzantium and East Central Europe during a troubled period invites a new synthesis of the most recent finds and interpretations. No such comprehensive work addressing both literary and archaeological evidence exists for the history of the Byzantine Danubian provinces in the 10th-12th c.
The main purpose Alexandru Madgearu's book is to establish a chronology for the provincial organization and for the development of the Danubian frontier. First a shield against the Rus’, the province of Dristra, later called Paradunavon, became further a contact and conflict area with the Pechenegs and Cumans, turned by the end of the 11th century in a half-open space, according to the new strategy of Alexius I Comnenus.

Table of contents

List of Illustrations ... vii
List of Abbreviations ... ix

Introduction ... 1

I. The Recovery of the Danubian Frontier ... 7

II. The Military Organization of the Danube Region ... 59
1 The Theme of Dristra (later, Paradunavon) ... 59
2 The strategoi as City Commanders in the Theme Dristra/Paradunavon ... 88
3 The Theme of Sirmium and the New Bulgarian Theme on the Middle Danube ... 95

III. The Evolution and Function of the Danube Frontier of Byzantium (1000–1204) ... 101
1 The Fortifications ... 101
2 The Danube Frontier in the 11th Century ... 115
3 The Danube Frontier in the 12th Century ... 144

Conclusion ... 167

Bibliography ... 173
Index of People ... 199
Index of Geographical Names ... 204
Index of Sources ... 210
Index of Modern Authors ... 211


A cura di Giulia Tarquini