The Byzantine Province in Change
(On the Threshold Between the 10th and the 11th Century)
Χαρτόδετο
27,20€
The changes in the Byzantine administration were closely tied to the reform of the Byzantine high command that began as early as the mid-10th century. These changes led to the limitation of the competences of the domestikos ton Scholon and the establishment of rival positions stratopedarches and stratelates. The limitation of the competences held by military functionaries was also reflected in provincial administration. At the first level, the territorial competences of all thematic strategoi were limited, which in turn caused this function to lose some of its importance. At the second level, new provincial functionaries – doukes and katepano – were introduced in some parts of the Empire. Among others, their role in the provincial administration included working towards a stronger centralization of power in the vast borderlands, where numerous small themes headed by the strategoi were located. In the eastern parts of the Empire, the doukes and katepano were stationed in border regions; in the Balkans, they retreated inland, into areas with a more developed system of thema-fortresses. The reform of the high command and the provincial administration paved the way for the affirmation of the representatives of civil authorities in the Byzantine provinces in the 11th century.
