Byzantine Military Organization on the Danube, 10th-12th Centuries (East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450, 22)

"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"--Back cover. Byzantine Military Organization on the Danube, 10th–12th Centuries......Page 4 Contents......Page 6 List of Illustrations......Page 8 List of Abbreviations......Page 10 Introduction......Page 14 1 The Recovery of the Danubian Frontier......Page 20 1. The Theme of Dristra (later, Paradunavon)......Page 72 2. The Strategoi as City Commanders in the Theme of Dristra/Paradunavon......Page 101 3. The Theme of Sirmium and the New Bulgarian Theme on the Middle Danube......Page 108 1. The Fortifications......Page 114 2. The Danube Frontier in the 11th Century......Page 128 3. The Danube Frontier in the 12th Century......Page 157 Conclusion......Page 180 Primary Sources......Page 186 Secondary Sources......Page 188 Index of People......Page 212 Index of Geographical Names......Page 217 Index of Sources......Page 223 Index of Modern Authors......Page 224 In this book Alexandru Madgearu offers the first comprehensive history of the military organization of a peripheral area of the Byzantine Empire, the Danube region