- Macedonia (theme)
The Theme of Macedonia ( _el. θέμα Μακεδονίας) was a province of the
Byzantine Empire , organised byEmpress Irene in about 800, out of theTheme of Strymon . It had no relation with the historical or geographical region of Macedonia, but instead it was centered inThrace , including the area fromAdrianople (the theme's capital) and the Evros valley eastward along theSea of Marmara . It did not include any part of ancientMacedon , which (insofar as the Byzantines controlled it) was in theTheme of Thessalonica . According to Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, it included also Thessaly, regions of Trikalia and Larissa, and even island Skiathos; this view is, however, controversial.John I Tzimisces replaced this with aduchy of Adrianople , which included much of his Bulgarian conquests.References
* Warren Treadgold, "A History of the Byzantine State and society" (1997), pp. 421, 478, "et passim".
*Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus , "De Thematibus", Lib. II.
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