Theme of Cherson (Klimata) Χερσῶν, θέμα Χερσῶνος (τὰ Κλίματα)
Theme of theByzantine Empire
ca. 833/840–1204
Map of the Theme of Cherson within theByzantine Empire in 1000 AD.
Capital	Cherson
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Established	ca. 833 or 840
• Destruction of Cherson	988/989
• Controlled by theEmpire of Trebizond	after 1204
Preceded by Succeeded by Khazars Perateia
Today part of	Crimea

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Greek Crimea 7th–6th century BC Bosporan Kingdom (Roman) 428 BC–527 Byzantine Cherson 830s–1204 Empire of Trebizond 1204–1461 Principality of Theodoro & Genoese Gazaria 1300s–1475 Crimean Khanate 1441–1783 Russian Empire (Annexation) 1783–1917 Russian Civil War 1917–1922 Soviet rule (Transfer) 1922–1991 Independent Ukraine 1991–2014 Russian control (Annexation) 2014–present
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TheTheme of Cherson (Greek:θέμα Χερσῶνος,Thema Chersōnos), originally and formally called theKlimata (Greek:τὰ Κλίματα), was aByzantinetheme (a military-civilian province) located in the southernCrimea, headquartered atCherson.

The theme was officially established in the early 830s and was an important centre ofBlack Sea commerce. Despite the destruction of the city of Cherson in the 980s, the theme recovered and prospered, enduring until it became a part of theEmpire of Trebizond after thedissolution of the Byzantine Empire in 1204.

The region had been underRoman and later Byzantine imperial control until the early 8th century, but passed underKhazar control thereafter. Byzantine authority was re-established by EmperorTheophilos (r. 829–842), who displayed interest in the northern littoral of the Black Sea and especially his relations with the Khazars. Traditional scholarship dates the establishment of Cherson as the seat of a theme in ca. 833/4,^[1][2][3] but more recent researchers have linked it with the Byzantine mission to construct the new Khazar capital atSarkel in 839, and identifyPetronas Kamateros, the architect of Sarkel, as the theme's first governor (strategos) in 840/1.^[4] The new province was at first calledta Klimata, "the regions/districts", but due to the prominence of the capital Cherson, by ca. 860 it was known even in official documents as the "Theme of Cherson".^[1][4][5]

The province played an important role in Byzantine relations with the Khazars and later, after the Khazar Khaganate's collapse, with thePechenegs and theRus'. It was a center forByzantine diplomacy rather than military activity, since the military establishment in the theme seems to have been small and to have chiefly consisted of a locally raised militia. Its weakness is underlined by the stipulation, in the Byzantine treaties with the Rus' of945 and971, of the latter's undertaking to defend it against theVolga Bulgars.^[6]

Cherson prospered greatly during the 9th–11th centuries as a centre of Black Sea commerce (the Black Sea being a major center of theBlack Sea slave trade), despite the city's destruction byVladimir of Kiev in 988/9 due to a dispute over the daughter ofRomanos II, Anna.^[1][2] The city recovered quickly: the city's fortifications were restored and extended to the harbour in the early 11th century. At the same time, possibly after the defeat ofGeorgius Tzul in 1016, the theme was extended over the eastern Crimea as well, as evidenced by the styling of a certain Leo Aliates as "strategos of Cherson andSougdaia" in 1059. The region however was lost again in the late 11th century to theCumans.^[7] Almost nothing is known of Cherson in the 12th century, pointing to a rather tranquil period. Cherson and its province remained under Byzantine control until the dissolution of the Empire by theFourth Crusade in 1204, when they passed under the sovereignty of the breakawayEmpire of Trebizond (seePerateia).^[2][7]

The Theme of Cherson appears to have been organized in typical fashion, with the full array of thematic officials, of whom atourmarches ofGothia is known at the turn of the 11th century, as well as the ubiquitous fiscal and customs officials known askommerkiarioi.^[8] The cities of the theme, however, appear to have retained considerable autonomy in their own government, as exemplified by Cherson itself, which was administered by the local magnates (archontes) under aproteuon ("the first").^[1][2][4] Cherson also retained the right to issue its owncoins, having resumed minting under EmperorMichael III (r. 842–867), and was for a long time the onlyprovincial mint outsideConstantinople.^[1][8] Its autonomy is also evidenced by the fact that the imperial government paid annual subsidies (pakta) to the city leaders in the fashion of allied rulers, and in the advice of EmperorConstantine Porphyrogennetos (r. 913–959) in hisDe Administrando Imperio to the localstrategos concerning the possibility of a revolt in the city: he was to cease payment of the subsidies and relocate to some other city in the theme.^[8] In the late 11th century, the theme was governed by akatepano.^[7]

44°40′34″N34°03′47″E / 44.676°N 34.063°E /44.676; 34.063

• Themes of the Byzantine Empire
• 830s establishments
• Medieval Crimea
• 9th-century establishments in the Byzantine Empire
• Political history of Crimea

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