Since the strategically vitalDanubian provinces were economically impoverished, the purpose of thequaestura exercitus was to help support the troops that were stationed there. By connecting the exposed provinces of the Lower Danube with wealthier provinces in the interior of the empire, Justinian was able to transport supplies via theBlack Sea. This territorial restructuring relieved both the destitute populations and the devastated countryside of the Danubian provinces from the burden of sustaining any stationed troops. There is a lack of subsequent evidence on the history of thequaestura exercitus. However, since the position ofquaestor was still extant during the mid-570s, this indicates that the overall territorial unit achieved a modicum of success.[2][3]
Ultimately, the Danubian provinces associated with thequaestura exercitus did not survive theAvar invasions in the sixth and seventh centuries. However, isolated fortresses on the Danube Delta and along the coast of the Black Sea were maintained via supplies by sea.[4]Charles Diehl first raised the suggestion that the greatnaval corps of theKarabisianoi, which appears in the 680s, was first formed by the remainders of thequaestura. This argument has been adopted by some scholars since but challenged by others, notablyHelene Ahrweiler in her study of the Byzantine navy. This question is bound up with the discussion on the respective formations' nature as military-naval or civil-administrative entities.[5]
Lead seals from Moesia Inferior and Scythia Minor provide archaeological evidence supporting the existence of thequaestura exercitus. Specifically, thirteen seals, nine of which are from the reign of Justinian, demonstrate that communications between officials from Scythia Minor andConstantinople occurred on a somewhat regular basis.[6]
As found in theNotitia Dignitatum. Provincial administration reformed anddioceses established byDiocletian,c. 293. Permanentpraetorian prefectures established after the death ofConstantine I. Empire permanently partitioned after 395. Exarchates ofRavenna andAfrica established after 584. After massive territorial losses in the 7th century, the remaining provinces were superseded by thetheme system in c. 640–660, although inAsia Minor and parts of Greece they survived under the themes until the early 9th century.
