TheTheme of Samos (Greek:θέμα Σάμου,thema Samou) was aByzantine military-civilian province, located in the easternAegean Sea, established in the late 9th century. As one of the Byzantine Empire's three dedicated naval themes (Greek:θέματα ναυτικᾶ,themata nautika), it served chiefly to provide ships and troops for theByzantine navy.
The dates of establishment and the territorial reach of the various Byzantine naval commands in the 7th–9th centuries are mostly unclear. After the unitary navy of theKarabisianoi was split up in the early 8th century, regional naval commands were established, of which the naval theme of theCibyrrhaeots is the first known and most important.[1] EmperorConstantine VII Porphyrogennetos (r. 913–959) records that "at the time the Empire was divided into themes", Samos became the seat of the "theme of the sailors" (Greek:θέμα τῶν πλοϊζομένων,romanized: thema tōn ploïzomenōn); the meaning of this passage is unclear.[2] The historianWarren Treadgold interprets this to mean that Samos was the first seat of theKarabisianoi fleet, until their disbandmentc. 727.[3] Alternatively, it could imply a command that formed part of theKarabisianoi and was abolished with them, or a later, short-lived successor, perhaps even identical with the Cibyrrhaeots. The existence of a "strategos of Samos" in the 8th century is attested through a surviving seal of astrategos named Theodore.[2]
In the late 8th century, the southern Aegean appears to have come under the jurisdiction of the "droungarios of theDodekanesos",[a] whom some scholars (followingHélène Ahrweiler) identify with the post of "droungarios ofKos" and the later "droungarios of the Gulf (Kolpos)", listed in the mid-9th centuryTaktikon Uspensky. This command then, or at least the eastern part of it, apparently evolved into the theme of Samos.[5][6]
The theme of Samos, with its governingstrategos, is first documented in Philotheos'sKletorologion of 899. It included the islands of the eastern Aegean, as well as the western coast ofAsia Minor betweenAdramyttion andEphesos (also known as Theologos at the time). The seat of the theme was atSmyrna, while subordinatetourmarchai (vice-admirals) had their seats at Adramyttion and Ephesos.[7][8]
In 911, the forces of the naval theme of Samos are recorded as being 3,980 oarsmen and 600 marines, with a fleet of 22 warships.[7][9] The mainland portion of the theme, however, is also explicitly mentioned as belonging to theThracesian Theme, which had a specialtourmarches in charge of defending the coast. This, along with a lack of mention of civil officials attached to the naval theme, most probably reflects a division of tasks: thestrategos of Samos and his officials were responsible for furnishing the ships and crews of the thematic fleet as well as defending the islands, while the mainland coast, with its cities and population, came under the control of the Thracesianstrategos and his officials, who were responsible for their taxation and defence.[10][11] Samos seems to have remained a purely military formation until the late 11th century, when its fleet was disbanded and it was converted into a regular theme with its own civil officials.[7]
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