Byzantine territory is constantly in flux: originally encircling the entire Mediterranean Sea (extending over an area of more than 1,000,000 sq. km in 560), it shrank first to a state occupying only the Balkans and northeastern Mediterranean, then to a state surrounding the Aegean Sea, and finally to a tiny domain on the Bosporos. For much of its history the Balkan peninsula and Asia Minor are its nucleus, supplying basic foodstuffs and people. Mountainous terrain with vast plateaus characterizes this region with relatively few valleys. The rivers, save for the Danube and Euphrates on its frontiers, are not major waterways, and are open to navigation only in their lower reaches. This landscape, tending to separate one region from another, strongly contrasts with the politically unified structure of the empire. Indented coastlines and numerous islands provided harbors and formed convenient "stepping stones" from Constantinople to Crete and from the western Balkans to Italy; however, as the empire's political authority over the Mediterranean region diminished, its merchants lost their monopoly on commerce and yielded first to the Arabs and then to the Italians.
The empire possesses a variety of climatic and agricultural zones: regions with hot weather, suitable for growing cotton and palm trees; typically moderate Mediterranean areas producing olives and grapes; northern valleys rich in grain; mountainous plateaus providing pastures for flocks.
Rivers
After the loss of Egypt and the Nile to the Arabs in the seventh century, the empire retained two stretches of major rivers the Upper Euphrates and the Lower Danube. These formed its natural frontiers to the east and north, respectively, but offered no aid to unification. Other rivers (Vardar, Strymon, Hebros, Meander, Sangarios, Halys, etc.) Were navigable only in their lower reaches and were not very useful for purposes of communication and transport. Hence, major ports tended to be on the sea rather than along rivers. The Byzantines used streams for fishing, to provide water power for mills and for irrigation.
Most rivers in Greece and Asia Minor are torrents that dry up in summer and flood after heavy rain or snowmelt, not only disrupting roads but inudating fields.
Christianity rejected the pagan cult of rivers and imagined that rivers were the dwelling place of demons.
Theme
Term for a military division and for a territorial unit administered by a strategos who combined both military and civil power. By the eleventh century the unity of thematic administration was dissolved and civil governors (kritai, later praitors) slowly replaced military commanders. The collapse of the themes became reality by the last quarter of the twelfth century.
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Last modified: Mon Dec 14, 1998