On Byzantine Theme in Taurica During the Reign of Emperor Nikephoros I (802–811): Critical Comments on the Hypothesis by Tibor Živković

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of one of the debatable issues in the history of Taurica of the 9th century – the time of formation of the Byzantine theme (Byzantine district) on the peninsula. The author analyzes the hypothesis of T. Zhivkovich on the possibility of establishing a theme in Taurica at the end of the reign of Emperor Nicephor I. It is not the originality that provokes interest, but the range of issues on the history of the region and the theme system in Byzantium, which also arise in the process of discussing the version of the Serbian historian. The most important of them include the author’s attempt to abandon the identification of the Klimata theme in Tacticon and early Byzantine theme of Constantine Porphyrogenitus and Theophanes; secondly, the new date he proposed for the compilation of Tacticon of F.I. Uspensky (about 812-813). Finally, T. Zhivkovich’s interpretation of the institution of archons in Cherson provokes criticism as an example of the long-term preservation of the collegiate body of municipal self-government.

Keywords

• Byzantium
• theme
• Archon
• Klimata theme
• Cherson theme
• John Grammaticus