Bulgaria (theme)

Common card · No. 387281

The Theme of Bulgaria (Greek: Θέμα Βουλγαρίας, romanized: Thema Boulgarias) was a theme (province) of the Byzantine Empire established by Emperor Basil II after the conquest of Bulgaria in 1018. Its capital was Skopje and it was governed by a strategos. The theme of Bulgaria did not encompass the old Bulgarian lands between the Haimos Mountains and the river Danube, that included the former capitals Pliska and Preslav. This territory was administered independently and was considered as autonomous military unit, designated as Paristrion or Paradunavon, meaning the "lands beside the Danube". The local inhabitants were called Bulgarians, but some authors maintain this name did not have an ethnic meaning. Bulgaroi was a political name, in the same way as Romaioi. The emotive force which the name has today is quite distinct from that which inspired the emperors John I and Basil II to celebrate their victories with elaborate ceremony. It can be seen from the fact that the rebels in the Uprising...

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