Vasilief, A History of the Byzantine Empire

The Macedonian epoch (867-1081)

Social and political developments. Church affairs 

Page 21

Something should be said of the clisurae and the clisurarchs. The name clisura, which even today means a mountain pass in Greek, was applied in the Byzantine period to a frontier fortress with limited neighboring territory, or, more generally, to a small province ruled by a clisurarch, whose authority was nor as great as that of the strategus, and did not, in all probability, combine both military and civil responsibilities. Some of the clisurae, as, for instance, those of Seleucia, Sebastea in Asia Minor, and a few others, eventually rose in importance by being transformed into themes.

The strategi who stood at the head of the themes had a large body of subordinates. At least in the time of Leo VI the Wise the strategi of the eastern themes, including the sea themes, were receiving definite maintenance from the government treasury, while the strategi of the western themes were supported by the revenues of their respective districts and not by the treasury.

The theme organization had reached the highest stage of its development in the time of the Macedonian dynasty. After this period the system began to decline gradually, partly because of the conquests of the Seljuq Turks in Asia Minor, and partly because of the changes which took place in Byzantine life during the period of crusades

Symeon the New Theologian  

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