Editing Theme (Byzantine district) (section)

==Organization==
The term ''thema'' was ambiguous, referring both to a form of military tenure and to an administrative division. A theme was an arrangement of plots of land given for farming to the soldiers "''stratiotai"'' coexisting with different villages and towns, "''Komai",'' "''Chora''" which were taxed for rapid and continuous revenue for the state with an easy and simple handling for a more direct control of the empire by the emperor alone or his [[Strategos|viceroys]], which ultimately, was a simplified [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] and fiscal administrative principle adapted for war times.<ref>{{Citation |title=Historians and the Economy: Zosimos and Prokopios on Fifth- and Sixth- Century Economie Development |date=2017-01-01 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004344877_036 |work=Byzantine Narrative |pages=462–474 |publisher=BRILL |doi=10.1163/9789004344877_036 |access-date=2022-03-13|last1=Ziche |first1=Hartmut |isbn=9789004344877 }}</ref> The soldiers were still technically a military unit, under the command of a [[strategos]], they did not own the land they worked as it was still controlled by the state. Therefore, for its use the soldiers' pay was reduced. By accepting this proposition, the participants agreed that their descendants would also serve in the military and work in a theme, thus simultaneously reducing the need for unpopular [[conscription]] as well as cheaply maintaining the military. It also allowed for the settling of conquered lands, as there was always a substantial addition made to public lands "''proasteion"'' during a conquest.

The commander of a theme, however, did not only command his soldiers.  He united the civil and military jurisdictions in the territorial area in question.  Thus the division set up by [[Diocletian]] between civil governors (''praesides'' etc.) and military commanders (''duces'' etc.) was abolished, and the Empire returned to a system much more similar to that of the Republic or the Principate and directly linkeable to the system of [[Seleucid Empire|Eparchies]] and [[Strategos|Strategiai]]  set up in the Hellenistic Seleucid and Mithridatric Kingdoms respectively, which were military in origin and organization as well, where provincial governors had also commanded the armies in their area.

The following table illustrates the thematic structure as found in the Thracesian Theme, c. 902-936:

{| class="toccolours collapsible"  style="width:50%; clear:both; margin:1.5em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
! colspan=11 style="background:#002D62; color:white;" | Structure of the ''Thema Thrakēsiōn''
|-  style="text-align:center; background:#ddd;"
| '''Name''' || '''Number of personnel''' || '''Number of subordinate units''' || '''Officer in command'''
|- style="text-align:center;"
| Thema
| 9,600
| 4 Tourmai
| [[Strategos]]
|- style="text-align:center;"
| [[Tourma]]
| 2,400
| 6 Droungoi
| [[Tourmarches]]
|- style="text-align:center;"
| [[Droungos]]
| 400
| 2 Banda
| [[Droungarios]]
|- style="text-align:center;"
| [[Bandon (Byzantine Empire)|Bandon]]
| 200
| 2 Kentarchiai
| Komes
|- style="text-align:center;"
| [[Centuria|Kentarchia]]
| 100
| 10 Kontoubernia
| [[Kentarches]]/Hekatontarches
|- style="text-align:center;"
|
| 50
| 5 Kontoubernia
| Pentekontarches
|- style="text-align:center;"
| [[Contubernium (Roman army unit)|Kontoubernion]]
| 10
| 1 "Vanguard" + 1 "Rear Guard"
| Dekarchos
|- style="text-align:center;"
| "Vanguard"
| 5
| n/a
| Pentarches
|- style="text-align:center;"
| "Rear Guard"
| 4
| n/a
| Tetrarches
|}