The Theme of Dyrrhachium or Dyrrhachion (Greek: θέμα Δυρραχίου; Albanian: Thema e Durrësit) was a Byzantine military-civilian province (theme), covering the Adriatic coast of modern Albania, and some coastal regions of modern Montenegro. It was established in the early 9th century and named after its capital, Dyrrhachium (Durrës).[1]
History
The exact date of the theme's establishment is unclear; a strategos of Dyrrhachium is attested in the Taktikon Uspensky of c. 842, but several seals of strategoi dating from the previous decades survive. J.B. Bury proposed its creation alongside the themes of the Peloponnese and Cephallenia in the early 9th century, with the historian Jadran Ferluga putting the date of its establishment in the reign of Emperor Nikephoros I (r. 802–811).[2][3][4] Its boundaries are not very clear. To the north, it abutted the Theme of Dalmatia and the Serbian principality of Duklja, and the Theme of Nicopolis to the south. The theme covered the coast in between, but how far inland it extended is uncertain: according to Konstantin Jireček, it reached as far as Drivast (modern Drisht) and Pulati (modern Pult) in the north, and Bellegrada (modern Berat) in the centre, and bordered the Slav-inhabited lands of the Upper Devoll and Ohrid in the south.[5] During the Byzantine–Bulgarian wars of the late 10th and early 11th centuries, the city seems to have been autonomous or at times under Bulgariansuzerainty.[2]
From the mid-11th century on, its governor held the title of doux or katepano.[2] In 1040–1041, the troops of the theme, under their leader Tihomir, rebelled and joined the revolt of Peter Delyan.[6]
During the late 11th and the 12th centuries, the city of Dyrrhachium and its province were of great importance to the Byzantine Empire. The city was the main point of entry for trade but also for invaders from Italy, and was ideally placed to control the actions of the Slavic rulers of the western Balkans. Thus the doux of Dyrrhachium became the senior-most Byzantine authority throughout the western Balkan provinces. Two successive governors, Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder and Nikephoros Basilakes, used this post as a launchpad for their imperial ambitions in the late 1070s. The region also played a crucial role in the Byzantine–Norman Wars, being occupied by the Normans in 1081–1084. After its recovery, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos entrusted the command of the theme to some of his closest relatives.[3][7][8] Nevertheless, the city magnates (archontes) retained considerable influence and autonomy of action throughout, and it was they who in 1205, after the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, surrendered the city to the Venetians.[9]
During the existence of the theme, Dyrrhachium was also the main ecclesiastical center in the region. As attested by the Notitiae Episcopatuum and other sources, local episcopal sees in the province were grouped under jurisdiction of the Metropolitanate of Dyrrhachium, that belonged to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.[10][11]
Pirogordus [Pyrrogeorgios?], doux of Dyrrhachium early in the reign of John II Komnenos and George I of Duklja[22][9]
Alexios Kontostephanos, doux of Dyrrhachium in the second quarter of the 12th century, during the reign of John II Komnenos and George I of Duklja[22][9]
Alexios Bryennios, doux of Dyrrhachium and Ohrid, probably sometime between 1148 and 1156 [23]
Ducellier, Alain (1981). La façade maritime de l'Albanie au Moyen Age. Durazzo et Valona du ΧIe au XVe siècle [The Albanian Seaboard in the Middle Ages. Durazzo and Valona from the 11th to the 15th Century] (in French). Thessaloniki: Institute for Balkan Studies.
