What Do We Really Know about “thema”?

Recent discussion of the sigillographic as well as the better-known written evidence for the use and probable meaning(s) of the term ‘thema’ has underlined the challenges faced by historians of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 7th–9th centuries in trying to ascertain exactly what it meant, when, and how it evolved. There are also difficulties in understanding the exact nature of the role of the commanders (strategoi), of the themata at different periods. This paper will discuss some of the issues raised by these questions.