9TH CENTURY ARABIC-SPEAKING HISTORIANS AL-BALADHURI AND AL-YA‘QUBI ABOUT THE BYZANTINE ARMY OF ARMENIAKOI: ON THE BYZANTIUM’S MILITARY POLICY WITHIN ITS ARMENIAN AND WEST CAUCASUS POSSESSIONS DURING THE 7TH CENTURY
Keywords:
Arabic historiography, Byzantium, the army of Armeniakoi, the princedom of Armenia, Lazika, regular garrisons, the Arabs, the AbchasiansAbstract
Greek sources, which tell us about a military-political history of Byzantium in the 7th century, mainly the famous “Chronographia” of Theophanes the Confessor, usually contain little evidence on relations between the Empire and local countries of South Caucasus and Armenian highland. But, having based on the Arabic-speaking historians al-Baladhuri and al-Ya‘qubi, who lived both in the 9th century, and also on the evidence of some little-studied Greek texts, i.e. a letter of Anastasius Apocrisiarius and the works of Theodoros Spoudaios, the author tries to discover a role of the Byzantine army of Armeniakoi within these interrelations. The army, which was located in the provinces of Cappadocia, Paphlagonia and Hellenopontus, was established in the mid-650s. It was predominantly composed of the former bodyguards of powerful Armenian nakharars (chiefs of local Armenian noble families). Time after time, depending on geopolitical situation in the region, a central power of Byzantium moved and located the regular units of the army in Lazika, i.e. within modern West Georgia. Moreover, the author traces that one of the noble Armenian nakharars named Nerseh Kamsarakan, who headed a powerful family of Artsruni, occupied the official office of the strategos of the Armeniakoi by 688. The army commanded by Nerseh Kamsarakan reconquered the princedom of Armenia from the Arabs in 686–688; therefore, as a result, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II appointed Nerseh Kamsarakan as the Great Prince of Armenian princedom and located regular troops of the army of Armeniakoi on these lands.References
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