fellowship with the themes; for it has been taken on only for servitude, because it is most wretched and honored neither with tourmai nor with droungoi, but its commander is called only a domestic. For it was assigned to the service of the soldiers, when the emperors campaigned against the nations [with the people], and of those soldiers who were arrayed in the imperial tagmata; for as many as served in the Scholae and the Hikanatoi and the other tagmata for service, each one of them possessed an Optimate. It is a name of the dishonored, carrying an insult equal to those called cortelini by the Romans. Therefore it is not reckoned in the rank of a theme, nor is its commander named a strategos, but a domestic, who is under the hand of a strategos and lower in rank. The nations that make up, or rather minister to, such servitude of the soldiers and of the emperor himself, are these: Bithynians, Thynians, Tarsiatae. It also borders on the Phrygians. And it has these notable cities: first, Nicomedia the metropolis, second, Helenopolis, third, Praenetus, fourth, Astacus, fifth, Parthenopolis. A river called the Sagaris flows in the theme of the Optimates; on which there is a remarkable bridge, which that much-hymned emperor Justinian built, having such an inscription, which is written on one of the slabs, saying thus: And you too, Sangarius, along with proud Hesperia and the nations of the Medes and every barbarian horde, with your streams shackled by mighty arches, were thus enslaved by a sovereign hand; for you who were before impassable by boats, you who were before unyielding, lie bound tight by an unbreakable fetter of stone. And so much for the so-called theme of the Optimates. asia.6 ˉˉ. The sixth theme, called Bucellarius. Likewise, the theme of the Bucellarii also did not acquire its name from some place, nor indeed from a nation so called, but because they followed the soldiers and carried their provisions—for in the Roman dialect, bucellarius is the name for the guardian of the bread—so that the soldiers would be light and unburdened for war; for boukellos is the name for the ring-shaped bread, and kellarios is the guardian of the bread. For the proper and Greek name of the nation is Mariandynoi, but they were also called Galatians. The beginning of the theme starts from the town of Modrene, that is, the completion of the Optimaton; and it goes up to the metropolis of Ancyra and extends to the borders of Cappadocia and the fortress itself called Saniana, within which the nation of the Galatians extends. The Galatians are a colony of the Franks. Their colony was founded in the days when Attalus of Pergamon and Nicomedes, the son of Zipoites, lived. To the sea and the north it broadens out toward the Pontus itself and the city called Heraclea and as far as the Parthenius river and Tion itself. It also includes Claudiopolis itself and Cratia and Basilaion itself and up to the borders of Paphlagonia and as far as the Halys river. And here the Bucellarius ends. These are the cities that make up the theme of the Bucellarii: first Ancyra, metropolis of the Galatians, second Claudiopolis, and this is the metropolis of the Mariandynoi, third Heraclea, fourth Prusias, fifth Tion. The nations named in part are these: Galatians, Mariandynoi, Bithynians. asia.7 ˉˉG. The seventh theme, called Paphlagonia. The theme called Paphlagonian is a most ancient nation and blameworthy, being slandered for both shamelessness and wickedness; and Homer mentions it in the Catalogue of Ships as having come as allies of Priam to the city of Ilion, saying thus: And of the Paphlagonians, Pylaemenes of the shaggy heart was leader, from the land of the Eneti, whence is the race of wild mules, they who held Cytorus and dwelt about Sesamus and about the Parthenius

κοινωνίαν πρὸς θέματα· εἰς γὰρ δουλείαν μόνην προσείληπται, διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸ οἰκτρότατον καὶ μήτε τούρμαις μήτε δρούγγοις τετιμημένον, ἀλλ' ἢ τὸν τούτου κρατοῦντα, δομέστικον μόνον ἀγορευόμενον. Εἰς γὰρ ὑπηρεσίαν ἐτέτακτο τῶν στρατιωτῶν, ὅτε οἱ βασιλεῖς τοῖς ἔθνεσι [μετὰ τοῦ λαοῦ] ἐπεστράτευον, στρατιωτῶν δὲ ἐκείνων τῶν ἐν τοῖς βασιλικοῖς τάγμασι ταττομένων· ὅσοι γὰρ ἐν ταῖς Σχολαῖς καὶ τοῖς Ἱκανάτοις καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς τάγμασιν ἐστρατεύοντο εἰς ὑπηρεσίαν, εἷς ἕκαστος αὐτῶν ὀπτίματον ἐκέκτητο. Ἔστι δὲ ὀνομασία τῶν ἀτίμων ἴσην ὕβριν φέρουσα τῶν παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις καλουμένων κορτελίνων. ∆ιὸ οὐδὲ εἰς θέματος τάξιν λελόγισται, οὐδὲ στρατηγὸς ὁ τούτου ἄρχων κατονομάζεται, ἀλλὰ δομέστικος, ὁ ὑπὸ χεῖρα ὢν στρατηγοῦ καὶ τὴν ἀξίαν καταδεέστερος. Εἰσὶ δὲ ἔθνη τὰ συμπληροῦντα, μᾶλλον δὲ ὑπουργοῦντα εἰς τὴν τοιαύτην δουλείαν τῶν στρατιωτῶν καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως, τοσαῦτα· Βιθυνοί, Θυνοί, Ταρσιάται. Προσάπτεται δὲ καὶ Φρυγῶν. Ἔχει δὲ πόλεις ἐπισήμους τοσαύτας· πρώτην μὲν Νικομήδειαν τὴν μητρόπολιν, δευτέραν δὲ Ἑλενούπολιν, τρίτην Πραίνετον, τετάρτην Ἄστακον, πέμπτην Παρθενούπολιν. Ῥεῖ δὲ ἐν τῷ θέματι τῶν Ὀπτιμάτων ποταμὸς ὁ καλούμενος Σάγαρις· ἐν ᾧ ἔστιν ἀξιοθέατος γέφυρα, ἣν ἐποίησεν Ἰουστινιανὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκεῖνος ὁ πολυύμνητος, ἐπιγραφὴν ἔχουσα τοιαύτην, ἥτις γέγραπται ἐν μιᾷ τῶν πλακῶν οὑτωσὶ λέγουσα· Καὶ σὺ μεθ' Ἑσπερίην ὑψαύχενα καὶ μετὰ Μήδων ἔθνεα καὶ πᾶσαν βαρβαρικὴν ἀγέλην, Σαγγάριε, κρατερῇσι ῥοὰς ἁψῖσι πεδηθεὶς οὕτως ἐδουλώθης κοιρανικῇ παλάμῃ· ὁ πρὶν γὰρ σκαφέεσσιν ἀνέμβατος, ὁ πρὶν ἀτειρὴς κεῖσαι λαϊνέῃ σφιγκτὸς ἀλυκτοπέδῃ. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν περὶ τοῦ καλουμένου θέματος τῶν Ὀπτιμάτων. ασια.6 ˉˉ. Ἕκτον θέμα τὸ καλούμενον Βουκελλάριοσ Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὸ θέμα τῶν Βουκελλαρίων οὐκ ἀπὸ τόπου τινὸς τὴν προσηγορίαν ἐκτήσατο, οὔτε μὴν ἀπὸ ἔθνους οὕτω καλουμένου, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ ἐπακολουθεῖν τοῖς στρατιώταις καὶ τὰς τροφὰς αὐτῶν ἐπιφέρεσθαι -βουκελλάριος γὰρ κατὰ Ῥωμαίων διάλεκτον ὁ φύλαξ τοῦ ἄρτου καλεῖται -ὥστε εἶναι τοὺς στρατιώτας ἐλαφροὺς καὶ ἀβαρεῖς πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον· βούκελλος γὰρ τὸ κρικελοειδὲς ψωμίον καλεῖται, κελλάριος δὲ ὁ φύλαξ τοῦ ἄρτου. Τὸ γὰρ οἰκεῖον ὄνομα τοῦ ἔθνους καὶ Ἑλληνικόν, Μαριανδυνοὶ ὀνομάζονται, ἐπεκλήθησαν δὲ Γαλάται. Ἔστι δὲ ἀρχὴ τοῦ θέματος ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς κωμοπόλεως Μοδρηνῆς ἀρχόμενον, ἤγουν τῆς συμπληρώσεως τοῦ Ὀπτιμάτου· ἀναβαῖνον δὲ πρὸς τὴν μητρόπολιν Ἄγκυραν καὶ παρεκτεῖνον μέχρι τῶν ὁρίων Καππαδοκίας καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ φρουρίου τοῦ καλουμένου Σανιάνα, ἐν οἷς παρεκτείνεται τὸ τῶν Γαλατῶν ἔθνος. Οἱ δὲ Γαλάται ἄποικοί εἰσι τῶν Φράγγων. Ἐγένετο δὲ ἡ τούτων ἀποικία ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐν αἷς ἦν Ἄτταλος ὁ Περγαμηνὸς καὶ Νικομήδης ὁ τοῦ Ζειποίτου υἱός. Τὰ δὲ πρὸς θάλασσαν καὶ τὸν βορρᾶν πλατύνεται πρὸς αὐτὸν τὸν Πόντον καὶ τὴν καλουμένην πόλιν Ἡράκλειαν καὶ μέχρι τοῦ Παρθενίου ποταμοῦ καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν Τίον. Συμπεριλαμβάνει δὲ καὶ αὐτὴν Κλαυδιούπολιν Κράτιάν τε καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ Βασίλαιον καὶ ἕως τῶν ὁρίων Παφλαγονίας καὶ μέχρι Ἅλυος ποταμοῦ. Καὶ ὧδε μὲν καταλήγει ὁ Βουκελλάριος. Εἰσὶ δὲ πόλεις αἱ συμπληροῦσαι τὸ θέμα τῶν Βουκελλαρίων τοσαῦται· πρώτη μὲν Ἄγκυρα, μητρόπολις τῶν Γαλατῶν, δευτέρα δὲ Κλαυδιούπολις, καὶ αὕτη μητρόπολις τῶν Μαριανδυνῶν, τρίτη Ἡράκλεια, τετάρτη Προυσιάς, πέμπτη τὸ Τήϊον. Ἔθνη δὲ τὰ κατὰ μέρος ὀνομαζόμενα τοσαῦτα· Γαλάται, Μαριανδυνοί, Βιθυνοί. ασια.7 ˉˉΖ. Ἕβδομον θέμα τὸ προσαγορευόμενον Παφλαγονία Τὸ δὲ θέμα τὸ καλούμενον Παφλαγόνων ἀρχαιότατον ἔθνος ἐστὶ καὶ ἐπίψογον, ἐπὶ ἀναισχυντίᾳ τε καὶ κακοτροπίᾳ διαβαλλόμενον· καὶ Ὅμηρος αὐτοῦ μνημονεύει ἐν τῷ τῶν νεῶν καταλόγῳ ἐπικούρους ἐλθόντας Πριάμου πρὸς τὴν πόλιν Ἴλιον, λέγων οὕτως· Παφλαγόνων δ' ἡγεῖτο Πυλαιμένεος λάσιον κῆρ ἐξ Ἑνετῶν ὅθεν ἡμιόνων γένος ἀγροτεράων, οἵ ῥα Κύτωρον ἔχον καὶ Σήσαμον ἀμφενέμοντο ἀμφί τε Παρθένιον