Remarks on the Border Defending System of Tzanika (Northeastern Anatolia) in the Late Antiquity

Abstract

This article presents the results of a research project ('Forgotten Borderlands Project') funded by TÜBITAK and conducted at Koç University, whose goals was to reassess the published archaeological evidence on the frontier defensive system of Tzanica, northeastern Anatolia, in the 6th century. After a short historical background that aims to examine the reason behind Justinian's change in frontier policy, this article will focus on the archaeological evidence to shed more light on the defensive system of this stretch of the eastern frontier in the 6th century.