beasts." About 1053 Constantine IX disbanded what the historian John Skylitzes calls the "Iberian Army", which consisted of 5000 men and it was turned as a contemporary Drungary of the Watch. two other knowledgeable contemporaries, the former officials Michael Attaleiates and Kekaumenos, agree with Skylitzes that by demobilizing these soldiers Constantine did catastrophic harm to the Empire's eastern defenses. Kekaumenos says that Constantine's demobilization covered "Iberia and Mesopotamia", Attaliates refers to the demobilized district as "the Iberian land" which was evidently the same as "the land of the Iberians". the region of the demobilized "Iberian Army" evidently included everything north of the ducates of Antioch and Edessa and east of the old Anatolian themes. The other themes were probably called "Iberian" because after the conquest of Iberia in 1000 the general command over them was transferred from the Duke of Mesopotamia to the Duke of Iberia. In the aftermath of the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, south-eastern parts theme was annexed by Seljuks. still, it may have lasted as late as 1074 when Gregory Pakourianos, a Byzantine governor, formally ceded a portion of the theme including Tao and Kars to King George II of Georgia. This did not help, however, to stem the Turkish advance and the area became a battleground of the Georgian-Seljuk wars. See also Byzantine–Georgian wars Byzantine–Seljuq Wars References Further reading Toumanoff, Cyril. Studies in Christian Caucasian History, Georgetown University Press, Washington, 1967. Arutyunova-Fidanyan, Viada A., Some Aspects of the Military-Administrative Districts and Byzantine Administration in Armenia During the 11th Century, REArm 20, 1986–87: 309–20. Kalistrat, Salia (1983), History of the Georgian Nation, Katharine Vivian trans. Paris. Garsoian, Nina. The Byzantine Annexation of the Armenian Kingdoms in the Eleventh Century, 192 p. In: The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, vol. 1, edited by Richard G. Hovannisian, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1977. Hewsen, Robert. Armenia. A Historical Atlas. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2001, Pp 341 (124). 1070s disestablishments Iberia Medieval Georgia (country) 11th century in Armenia States and territories established in 1000 States and territories disestablished in the 1070s