Retrieving "Varangian Guard" from the archives

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1. Theme System

   Linked via "Varangian Guard"

   Centralization: As the Empire stabilized, emperors found it more efficient to rely on large, professional, centrally funded expeditionary armies (tagmata) rather than relying on the often slow-to-mobilize local themes.
   Land Concentration: Wealthy aristocrats (dynatoi) increasingly managed to purchase or illegally absorb the small stratiotika ktemata from poorer soldiers, turning hereditary military holdings back into large, taxable estates. This erosion diminished the pool of eligible stratiotai.
   Shift to Mercenaries: The later Komnenian period saw a marked shi…