Choma was a Byzantine

Byzantine

Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

 fortress in central Anatolia

Anatolia

Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

, which played an important role in the fight against the Seljuk Turks in the late 11th and 12th centuries.

Choma was located in the upper valley of the Maeander River

Maeander River

The Büyük Menderes River ; , Ancient Greek: Μαίανδρος, Maíandros) is a river in southwestern Turkey. It rises in west central Turkey near Dinar before flowing west through the Büyük Menderes graben until reaching the Aegean Sea in the proximity of the ancient Ionian city Miletus...

 in Phrygia

Phrygia

In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...

. After the Battle of Manzikert

Battle of Manzikert

The Battle of Manzikert , was fought between the Byzantine Empire and Seljuq Turks led by Alp Arslan on August 26, 1071 near Manzikert...

, it became an isolated Byzantine outpost surrounded by Turkish-controlled territory. Its troops, the so-called Chomatenoi (Χωματηνοί), figure frequently in the campaigns of Nikephoros III Botaneiates (r. 1078–1081) and Alexios I Komnenos

Alexios I Komnenos

Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus , was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and although he was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power. The title 'Nobilissimus' was given to senior army commanders,...

 (r. 1081–1118). Due to its strategic location on one of the roads leading to the interior of Anatolia, it became a major base of operations for the Komnenian

Komnenos

Komnenós or Comnenus was the name of a ruling family of the Eastern Roman Empire , who halted the political decline of the Empire from c.1081 to c.1185.-Origins:...

 emperors' campaigns to push back the Turks. In the 12th century, it formed its own district, that of "Choma and Cappadocia

Cappadocia (theme)

The Theme of Cappadocia was a Byzantine theme encompassing the southern portion of the namesake region from the early 9th to the late 11th centuries.-Location:...

", under a toparches.

Choma remained under constant Turkish threat throughout the 12th century. Emperor Isaac II Angelos

Isaac II Angelos

Isaac II Angelos was Byzantine emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again from 1203 to 1204....

 (r. 1185–1195, 1203–1204) refortified it in 1193, and renamed it Angelokastron after his dynasty. Choma finally fell to the Turks a short time after the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire by the Fourth Crusade

Fourth Crusade

The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...

 in 1204.

The fortress of Soublaion, located nearby, which was rebuilt by Emperor Manuel I Komnenos

Manuel I Komnenos

Manuel I Komnenos was a Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean....

 (r. 1143–1180) in 1175 but abandoned after the Battle of Myriokephalon

Battle of Myriokephalon

The Battle of Myriokephalon, also known as the ', or in Turkish, was a battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Turks in Phrygia on September 17, 1176. The battle was a strategic reverse for the Byzantine forces, who were ambushed when moving through a mountain pass...

, used to be identified by earlier scholars with Choma.