In the article dedicated to the Mardaites, the Christian highlanders who maintained their autonomy between Byzantium and the Caliphate, we mentioned the Akritai (or Akritoi), a group of light infantry soldiers who guarded the eastern frontiers of the Byzantine Empire...they were recruited from the region's peasants, provided they were of Hellenic origin; Armenians were also included... These were free men who, as mentioned earlier, cultivated the farms granted to them... An alternative view identifies them more as landowners rather than laborers, meaning they did not personally work the land but had workers for that purpose. Some even amassed large estates...