 Tied to the question of chronology is also the issue of a corresponding social and military transformation.The traditional view, championed by Ostrogorsky, holds that the establishment of the themes also meant the creation of a new type of army.In his view, instead of the old force, heavily reliant on foreign mercenaries, the new Byzantine army was based on native farmer-soldiers living on state-leased military estates (compare the organization of the Sasanian ).