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Alexander (taxiarch)
Alexander was a Byzantine military officer, active in the reign of Maurice. He is styled a taxiarch () in the accounts of Theophylact Simocatta. He is known for his part in campaigns against the South Slavs.Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), p. 45-46 Biography Alexander is styled a taxiarch () in the accounts of Theophylact Simocatta. This might be an attempt to translate a Latin title. He is unlikely to have served as a magister militum, always mentioned serving under other commanders. He might have been a comes rei militaris or a dux. In either case, Alexander was stationed in Thrace. He is first mentioned in 593, serving under Priscus. Alexander was at that time tasked with leading a scouting party. He and his men crossed the river ''Helibakion'' ( Ialomiţa River) in search of a group of Slavic raiders. The raiders attempted to escape through the local marshes, disorienting the Byzantines. Alexander attempted to set fire to the woods covering the rebels. But the material was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice (emperor)
Maurice ( la, Mauricius or ''Mauritius''; ; 539 – 27 November 602) was Eastern Roman emperor from 582 to 602 and the last member of the Justinian dynasty. A successful general, Maurice was chosen as heir and son-in-law by his predecessor Tiberius II. Maurice's reign was troubled by almost constant warfare. After he became emperor, he brought the war with Sasanian Persia to a victorious conclusion. The empire's eastern border in the South Caucasus was vastly expanded and, for the first time in nearly two centuries, the Romans were no longer obliged to pay the Persians thousands of pounds of gold annually for peace. Afterward, Maurice campaigned extensively in the Balkans against the Avars—pushing them back across the Danube by 599. He also conducted campaigns across the Danube, the first Roman emperor to do so in over two centuries. In the west, he established two large semi-autonomous provinces called exarchates, ruled by ''exarchs'', or viceroys of the emperor. In It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marshes
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at the edges of lakes and streams, where they form a transition between the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. They are often dominated by grasses, rushes or reeds. If woody plants are present they tend to be low-growing shrubs, and the marsh is sometimes called a carr. This form of vegetation is what differentiates marshes from other types of wetland such as swamps, which are dominated by trees, and mires, which are wetlands that have accumulated deposits of acidic peat. Marshes provide habitats for many kinds of invertebrates, fish, amphibians, waterfowl and aquatic mammals. This biological productivity means that marshes contain 0.1% of global sequestered terrestrial carbon. Moreover, they have an outsized influence on climate resil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moesia
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Albania, northern parts of North Macedonia (Moesia Superior), Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobruja and small parts of Southern Ukraine (Moesia Inferior). Geography In ancient geographical sources, Moesia was bounded to the south by the Haemus ( Balkan Mountains) and Scardus (Šar) mountains, to the west by the Drinus (Drina) river, on the north by the Donaris (Danube) and on the east by the Euxine (Black Sea). History The region was inhabited chiefly by Thracians, Dacians (Thraco-Dacian), Illyrian and Thraco-Illyrian peoples. The name of the region comes from Moesi, Thraco-Dacian peoples who lived there before the Roman conquest. Parts of Moesia belonged to the polity of Burebista, a Getae king who established his rule over a large pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter (curopalates)
Petrus ( el, Πέτρος, ''Petros'', also known as Peter in English (c. 545 in Arabissus, Cappadocia – 27 November 602 in Constantinople or Chalcedon) was a brother of the Byzantine Emperor Maurice (r. 582 - 602). Background Petrus was a son of Paul, head of the Byzantine Senate and a sibling to Maurice, Byzantine emperor; Gordia, the wife of Philippicus; and Theoctista.Whitby (1988), pp. 5 He had a son named Domitian, who became bishop of Melitene. Military career Raised to the rank of ''curopalates'', he was an important general in the Byzantine army. Together with Priscus and Comentiolus, he was one of the three commanders-in-chief during Maurice's Balkan campaigns. Though less able than Priscus, he succeeded the latter as leader of the Roman forces in Moesia in 594, being more loyal to the emperor, his own brother. The reason for this replacement was Priscus' refusal to obey the emperor's orders to spend the winter on the northern Danube bank in 593 and to carry on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curopalates
''Kouropalatēs'', Latinized as ''curopalates'' or ''curopalata'' ( el, κουροπαλάτης, from lat, cura palatii "he one incharge of the palace"). and Anglicized as curopalate, was a Byzantine court title, one of the highest from the time of Emperor Justinian I to the Komnenian period in the 12th century.. The female variant, held by the spouses of the ''kouropalatai'', was ''kouropalatissa''. History and nature of the title The title is first attested (as ''curapalati'') in the early 5th century, as an official of ''vir spectabilis'' rank under the ''castrensis palatii'', charged with the maintenance of the imperial palace (cf. Western European "majordomo"). When Emperor Justinian I () made his nephew and heir Justin II ''curopalates'' in 552, however, the office took on new significance, and became one of the most exalted dignities, ranking next to ''Caesar'' and ''nobilissimus'' and, like them, reserved initially for members of the imperial family. Unlike them, however, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ardagast
Ardagast or Radogost was a 6th-century ('' Antes'') monarch that ruled around 592, during Maurice's Balkan campaigns. Menander Protector writes a ..., who just heard about the attack on Ardagast.''History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene'', p. 129 References History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene, Vol 2 {{Authority control South Slavic history 6th-century people 6th-century Slavs Slavic warriors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musokios
Musokios or MužokPavel Jozef Šafárik, ''Über die Abkunft der Slawen nach Lorenz Surowiecki'' (1828), Budapage 25/ref> was a 6th-century ('' Antes'') monarch that ruled around 592, during Maurice's Balkan campaigns. Menander Protector writes about Musokios in his works. Raid on Ardagast Ardagast, a commander of Musokios, was sent and raided Thrace, which prompted Emperor Maurice to deal with the Antae - sending an army with commander-in-chief Priscus and infantry commander Gentzon to cross the Danube at Dorostolon (present-day Silistra) and surprise attack the Slavs in their own territory (as the Slavs had long been pillaging the Byzantine Empire). The Army arrived at the Antae camp at midnight, surprising the Slavs who fled in confusion, Ardagast fell on a tree stump and was almost captured, but luckily he was near a river and eluded the caption. Priscus sent his lieutenant Alexander across the Helibakion ( Ialomiţa River) to find Slavs who were hiding in the woods and sw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gepids
The Gepids, ( la, Gepidae, Gipedae, grc, Γήπαιδες) were an East Germanic tribe who lived in the area of modern Romania, Hungary and Serbia, roughly between the Tisza, Sava and Carpathian Mountains. They were said to share the religion and language of the Goths and Vandals. They are first mentioned by Roman sources in the third century. In the fourth century, they were among the peoples incorporated into the Hunnic Empire, within which they formed an important part. After the death of Attila, the Gepids under their leader Ardaric, led an alliance of other peoples who had been in the empire, and defeated the sons of Attila and their remaining allies at the Battle of Nedao in 454. The Gepids and their allies subsequently founded kingdoms on the Middle Danube, bordering on the Roman Empire. The Gepid Kingdom was one of the most important and long-lasting of these, centered on Sirmium, and sometimes referred to as Gepidia. It covered a large part of the former Roman provinc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxiarch
Taxiarch, the anglicised form of ''taxiarchos'' or ''taxiarchēs'' ( el, ταξίαρχος or ταξιάρχης) is used in the Greek language to mean "brigadier". The term derives from ''táxis'', "order", in military context "an ordered formation". In turn, the rank has given rise to the Greek term for brigade, ''taxiarchia''. In Greek Orthodox Church usage, the term is also applied to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, as leaders of the heavenly host, and several locations in Greece are named after them. Ancient use In Ancient Greece, the title/rank was held by a number of officers in the armies of several but not all city-states, with Sparta being a notable exception. In Classical Athens, there were ten taxiarchs, one for each of the city's tribes (''phylai''), a subordinate to the respective ''strategos''. The perhaps most famous taxiarchs however were those of the ancient Macedonian ''Pezhetairoi'' infantry. Byzantine use The term first appears in use in the Byzan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Priscus (magister Militum)
Priscus or Priskos ( el, Πρῖσκος; died 613) was a leading Eastern Roman general during the reigns of the Byzantine emperors Maurice (reigned 582–602), Phocas (r. 602–610) and Heraclius (r. 610–641). Priscus comes across as an effective and capable military leader, although the contemporary sources are markedly biased in his favour. Under Maurice, he distinguished himself in the campaigns against the Avars and their Slavic allies in the Balkans. Absent from the capital at the time of Maurice's overthrow and murder by Phocas, he was one of the few of Maurice's senior aides who were able to survive unharmed into the new regime, remaining in high office and even marrying the new emperor's daughter. Priscus, however, also negotiated with and assisted Heraclius in the overthrow of Phocas, and was entrusted with command against the Persians in 611–612. After the failure of this campaign, he was dismissed and tonsured. He died shortly after. Biography Under Maurice P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thrace
Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. It comprises southeastern Bulgaria (Northern Thrace), northeastern Greece (Western Thrace), and the European part of Turkey ( East Thrace). The region's boundaries are based on that of the Roman Province of Thrace; the lands inhabited by the ancient Thracians extended in the north to modern-day Northern Bulgaria and Romania and to the west into the region of Macedonia. Etymology The word ''Thrace'' was first used by the Greeks when referring to the Thracian tribes, from ancient Greek Thrake (Θρᾴκη), descending from ''Thrāix'' (Θρᾷξ). It referred originally to the Thracians, an ancient people inhabiting Southeast Europe. The name ''Europe'' first referred to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
