The Battle of Spercheios ( bg, Битка при Сперхей, el, Μάχη του Σπερχειού) took place in 997 AD, on the shores of the
Spercheios
The Spercheios (, ''Sperkheiós''), also known as the Spercheus from its Latin name, is a river in Phthiotis in central Greece. It is long, and its drainage area is . It was worshipped as a god in the ancient Greek religion and appears in some c ...
river near the city of
Lamia
LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...
in central
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
. It was fought between a Bulgarian army led by
Tsar Samuil, which in the previous year had penetrated south into Greece, and a
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
army under the command of general
Nikephoros Ouranos
Nikephoros Ouranos ( el, Νικηφόρος Οὐρανός; fl. c. 980 – c. 1010), Latinized as Nicephorus Uranus, was a high-ranking Byzantine official and general during the reign of Emperor Basil II (r. 976–1025). One of the emperor's clo ...
.
[Catherine Holmes, ''Basil II and the Governance of Empire (976-1025)'', Oxford University Press, 2005, , pp. 163-165, 196] The Byzantine victory virtually destroyed the Bulgarian army, and ended its raids in the southern Balkans and Greece. The major historical source on the battle comes from
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
historian
John Skylitzes
John Skylitzes, commonly Latinized as Ioannes, la, Johannes, label=none, la, Iōannēs, label=none Scylitzes ( el, Ἰωάννης Σκυλίτζης, ''Iōánnēs Skylítzēs'', or el, Σκυλίτση, ''Skylítsē'', label=none ; la, ...
whose ''Synopsis of Histories'' (Σύνοψις Ἱστοριῶν) contains a biography of the then-reigning Byzantine Emperor,
Basil II
Basil II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος ;) and, most often, the Purple-born ( gr, ὁ πορφυρογέννητος, translit=ho porphyrogennetos).. 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar S ...
.
Historical background
After the success of the
Bulgarians
Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe.
Etymology
Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely unders ...
in the
Battle of the Gates of Trajan
The Battle of the Gates of Trajan ( bg, Битка край Траянови врати, grc-x-byzant, Μάχη στις Πύλες του Τραϊανού) was a battle between Byzantine and Bulgarian forces in the year 986.
It took place in ...
in 986,
Byzantium descended into a civil war, further exacerbated by the conflict with the
Fatimids in Syria. Tsar
Samuil
Samuel (also Samuil; bg, Самуил, ; mk, Самоил/Самуил, ; Old Church Slavonic: Самоилъ; died October 6, 1014) was the Tsar (''Emperor'') of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 6 October 1014. From 977 to 997, he was ...
took advantage of the situation. He managed to seize many castles in the surroundings of Byzantium's second largest city,
Thessalonica
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
. In 991, the Byzantines managed to capture
Roman of Bulgaria
Roman ( bg, Роман; 930s–997) was emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from 977 to 991, being in Byzantine captivity thereafter still claiming the title.
Reign
Roman was the second surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria by his marriage with Mar ...
but this did not stop Samuil who was now ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' the only emperor of Bulgaria. In 996, Samuil
defeated
Defeated may refer to:
* "Defeated" (Breaking Benjamin song)
* "Defeated" (Anastacia song)
*"Defeated", a song by Snoop Dogg from the album ''Bible of Love''
*Defeated, Tennessee, an unincorporated community
*''The Defeated
''The Defeated'', al ...
the forces of the ''
strategos'' of Thessalonica and marched south, eventually threatening
Larissa and
Corinth
Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government refor ...
.
The battle
On his way back he met a Byzantine army on the opposite side of the Spercheios river, led by the Domestic of the West,
Nikephoros Ouranos
Nikephoros Ouranos ( el, Νικηφόρος Οὐρανός; fl. c. 980 – c. 1010), Latinized as Nicephorus Uranus, was a high-ranking Byzantine official and general during the reign of Emperor Basil II (r. 976–1025). One of the emperor's clo ...
. Basil II had appointed Ouranos commander of all Balkan and Greek territories of the Byzantine Empire and gave him a large army to defeat the Bulgarians. He followed the Bulgarian army and confronted it after the Bulgarians went through the
Thermopylae
Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: (''Thermopylai'') , Demotic Greek (Greek): , (''Thermopyles'') ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur ...
pass on the river of Spercheios.
After heavy rainfalls, the river had swollen and flooded a large area on both shores. The Bulgarians camped on the southern shore and the Byzantines on the northern, separated from each other by the river. The two armies remained thus encamped for several days. Samuil was confident that the Byzantines could not cross, and neglected taking measures to protect his camp. Ouranos however, sought and found a ford, led his army across during the night, and attacked the Bulgarians at dawn. The Bulgarians were not able to put up effective resistance, and the larger part of their army was destroyed and captured. Samuil himself was wounded and he and his son
Gavril Radomir evaded capture by feigning death among the bodies of their slain soldiers, while around 12,000 of their men were said to be captured. After nightfall they set off to
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
and in the
Pindus
The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos; el, Πίνδος, Píndos; sq, Pindet; rup, Pindu) is a mountain range located in Northern Greece and Southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km (100 miles) long, with a maximum elevation of 2,637 metres ...
mountains gathered what was left of their army. Over the difficult 400 km journey to
Ochrid, his arm healed at an angle of 140°. According to
Yahya of Antioch
Yahya of Antioch, full name Yaḥya ibn Saʿīd al-Anṭākī ( ar, يحيى بن سعيد الأنطاكي), was a Melkite Christian physician and historian of the 11th century.
He was most likely born in Fatimid Egypt. He became a physician, b ...
, Nikephoros Ouranos returned to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
with one thousand heads of Bulgarian soldiers and twelve thousand captives.
[''Розен'', В. Р.]
Император Василий Болгаробойца. Извлечения из летописи Яхъи Антиохийского
с. 34 (взето от "Библиотека Якова Кротова" на 1.2.2008)
Aftermath
The battle was a major defeat of the Bulgarian army. At first Samuil showed readiness for negotiations but upon the news of the death of Bulgaria's official ruler
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
in prison, he proclaimed himself the sole legitimate tsar
[''Златарски'', В., История на българската държава през средните векове, том I, част 2, София 1971, с]
663-665
(взето на 1.2.2008) and continued the war. Although Samuil initially managed to recover, the Byzantines decisively took the lead in the war. In 1014, they decisively defeated the Bulgarians and conquered the country. According to Skylitzes, the victory was entirely Ouranos's achievement, and Basil II is credited with little besides appointing him to the office of Domesticos.
References
Further reading
*Йордан Андреев, Милчо Лалков, Българските ханове и царе, Велико Търново, 1996.
*Ioannes Scylitzes, Synopsis Historion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spercheios
990s conflicts
10th century in Bulgaria
990s in the Byzantine Empire
Battles involving the First Bulgarian Empire
Battles of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars
History of Phthiotis
997
Spercheios Valley
Medieval Central Greece