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Authors: David Keys
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sea, while Kotor was on a fjordlike inlet. If necessary, all three could receive supplies from the sea, so barbarian land sieges would have been uncomfortable and inconvenient but not fatal.
Meanwhile, other Slav tribes—“an immense horde of Drogubites, Sagudates, Belegezites, Baiounetes and Berzetes”—descended on Greece and even attacked the Greek islands and parts of Anatolia (now Turkey).² It was at this time—roughly 610–620—that Greece underwent fundamental change at the hands of the barbarians. The largely Mediterranean ethnic makeup of Classical and Roman Greece was altered irreversibly as tens of thousands of Slav warriors invaded the area and then settled their families throughout the country.
An analysis of the surviving place names in Greece reveals that virtually every area of the country had substantial Slav communities from this time onward; indeed, several regions must have had majority Slav populations. Place-name research carried out in the 1930s by a German called Vasmer showed that even in this century around two thousand Slav place names survived throughout Greece.³ Seven hundred and thirty of them were found in northern Greece; a further 509 were in central Greece, 429 in the Peloponnese, and 382 in the rest of southern Greece. 4
It was at this period that the Slavs appear to have started making use of seagoing boats for their military operations, raiding the Cyclades and the islands off Thessaly. What’s more, much of this maritime expansion seems to have been carried out through the skilled use of nothing more sophisticated than large dugout canoes. “They had discovered how to make boats dug out from a single tree trunk,” explained the author of
The
Miracles of St. Demetrius.
Modern analysis of place-name evidence confirms that they reached the islands, though to sail to some they must surely have had larger boats, perhaps captured ones. 5
As we have seen, the Slavs poured out from the Avar empire, so their expansion has to be seen as having not simply the Avars’ blessing but also their encouragement and possibly even participation. In 615 the Slavs had even given a share of their plunder to the
kagan,
a fact that suggests they were acting as Avar surrogates. Moreover, they told the
kagan
that if he wanted more loot, he should actually provide Avar troops for the next attack. 6 From late 617 or early 618, specifically Avar forces (rather than their surrogates) swept into Roman territory and came within a few miles of Constantinople. The
kagan
’s plan seems to have been to first plunder and then extract protection money. In 623 the Avars broke a temporary truce and made an unexpected attack on Heraclius.
“The emperor was panic-stricken by this unforeseen event and fled back to the city,” Theophanes wrote. “The Barbarian captured all the emperor’s equipment and anything else he could seize, and then withdrew.” The towns of Thrace were all plundered.
By 626 Avar pressure for protection money was increasing, and they were threatening Constantinople itself. Another surprise attack brought them to the walls of the capital.
“His forces reached the Golden Gate, taking everything they could find outside the walls and in the suburbs, men and animals, as plunder,” wrote the anonymous author of the
Chronicon Paschale.
“They forced their way into the holy Church of Saints Cosmas and Damien in Blachernae, and into the Church of the Holy Archangel the other side of the city in the suburb of Promotus. They not only took the chalices and other church plate but also broke up the altars of the churches. They then removed everything, including their prisoners, across the Danube and there was no resistance.”
M eanwhile in Asia, the Persian War—which had begun following Phocas’ revolution—continued to humble the empire. In 611 the Persians occupied Cappadocia and Antioch, and by 613 they had seized Damascus. The following year the Roman imperial system was dealt a
Meanwhile, other Slav tribes—“an immense horde of Drogubites, Sagudates, Belegezites, Baiounetes and Berzetes”—descended on Greece and even attacked the Greek islands and parts of Anatolia (now Turkey).² It was at this time—roughly 610–620—that Greece underwent fundamental change at the hands of the barbarians. The largely Mediterranean ethnic makeup of Classical and Roman Greece was altered irreversibly as tens of thousands of Slav warriors invaded the area and then settled their families throughout the country.
An analysis of the surviving place names in Greece reveals that virtually every area of the country had substantial Slav communities from this time onward; indeed, several regions must have had majority Slav populations. Place-name research carried out in the 1930s by a German called Vasmer showed that even in this century around two thousand Slav place names survived throughout Greece.³ Seven hundred and thirty of them were found in northern Greece; a further 509 were in central Greece, 429 in the Peloponnese, and 382 in the rest of southern Greece. 4
It was at this period that the Slavs appear to have started making use of seagoing boats for their military operations, raiding the Cyclades and the islands off Thessaly. What’s more, much of this maritime expansion seems to have been carried out through the skilled use of nothing more sophisticated than large dugout canoes. “They had discovered how to make boats dug out from a single tree trunk,” explained the author of
The
Miracles of St. Demetrius.
Modern analysis of place-name evidence confirms that they reached the islands, though to sail to some they must surely have had larger boats, perhaps captured ones. 5
As we have seen, the Slavs poured out from the Avar empire, so their expansion has to be seen as having not simply the Avars’ blessing but also their encouragement and possibly even participation. In 615 the Slavs had even given a share of their plunder to the
kagan,
a fact that suggests they were acting as Avar surrogates. Moreover, they told the
kagan
that if he wanted more loot, he should actually provide Avar troops for the next attack. 6 From late 617 or early 618, specifically Avar forces (rather than their surrogates) swept into Roman territory and came within a few miles of Constantinople. The
kagan
’s plan seems to have been to first plunder and then extract protection money. In 623 the Avars broke a temporary truce and made an unexpected attack on Heraclius.
“The emperor was panic-stricken by this unforeseen event and fled back to the city,” Theophanes wrote. “The Barbarian captured all the emperor’s equipment and anything else he could seize, and then withdrew.” The towns of Thrace were all plundered.
By 626 Avar pressure for protection money was increasing, and they were threatening Constantinople itself. Another surprise attack brought them to the walls of the capital.
“His forces reached the Golden Gate, taking everything they could find outside the walls and in the suburbs, men and animals, as plunder,” wrote the anonymous author of the
Chronicon Paschale.
“They forced their way into the holy Church of Saints Cosmas and Damien in Blachernae, and into the Church of the Holy Archangel the other side of the city in the suburb of Promotus. They not only took the chalices and other church plate but also broke up the altars of the churches. They then removed everything, including their prisoners, across the Danube and there was no resistance.”
M eanwhile in Asia, the Persian War—which had begun following Phocas’ revolution—continued to humble the empire. In 611 the Persians occupied Cappadocia and Antioch, and by 613 they had seized Damascus. The following year the Roman imperial system was dealt a
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