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Balkans

geopolitical and cultural region of Southeast Europe

67 dated entries naming Balkans, drawn from 67 separate years between 231 BCE and 1354 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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3rd century BC

  • 231 BCEAgron, king of the Ardiaean Kingdom (Western Balkans)source

1st century BC

  • 55 BCESpring – Julius Caesar starts the season campaigning in Illyricum (in the Balkan region) against the Pirustae, who have been raiding Roman territory.source
  • 29 BCEMarcus Licinius Crassus campaigns successfully in the Balkans, killing the king of the Bastarnae by his own hand, but is denied the right to dedicate the spolia opima by Octavian.source

2nd century

  • 167The Germans devastate the Balkans and ransack the sanctuary of Eleusis, near Athens.source
  • 170The Costoboci cross the Danube (Dacia) and ravage Thrace in the Balkan Peninsula. They reach Eleusina, near Athens, and destroy the temple of the Eleusinian Mysteries.source
  • 171The Costoboci cross the Danube (Dacia) and ravage Thrace in the Balkan Peninsula. They reach Eleusis, near Athens, and destroy the temple of the Eleusinian Mysteries.source
  • 193April 14 – Lucius Septimius Severus is proclaimed Emperor by his troops at Carnuntum, in Pannonia Superior (Balkans). He marches with his army to Rome.source

3rd century

  • 220The Goths invade Asia Minor and the Balkans.source
  • 238Emperor Maximinus Thrax campaigns against the Carpians on the Danube in Moesia (Balkans). In spite of the payment of a tribute, the Romans fail to persuade the Goths and the Germanic tribes.source
  • 265Gallienus repels the invasion of the Goths in the Balkans.source
  • 267First Gothic invasion: The Goths, originally from Scandinavia, with the Sarmatians (from modern Iran), invade the Balkans and Greece. They ravage Moesia and Thrace.source

4th century

  • 316October 8 – Battle of Cibalae: Constantine the Great defeats his rival Licinius near the town of Colonia Aurelia Cibalae (modern-day Vinkovci, Croatia). Licinius is forced to flee to Sirmium and loses all of the Balkans except for Thrace. Peace negotiations are initiated between the two Augusti, but they are unsuccessful.source
  • 379January 19 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium, giving him the title Augustus with power over all the eastern provinces. Theodosius comes to terms with the Visigoths and settles them in the Balkans as military allies (foederati).source
  • 380The Visigothic chieftain Fritigern dies after ravaging the Balkans; his rival Athanaric becomes king of the entire Gothic nation.source
  • 396Revolt of Alaric I: The Visigoths, led by Alaric I, rampage through Greece and plunder Corinth, Argos and Sparta. They destroy the Temple of Eleusis, and harry the Peloponnese. Stilicho makes peace with the Goths, and allows them to settle in Epirus (Balkans).source

5th century

  • 421Rugila, chieftain of the Huns, attacks the dioceses of Dacia and Thrace (Balkans). Theodosius II allows Pannonian Ostrogoths to settle in Thrace, to defend the Danube frontier.source
  • 444Attila the Hun establishes his residence along the Tisza River (modern Hungary), and plans the coming campaign in the Balkans.source
  • 447The Huns, led by Attila, cross the Danube, and invade the Balkans as far as Thermopylae (Greece). During the invasion, Serdica (modern Sofia) is destroyed. For disobeying the terms of the treaty made in 442, Attila triples his demand for tribute to 2,100 pounds (ca. 700 kg) of gold per year; and the ransom for each Roman prisoner to 12 solidi.source
  • 466Emperor Leo I repels the Hun invasion of Dacia (modern Romania). They ravage the Balkans but are unable to take Constantinople thanks to the city walls, which are rebuilt and reinforced.source
  • 471Theodoric the Great, age 17, succeeds his father Theodemir as king of the Ostrogoths, settling his people in lower Moesia (Balkans).source
  • 473The Ostrogoths leave Pannonia, and migrate to Macedonia and Moesia, from whence they ravage the Balkans.source
  • 474Glycerius is exiled to Dalmatia (Balkans) and becomes bishop of Salona. Neither the Senate nor the Gallo-Roman aristocracy decide to resist, and Nepos accepts the imperial purple.source
  • 476Julius Nepos, de jure ruler, becomes legally the last "Western Roman Emperor". He governs Dalmatia (Balkans), Morocco, and Northwest Gaul until his death in 480, but has no effective power on the Italian Peninsula.source
  • 483The Ostrogoths are given status as foederati; they control a large part of Macedonia and Thrace (Balkans).source

6th century

  • 535The Byzantine city of Justiniana Prima is founded, and later becomes a bishop's seat of the Central Balkans.source
  • 558The Avars and the Slavs occupy the Hungarian Plain on the Balkans. The threat of Avar domination prompts the Lombards to migrate to Italy.source
  • 559Winter – The Kutrigurs and Huns under Zabergan cross the frozen Danube River, and invade the Balkans. They raid Thracia and Macedonia, but are driven back near Constantinople by a Byzantine force under Belisarius.source
  • 565November 15 – Justin II succeeds his uncle Justinian I as emperor of the Byzantine Empire. He begins his reign by refusing subsidies to the Avars, who conduct several large-scale raids through the Balkan Peninsula.source
  • 580The Slavs begin to migrate into the Balkan Peninsula. The Avars, under King (khagan) Bayan I, invade the Lower Danube (modern Bulgaria).source
  • 582Siege of Sirmium: The Avars, under their ruler (khagan) Bayan I, aided by Slavic auxiliary troops, capture the city of Sirmium after almost a 3-year siege. Bayan establishes a new base of operations within the Byzantine Empire, from which he plunders the Balkan Peninsula, including Athens.source
  • 583Emperor Maurice decides to end the annual tribute to the Avars, a mounted people who have swept across Russia and threatened the Balkan Peninsula. They capture the cities of Singidunum (modern Belgrade) and Viminacium (Moesia).source
  • 591Summer – Maurice begins a series of military expeditions, to defend the Balkan provinces from the Avars and Slavs. He establishes the Danube frontier (Limes Moesiae) from the Delta to the fortress city of Singidunum (Belgrade), and permits the Byzantines to reassert their authority in the interior.source
  • 592Emperor Maurice regains the Byzantine stronghold Singidunum (modern Belgrade) from the Avars. By counter-invading their homelands on the Balkans, Byzantine troops increase their pay by pillaging in hostile territory.source
  • 596Emperor Maurice uses the city of Marcianopolis (modern Bulgaria) as a military base of operations on the lower Danube River, against the Slavs on the Balkans.source
  • 598The Avars rout the Byzantine forces of Comentiolus (south of Haemus Mons), and capture Drizipera (Thrace). A large part of their troops are killed by the plague, after many cities are devastated in the Balkan Peninsula.source
  • 599Emperor Maurice refuses to pay ransom for 12,000 Byzantine soldiers taken prisoner by the Avars. Their leader Bayan I orders the execution of the prisoners, and slaughters them all. His failure to buy back the captives destroys Maurice's popularity with the Byzantine troops in the Balkan Peninsula.source

7th century

  • 604The Avars regroup after they are almost destroyed; together with the Slavs they start pillaging through the Byzantine provinces, west and south of the Danube. Due to the new Persian war, Emperor Phocas has few imperial troops available to defend the Balkan Peninsula.source
  • 605Emperor Phocas recognizes Agilulf as king of the Lombards, and signs a peace treaty. He pays a tribute and cedes Orvieto (Central Italy), among other towns. The Byzantine army is withdrawn from the Balkan Peninsula.source
  • 615The Balkans are freely overrun by the Slavs, who settle in large numbers in what is now Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia and parts of Greece. The western territories of modern-day Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Croatia and Dalmatia) suffer raids from the Avars, who settle in this region.source
  • 620The Slavs invade the area around Thessaloniki, which is unsuccessfully besieged. The city becomes a Byzantine enclave surrounded by Slavic territory. Urban life disappears and many towns in the Balkan Peninsula become villages.source
  • 621Emperor Heraclius concludes a peace agreement (in exchange for an annual tribute) with the Avars on the Balkan Peninsula, giving him a free hand to assemble Byzantine forces in Asia Minor, for non-military expenditure against the Persian Empire.source
  • 622Battle of Issus: Heraclius defeats the Persian forces under Shahrbaraz in Cappadocia. He recaptures Anatolia, but returns to Constantinople to deal with the threat posed to his Balkan domains by the Avars, and puts the Byzantine army into winter quarters in Pontus.source
  • 626August 7 – In the waters of the Golden Horn, the Persian fleet is destroyed while ferrying reinforcements. The Avars, having suffered terrible losses, running short of food and supplies, burn their siege engines. They abandon the siege and retreat to the Balkan Peninsula. The Byzantines achieve a decisive victory at Blachernae, under the protection of the Church of the Virgin Mary.source
  • 635Emperor Heraclius makes an alliance with Kubrat, ruler (khagan) of Great Bulgaria, to break the power of the Avars on the Balkan Peninsula.source
  • 658Emperor Constans II undertakes an expedition to the Balkan Peninsula, and defeats the Avars in Macedonia. He temporarily reasserts Byzantine rule, and resettles some of them in Anatolia to fight against the Rashidun Caliphate (approximate date).source
  • 681Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Emperor Constantine IV is forced to acknowledge the Bulgar state in Moesia, and to pay protection money to avoid further inroads into Byzantine Thrace. Consequently, Constantine creates the Theme of Thrace of the Byzantine Empire (located in the south-eastern Balkans).source
  • 688Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Emperor Justinian II carries out a Balkan campaign and marches through Thrace, where he restores Byzantine rule. He establishes a theme administration, and migrates many Bulgars and Slavs to the Opsician Theme (Asia Minor).source
  • 700Avar and Slavic tribes conquer Byzantine territories in the Balkans, occupying lands as far south as the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece (approximate date).source

8th century

  • 745Bubonic plague in Asia Minor kills 1/3 of the population, and subsequently sweeps through the Peloponnese (Balkan Peninsula) (approximate date).source

9th century

  • 889The Magyars, an Ugric tribe from the steppe of Central Asia, move west under the leadership of Árpád. They are pushed by their rivals, the Pechenegs, into the Balkan Peninsula, and become entangled in a war between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire. The Magyars head north and settle in Great Moravia.source
  • 896Summer – Battle of Boulgarophygon: Simeon I invades the Theme of Thrace (in the southeastern Balkans). The Byzantines transfer a new army to Europe, to deal with the Bulgarian threat. The armies clash at Boulgarophygon (modern Turkey); the Byzantines are completely destroyed in battle.source

10th century

  • 917August 20 – Battle of Achelous: A Byzantine expeditionary force (62,000 men) under General Leo Phokas (the Elder) is routed by the Bulgarians at the Achelous River near the fortress of Anchialos (modern Pomorie) on the Black Sea coast. Phokas flees to Mesembria (modern Nesebar) and escapes by boarding a ship. Tsar Simeon I (the Great) becomes de facto ruler of the whole Balkan Peninsula, except the well-protected Byzantine capital of Constantinople and the Peloponnese.source
  • 926Battle of the Bosnian Highlands: Bulgarian forces under Duke Alogobotur are ambushed and defeated by a Croatian army of King Tomislav, in the mountainous area of Eastern Bosnia. Tsar Simeon I meets his first defeat against Croatia, but overruns the Western Balkans several times.source
  • 943Spring – Allied with the Rus', a Hungarian army raids Moesia and Thrace. Emperor Romanos I buys peace, and accepts to pay a yearly tribute (protection money) to the Hungarians. His frontiers now 'protected' on the Balkan Peninsula, Romanos sends a Byzantine expeditionary force (80,000 men) led by general John Kourkouas (his commander-in-chief) to invade northern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq).source
  • 967Summer – Sviatoslav I, Grand Prince of Kiev, defeats Bulgar forces in the Balkans at the behest of Emperor Nikephoros II (who pays him 1,500 pounds of gold to invade the Bulgarian Empire).source
  • 970Emperor John I delegates the war in the Balkans to his brother-in-law, the Domestic of the Schools Bardas Skleros, and to the eunuch general Peter Phokas, who begin to gather a Byzantine army in Thrace. At the news of this, a powerful Kievan expeditionary force (30,000 men), along with many Bulgarians and a Pecheneg contingent, is sent south over the Balkan Mountains. After sacking the Bulgarian stronghold of Philippolis (modern-day Plovdiv), they bypass the heavily defended city of Adrianople, and turn towards Constantinople.source

11th century

  • 1043Spring – Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos sends a Byzantine expeditionary force to the Balkans against the rebellious George Maniakes, governor of the Catepanate of Italy. The two armies meet near Thessaloniki in northern Greece. The rebel army – better organized, seasoned and with superior leadership – is initially successful, but Maniakes is killed by an arrow at the moment of his triumph. After this, his army is routed.source
  • 1049Spring – Pecheneg Revolt: Emperor Constantine IX decides to transfer 15,000 Pecheneg warriors from their positions in the Balkans to the eastern front. Upon approaching the Bosporus, the Pechenegs decide to turn back, and march through Bulgaria, until they reach the Byzantine city of Serdia. Later, joined by followers, the Pecheneg tribes raise the banner of revolt in Thrace.source
  • 1072Byzantine–Hungarian War (1071–1072): the Hungarians plunders the Balkans on their route to Niš. The war ends with the emerging internal conflict between Solomon, King of Hungary and his cousin, Duke Géza.source
  • 1077Fall – Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder, governor (doux) of the Theme of Dyrrhachium in the western Balkans, and Nikephoros Botaneiates, a general (strategos) of the Theme of Anatolics (modern Turkey), are proclaimed emperors by their troops. Emperor Michael VII Doukas offers Bryennios the title of caesar (co-emperor) if he submits to his rule, but Bryennios refuses. He sets out from Dyrrhachium, and marches towards Constantinople.source
  • 1081May – A Norman fleet of 150 ships (including 60 horse transports), led by Duke Robert Guiscard, sets off towards the Dalmatian coast. An army of 15,000 men (including about 1,300 Norman knights) sails to the city of Avalona (modern Albania); they are joined by several ships from Ragusa, a republic in the Balkans who are enemies of the Byzantines.source
  • 1096October – Raymond IV ("Saint-Gilles"), count of Toulouse, sets off to join the First Crusade. He travels with his army, accompanied by his wife Elvira and Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy, via Provence through the Balkan route (along the coast of Croatia). He arrives at Dyrrachium to march to Thessaloniki.source

12th century

  • 1118August 15 – Emperor Alexios I Komnenos dies after a 37-year reign, in which he has regained control over western Anatolia (modern Turkey). He stabilizes his frontiers against the wars with the Normans in the western Balkans, and the Seljuk Turks in the East. Alexios is succeeded by his 30-year-old son, John II Komnenos (the Good), as ruler of the Byzantine Empire.source
  • 1121Emperor John II Komnenos recovers southwestern Anatolia (modern Turkey) from the Seljuk Turks and then hastens to the Balkans, where the Pechenegs are continuing their incursions. He transfers Byzantine troops to the Danube frontier at Paristrion.source
  • 1122Battle of Beroia: Emperor John II Komnenos transfers the Byzantine field army from Asia Minor (where it has been engaged against the Seljuk Turks) to the Balkans. The Pechenegs who have set up their camp (defended by a circular formation of wagons) near Beroia (modern Bulgaria) are defeated. John orders the Varangian Guard (some 480 men), the elite Palace Guard to hack their way through the Pecheneg circle of wagons, causing a general rout in their camp. Pecheneg survivors are taken captive and enlisted into the Byzantine army.source
  • 1167July 8 – Battle of Sirmium: Byzantine forces (15,000 men) under General Andronikos Kontostephanos defeat the Hungarians at Sirmium. Emperor Manuel I (Komnenos) consolidates his control over the western Balkans.source

14th century

  • 1354March - Within a month after the devastating earthquake the Ottomans besieged and captured the town of Gallipoli, making it the first Ottoman stronghold in Europe and the staging area for Ottoman expansion across the Balkans.source

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