Avar–Byzantine Wars
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Avar–Byzantine Wars
The Avar–Byzantine wars were a series of conflicts between the Byzantine Empire and the Avar Khaganate. The conflicts were initiated in 568, after the Avars arrived in Pannonia, and claimed all the former land of the Gepids and Lombards as their own. This led to an unsuccessful attempt to seize the city of Sirmium from Byzantium, which had previously retaken it from the Gepids. Most subsequent conflicts came as a result of raids by the Avars, or their subject Slavs, into the Balkan provinces of the Byzantine Empire. The Avars usually raided the Balkans when the Byzantine Empire was distracted elsewhere, typically in its Byzantine–Sasanian wars, frequent wars with the Sassanid Empire in the East. As a result, they often raided without resistance for long periods of time, before Byzantine troops could be freed from other fronts to be sent on punitive expeditions. This happened during the 580s and 590s, where Byzantium was initially distracted in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of ...
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Manasses Chronicle
Constantine Manasses (; ) was a Byzantine chronicler who flourished in the 12th century during the reign of Manuel I Komnenos (1143–1180). He was the author of a ''Synopsis Chronike'' (Σύνοψις Χρονική, "summary chronicle"), which narrates history from the creation of the world to the end of the reign of Nikephoros III Botaneiates (1081), sponsored by Irene Komnene, the emperor's sister-in-law. It was probably written around 1150, shortly before Irene's death. It consists of about 7000 lines in political verse. It obtained great popularity and appeared in a free prose translation; it was also translated into Bulgarian in the 14th century. This translation, which includes several miniatures, was commissioned by tsar Ivan Alexander between 1340 and 1345. An Arabic translation written in 1313 is now hosted at the British Library.
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Comentiolus
Comentiolus (, ''Komentiolos''; died 602) was a prominent Eastern Roman (Byzantine) general at the close of the 6th century during the reign of Emperor Maurice (). He played a major role in Maurice's Balkan campaigns, and fought also in the East against the Sassanid Persians. Comentiolus was ultimately executed in 602 after the Byzantine army rebelled against Maurice and Emperor Phocas () usurped the throne. Biography Nothing is known of Comentiolus's early life, except that he hailed from Thrace. He first appears in 583, as an officer (''scribon'') in the '' Excubitores'', the imperial bodyguard, when he accompanied a Byzantine embassy to Bayan I (), the khagan of the Avars. According to the historian Theophylact Simocatta, he enraged the khagan with an outspoken statement, and was briefly imprisoned. It is likely that the close trust he shared with Maurice dates from the latter's time as commander of the ''Excubitores'', before his ascension to the throne. Throughout his c ...
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Sirmium
Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous province of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyrians and Celts, it was conquered by the Romans in the 1st century BC and subsequently became the capital of the Roman province of Pannonia Inferior. In 293 AD, Sirmium was proclaimed one of the four capitals of the Roman Empire. It was also the capital of the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum and of Pannonia Secunda. The site is protected as an archaeological Site of Exceptional Importance. The modern region of Syrmia (Srem or Srijem) was named after the city. Sirmium purportedly had 100,000 inhabitants and was one of the largest cities of its time. Colin McEvedy, whose estimates for ancient cities are much lower than the general consensus, put the population at only 7,000, based on the size of the archaeological site. The amount of gra ...
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Lombards
The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and 796) that the Lombards descended from a small tribe called the Winnili,: "From Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/winnaną, winna-'', meaning "to fight, win" who dwelt in northern Germany before migrating to seek new lands. Earlier Roman-era historians wrote of the Lombards in the first century AD as being one of the Suebian peoples, also from what is now northern Germany, near the Elbe river. They migrated south, and by the end of the fifth century, the Lombards had moved into the area roughly coinciding with modern Austria and Slovakia north of the Danube. Here they subdued the Heruls and later fought frequent wars with the Gepids. The Lombard king Audoin defeated the Gepid leader Thuris ...
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Gepids
The Gepids (; ) were an East Germanic tribes, 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 Huns, 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 Roman Dacia, former Roman province o ...
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Pannonia
Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It included the modern regions western Hungary, western Slovakia, eastern Austria, northern Croatia, north-western Serbia, northern Slovenia, and northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Background In the Early Iron Age, Transdanubia was inhabited by the Pannonians or Pannonii, a collection of Illyrians, Illyrian tribes. The Celts invaded in the Late Iron Age and Gallo-Roman culture, Gallo-Roman historian Pompeius Trogus writes that the Celts were met with heavy resistance from the locals and were not able to overrun the southern part of Transdanubia. Some tribes advanced as far as Delphi, with the Scordisci settling in Syrmia (279 BC) upon being forced to withdraw. The arrival of the Celts in Transdanubia disrupted the flow of amber from the Balti ...
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Shahin Vahmanzadegan
Shahen or Shahin (Middle Persian: ''Shāhēn Vahūmanzādagān'', in Greek sources: ; died ) was a senior Sasanian general ('' spahbed'') during the reign of Khosrow II (590–628). He was a member of the House of Spandiyadh. Biography Shahin is first mentioned in 602, after the outbreak of the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, where he commanded the forces invading Byzantine territory in the Transcaucasia, winning a battle against Domentziolus near Theodosiopolis in 607/8. Following the expulsion of Roman forces from that region, in 611 Shahin led an advance into Anatolia, capturing Caesarea. There, Phocas' son-in-law Priscus, started a year-long siege to trap them inside the city. However, Shahin's troops escaped Priscus' blockade and burned Caesarea, much to Heraclius' displeasure. In 613 the Roman offensive pressed on into Syria, but the combined Persian armies under Shahin and Shahrbaraz crushingly defeated Heraclius near Antioch. After this victory the Persians l ...
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Shahrbaraz
Shahrbaraz (also spelled Shahrvaraz or Shahrwaraz; New Persian: ) was shah (king) of the Sasanian Empire from 27 April 630 to 9 June 630. He usurped the throne from Ardashir III, and was killed by Iranian nobles after forty days. Before usurping the Sasanian throne he was a '' spahbed'' (general) under Khosrow II (590–628). He is furthermore noted for his important role during the climactic Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, and the events that followed afterwards. Name ' is actually a title, literally meaning "the Boar of the Empire", attesting to his dexterity in military command and his warlike personality, as the boar was the animal associated with the Zoroastrian Izad Vahram, the epitome of victory. ''Shahrwarāz'' ( Inscriptional Pahlavi: štlwlʾc) is a Middle Persian word, with ''shahr'' meaning "country" and ''warāz'' meaning "boar". This word is rendered as ''Shahrbarāz'' () in New Persian and as ''Sarvaros'' (Greek: ; Latin: ') in Byzantine sources. F ...
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Khosrow II
Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; and ''Khosrau''), commonly known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran, ruling from 590 to 628, with an interruption of one year. Khosrow II was the son of Hormizd IV (reigned 579–590), and the grandson of Khosrow I (reigned 531–579). He was the last king of Iran to have a lengthy reign before the Muslim conquest of Iran, which began five years after his execution. He lost his throne, then recovered it with the help of the Byzantine emperor Maurice, and, a decade later, went on to emulate the feats of the Achaemenids, conquering the rich Roman provinces of the Middle East; much of his reign was spent in wars with the Byzantine Empire and struggling against usurpers such as Bahram Chobin and Vistahm. Khosrow II began a war against the Byzantines in 602, ostensibly to avenge the murder of his ally Maurice. Persian fo ...
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Bayan II
Bayan II was an Avar khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ... between 602 and 617. References 617 deaths 7th-century monarchs in Europe Pannonian Avars Year of birth unknown {{East-Slavic-hist-stub ...
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Bayan I
Bayan I reigned as the first khagan of the Avar Khaganate between 562 and 602. As the Göktürk Empire expanded westwards on the Eurasian Steppe during the 6th century, peoples such as the Avars (also known as the ''Pseudo-Avars'', ''Obri'', ''Abaroi'' and ''Varchonites'') and the Bulgars migrated into Central and the Southeast Europe. Bayan I led the Avars (along with many Proto-Bulgarians) into Pannonia, where they established their khaganate from 568. Dealings with the Franks, Lombards and Gepids By 562, the Avars and Bulgars had reached the Lower Danube: it was most likely in that year that Bayan became their supreme Khagan in the stead of the previous ruler, the Kutrigur khan Zabergan. As allies of the Byzantine Empire of Justinian I (), the Avars had obtained a grant of gold to crush other nomads – the Sabirs, Utigurs, Kutrigurs and Saragurs – in the lands later known as Ukraine, a task they accomplished to the emperor's satisfaction. Bayan's Avars now dema ...
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Theodore (brother Of Heraclius)
Theodore (, ; fl. c. 610 – 636) was the brother (or half-brother) of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (), a ''curopalates'' and leading general in Heraclius' Byzantine-Sassanid War of 602–628, wars against the Persians and against the Muslim conquest of Syria, Muslim conquest of the Levant. Life He was the son of the general and exarch of Africa Heraclius the Elder, and is usually regarded as the brother (although John of Nikiu suggests him to be the half-brother) of Heraclius. Soon after Heraclius' overthrow of the emperor Phocas (r. 602–610), Theodore was appointed to the crucial post of ''curopalates'', controlling the palace administration, which at the time was ranked second in importance only to the imperial office itself.Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), p. 1278 In 612, after the deposition and imprisonment of the ''magister militum per Orientem'' Priscus (magister militum), Priscus, command of his troops was assumed by Theodore and Philippicus (comes excubitorum), ...
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