The Bulgarians found themselves on the Balkans at times that were difficult for Byzantium. Inspired by Islam, Arabs had begun the persistent onslaught from the east that was to continue for three centuries and at times bring the empire to the brink of ruin. The state borders so dear to the heart of contemporary man were practically nonexistent. The garrisons along the border were weak and could not stop invaders. There was a niche in power, which the Bulgarians were quick to fill. They began a series of pillaging attacks to the south. And what was more disconcerting from the point of view of Constantinople, the newcomers began to ally themselves with the Slavs on the time-honoured principle that the enemy of one’s enemy is one’s friend.
Emperor Constantine IV Pogonates decided to follow the example of Alexander the Great and cut through the Gordian knot of increasingly complex problems with one blow. He loaded a large army on ships, sent another by land, and besieged the Bulgarians in their fortified camp. The adversary, however, was experienced in making fortifications. The siege dragged on. There were also numerous Bulgarian parties in the steppe, which attacked the Byzantines from the rear. The supposed military stroll became a costly undertaking. There was considerable danger of defeat. To be a ruler one should have a keen sense of which way the wind blows. And Constantine had sufficient experience as a ruler, so his unexpected bout of gout was not surprising. The emperor boarded his ships and, accompanied by his closest courtiers, allegedly headed for the mineral springs in Messembria. His soldiers, however, were no fools, either. They saw they were being left on the barren beach, with armed Bulgarians in front and other armed Bulgarians behind, so they followed suit and headed for the ships. Panic ran amok. The besieged saw their chance. They went outside the walls and a great slaughter began. The Byzantine army was defeated. Such, at least, was the version of the Byzantine chroniclers who, as most professionals do, tended to chalk up the victories of their armies to their skill, while their defeats were justified by the mere chance of the opponent. Encouraged, the Bulgarians poured into Eastern Thrace. The emperor, whose throne was rocking, was forced to conclude a peace with the invaders and to pay them due. He probably consoled himself with the thought that this was not the first barbarian tribe to have passed in oblivion, to which the eternal empire paid due shortly before it fell victim to the combined pressure of Byzantium’s might and the desire for its riches. This time, however, no such thing happened. Surprisingly, this new state, whose Balkan birth we count in 681, has now been part of Europe for more than thirteen centuries. It is Byzantium and the numerous barbarian states, founded more or less at the same time as Bulgaria, that have long passed into oblivion. They came and went, while Bulgaria remained.
The two capitals of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, Pliska and Preslav, give a good idea of the building abilities the Bulgarians showed, which, in turn, did not correspond to the Byzantine notion of skills possessed by a barbarian nomadic people.The first capital, Pliska, covered an enormous area of nearly 24 sq. km. and was actually a transition from a fortified camp to a fortified city. A moat and an earthen embankment surrounded it. Should any danger arise, it could shelter a large portion of nearby population, complete with their flocks and herds; a conduit provided potable water. The “inner city” was much smaller and protected by stonewalls made of large blocks of stone cemented with mortar. In some places the wall was more than ten metres high, and two and a ‘half metres thick. A battlemented parapet sufficiently wide to accommodate the defenders comfortably topped it and double towers flanked the four gates. The heart of the state beat inside the city. The throne room in the palace covered 1,400 sq. m. The throne room in the second capital, Preslav, was slightly smaller. The so-called Great Basilica in Pliska, built after the conversion to Christianity, was also enormous, spreading over nearly 2,000 sq. m. It was, without a doubt, one of the great Christian churches of its time. Its adornment consisted of solid marble columns. In turn, Preslav had a number of urban comforts for the ruler and his courtiers – pools, central heating of the living quarters, and arched corridors, which joined the buildings in the palace complex. At a time when in Western Europe a capital was the momentary place of residence for the rulers, the Bulgarians had built a solid capital for their sovereign.At the beginning, however, even the most impassioned of gamblers would hardly have bet on the chances of the Bulgarians. Their fate hung by a thread through the first two centuries. Victories and defeats alternated relentlessly. The Byzantium interchanged strategies, opting for military power, diplomacy, and even seeking the aid of distant allies to deal with the nuisance. The Bulgarians had to fortify their defence to the south, and saw the solution in consolidating their relations with the Slavs. Mixed marriages became a frequent occurrence, and the Slav aristocracy began to participate in the administration of the state. It fell to the Bulgarians and the Slavs to defend their country – and consequently all Central and Southern Europe – from the attacks of new hungry tribes, pouring in from the great Eurasian steppes to the east. The founder of the state, Asparuh, fell in one of the battles with the time-honoured enemies, the Hazars. His son, Tervel, sided with Byzantium against the Arab threat from the east and defeated an enormous Arab army besieging Constantinople in 718. This was a case of defending a familiar enemy against an unfamiliar one. For more than two centuries the Arabs didn’t even think of renewing their attacks at such scope. Two decades before their defeat at the Battle of Roncesvalles the Arabs were stopped by the Bulgarians. However, there was neither a folk genius to laud Roland, nor a Corneille to glorify the legend of El Sid. Their deed remained hidden in shadows of history.
Bulgaria gradually rose to power. To the south its borders passed the Balkan range and settled into Thrace. To the northeast they reached far into the Ukrainian steppes. To the northwest there was another semi-barbarian state – in the beginning of the 9th century, that of the Avars. They had the temerity to cross swords with Charlemagne and their fate followed in the steps of that of many of his enemies: the great king annexed their lands right up to the river Danube. His Bulgarian counterpart, Khan Krum, also saw his chance to rid himself of such annoying neighbours, thereby destroying the remnants of their state and annexing the territories east of the Danube. The great European river became the border between Bulgaria and the empire of the Franks. A garrison was stationed in Buda, which closely followed the Frankish border guards across the river. The Frankish border guards had their own fortification in Pest. A millennium later the Buda and Pest would merge to become what today is the capital of Hungary, Budapest.
Similar Topics from Ancient Bulgaria Archive
» The Barbarians Attack the Roman Empire» The Fate of the Bulgarians
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