Emperor Basil II defeats Tsar Samouil - 14th century miniature.
One of the greatest tragedies in Bulgarian history occurred in 1014. The Byzantine Emperor Basil the Macedonian (for then Macedonia was the name of the region we call Thrace today) organized a new march. Samouil, who was too elderly to fight himself, sent his army against the Byzantines. The Bulgarians built a fortified camp in a narrow valley between two mountain slopes along the Stroumeshnitsa River, a hundred kilometers or so to the north of Salonika. The Byzantine army had no choice but to try a frontal attack. Or at least that was what the Bulgarian commanders thought, not so their enemy. Bribed guides led numerous companies along goat tracks and the surprised Bulgarians were attacked both front and back. The defeat was absolute, and 14,000 men were taken prisoners. Quite familiar with the significance of psychological warfare, Basil II decided on a step with few analogues in world history. All 14,000 prisoners of war were blinded upon his order, one in each hundred being left with one eye to lead the rest. Several days later, an indescribable column of thousands of blind men in their prime reached Samouil’s capital. The heart of the ruler could not stand the sight. He suffered a heart attack and died several days later. The Byzantine was called some time after Basil Bulgaroctonos (Slayer of Bulgarians) a name with which he has remained in the annals of history.
Continue reading The Decline of the First Bulgarian Kingdom part II

After Thrace became a Roman province, the Triballi retained enough strength to cause trouble to the Roman governors of Macedonia. Many rebelions against the Roman empire broke out in Thrace. According to Florus [Florus II, XXVII], after one of these rebellions had been crushed, the Thracians showed their mad rage even in captivity, for they punished their own savagery by trying to bite through their fetters.

It is most likely here that the history of Thracians and Dachians diverges most. Some of the Thracians were Latinized by the Roman empire, they were called Vlachs. But the Dachians were much more thoroughly Latinized by Rome. It is possible the deals Rome made with some Thracian kings to conquer other Thracian tribes, the wide degree of independence Thrace preserved for a long time within the empire, and the constant Thracian rebellions against Rome, are all reasons why, unlike the Dachians, most of the Thracians were not Latinized. In fact the term ‘Vlach’ still has somewhat of a negative meaning in Bulgaria today. It is possible Thracians who were Latinized were marginalized by the rest. The Romanians, {Romania means ‘land of the Romans’.} on the other hand, are proud of their Latin heritage today. Romanian is the closest to Latin, in a grammatical sense, of all the Romance languages.
Continue reading Thrace under the reign of Roman Empire