Battle of Thessalonica (996)
- Battle of Thessalonica (996)
Infobox Military Conflict
caption=
conflict=Battle of Thessalonica
partof=the Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars
date=996
place=near Thessalonica, Greece
result=Bulgarian victory
combatant1=Bulgarian Empire
combatant2=Byzantine Empire
commander1=Samuil of Bulgaria
commander2=Gregory Taronites† Ashot Taronites
strength1=Unknown
strength2=Unknown
casualties1=Light
casualties2=Heavy
The Battle of Thessalonica (Bulgarian: Битката при Солун) occurred in 996, near the city of Thessalonica, Greece.
Origins of the conflict
After the great victory in the Battle of Trayanovi Vrata, and the subsequent civil war in the Byzantine Empire, Samuil was free to attack the Byzantine strongholds all over the Balkan peninsula. After having secured his rule over most of the northern Balkans, in 996 he led a campaign against Thessalonica, Byzantium's second largest city.
The battle
Samuil was a skillful military commander and organised a brilliant ambush. He ordered his soldiers to dig ditches, pitfalls and other traps outside the town and left most of his army there. Next, Samuil assaulted the fortress with a small, detached force. The Byzantine governor, "dux" Gregory Taronites, sent part of his forces under his son, Ashot, to drive them away. Samuil then staged a deceptive retreat, drawing the Byzantines into the trap he had prepared. Surrounded and cut off, the Byzantine detachment was devastated. When Gregory learned about his son's peril, he and his troops attempted to rescue him, but they were also defeated and the governor killed, while his son was captured.
Aftermath
Despite this victory, Samuil did not attempt to besiege Thessalonica, and instead ventured south, into the "thema" of Hellas for a plundering expedition. He captured Larissa and reached Corinth, after which he learned about the approach of a Byzantine army under Nikephoros Ouranos and returned north. The two armies met at the Spercheios river, where Samuil was defeated. The long Byzantine-Bulgarian conflict, however, would go on until the final defeat of Bulgaria in 1018.
References
*Йордан Андреев, Милчо Лалков, Българските ханове и царе, Велико Търново, 1996.
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