Migration of the Slavs to Russia. Ancient Slavs in the era of the great migration of peoples

The question of the ancestral home of the Slavs remains debatable. In the first millennium, the Slavs came into contact with other ethnic groups moving along the East European (Russian) plain during the period of the great migration of peoples. Between the first and ninth centuries, the Sarmatians, Goths, nomadic Huns, Alans, Avars, Bulgars and Hungarians crossed the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region, heading west. Despite the fact that some of them could conquer the local Slavs, these peoples left few traces in the Slavic lands. In the Early Middle Ages, Slavic farmers, beekeepers, hunters, fishermen and shepherds spread widely across the East European Plain and by the 8th century began to dominate in this region. In the VIII and IX centuries. the southern branch of the eastern Slavic tribes paid tribute to the Khazars, later came under the influence of the Varangians.

In the V-VII centuries. the Slavs spread widely in Europe; their numerous tribes were geographically divided into southern, western and eastern, which were waiting for different historical destinies. Eastern Slavs flooded Eastern Europe in two streams. One group of tribes settled in the Dnieper basin on the territory of modern Ukraine. Then it spread north to the upper reaches of the Volga, east of modern Moscow, and west to the valleys of the northern Dniester and the Southern Bug through the territories of modern Moldavia and southern Ukraine.

Another group of Eastern Slavs migrated from Pomerania to the northeast, where they encountered the Varangians. Here they founded an important regional center Velikiy Novgorod. The same group of Slavs subsequently inhabited the territories of the modern Tver region and Beloozero, reaching the habitat of the Merya people near Rostov.

By the 12th century, the territory Kievan Rus from a conglomeration of Slavic and non-Slavic tribes, in different time subordinate to the Rurik dynasty, has become a relatively homogeneous space ethnically. Further migrations of the Old Russian people that had developed in this era were still directed mainly to the northeast, where the rare Finno-Ugric population could not offer significant resistance to this process. By the end of the pre-Mongolian period, Novgorodians and residents of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality mastered Zavolochye, the Slavic population of which quickly arrived after the southern Russian principalities were under attack from the Mongol-Tatars. By the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, the Russian cities of Nizhny Novgorod, Khlynov, Cherdyn and Solikamsk settled on the Volga, Vyatka and in the Kama basin.

The reasons for the expansion of the Slavs in Europe are discussed by researchers within the framework of hypotheses. Among the versions most often voiced are a population explosion caused by climate warming or the emergence of new farming techniques, as well as the Great Migration of Peoples, which devastated central Europe in the first centuries of our era during the invasions of the Germans, Sarmatians, Huns, Avars, Bulgars, paving the way for the settlement of new aliens.

In Eastern Europe, the Slavs encountered mainly the Balts and the Finno-Ugric peoples, whom they partially assimilated. The Balts, unlike the Finno-Ugric peoples, were at that time close to the Slavs both in language and in culture and way of life. Some researchers believe that in this era there was still a continuous Balto-Slavic continuum, that is, these peoples have not yet completely separated. At the same time, during the period of expansion of the Krivichi in the Smolensk Dnieper region, the Tushemly culture that previously existed in this region, on whose ethnicity archaeologists were divided in their views, was replaced by a purely Slavic archaeological culture, and the Tushemly settlements were destroyed, since the Slavs during this period in the cities haven't lived yet.

In general, during the era of Slavic expansion, in the 7th-8th centuries, many settlements appeared in Eastern Europe, which were not yet inhabited by the Slavs. The same Tushemla culture created a type of settlement-shelters, which did not have a permanent population and served only as a shelter, a citadel, to protect against attacks. The cities of the Finno-Ugric tribes Merya and all, Rostov and Beloozero, served them as political centers, the place of residence of the leaders and the gathering of the militia. Staraya Ladoga appeared, apparently, as a fortified stronghold of the Scandinavians and from the very beginning was a fortress. Staraya Ladoga, Novgorod and Beloozero were the main strongholds for Rurik and his squad during the period of the calling of the Varangians.

The Great Migration destroyed the ancient world, building the Middle Ages on its ruins. Despite many versions, it is still not clear what became the main reason for the movement of the barbarians, where the Huns came from, and who the Proto-Slavs were.

Reasons for the movement is ready

The great migration of peoples, contrary to popular belief, did not begin with the invasion of the Huns, but with the movement of the Goths, who migrated from the territory of Central Sweden, which was then called "Gothia" to the Black Sea coast in the II-III century AD. In the process of migration, more and more new tribes joined them: Gepids, Borans, Taifals, Heruls, Vandals, Skirs. They left only destruction in their path, and were the first to capture and ravage Rome under the leadership of King Alaric.

The Roman-German wars for the first time cast doubt on the continued existence of the empire. Having firmly established themselves in the Middle Danube Plain, which from now on became the center of the barbarian world, they regularly set out on new military campaigns against their powerful neighbor. One of the most successful conquests was the strategically important province of Dacia, between the rivers Danube, Tisza, Prut and Carpathians, which later became one of the main springboards for German invasions of the Empire.
But what was the very reason that gave rise to this bloody migration, which lasted, de facto, half a millennium: from the 2nd to the 7th centuries AD.

In fact, among historians there is still no consensus on this matter, therefore it is customary to single out a combination of factors.

First, according to the Gothic historian Jordanes, in the second century the Goths living in Scandinavia faced the problem of overpopulation. According to legend, the Gothic king Filimer decided to move to another area with his families: “When a great many people grew up there, and only the fifth king Filimir ruled after Berig, he decided that the army was ready to move from there with their families. In search of the most convenient areas and suitable places for settlement, he came to the lands of Scythia, which in their language were called Oyum.

Obviously, overpopulation alone could not raise such a powerful horde of barbarians, consisting not only of the Goths, but of many other tribes. According to the researchers, an important role was played by the general cooling or the “climatic pessimum of the early Middle Ages”, which was gaining momentum just at that time. The temperature dropped and the climate remained excessively humid. Worse than that, glaciers increased - there were fewer forests, less game. The people were threatened with starvation, and infant mortality increased.

Changing weather conditions are quite often the root cause of important historical events. And the climatic pessimum of the early Middle Ages accompanied the entire history of the great migration, reaching its peak in 535-536.

And, of course, do not forget about the human factor. On the eve of the great migration, significant changes took place in the economic life of the Germans and Slavs. As a result, the stratification of society intensified. From the middle class stood out the top, not involved in productive labor. They were a tribal elite who needed prey to maintain their status, a role that the Roman Empire was ideally suited for.

Where did the Huns come from?

In the autumn of 376, the peoples who settled in the territories from the Middle Danube Plain to the Black Sea coast began to move. In the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, disturbing rumors spread about some wild and cruel barbarians who eat raw meat and destroy everything in their path. Soon, messengers from their yesterday's enemies, the Ostrogoths and Visigoths, came to the Romans with a request to settle in the territory of the empire.
The main reason for this concern was the Hun hordes that broke into Europe. Who they were and where they came from at that time no one knew. One of the Roman historians, Ammian Marcellinus, believed that they came from the Meotian swamp, that is, from the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov. Modern researchers associate them with the Xiongnu people, who inhabited the steppes north of China, from 220 BC to the 2nd century AD. These were the first tribes who created a vast nomadic empire in Central Asia. Subsequently, some of them reached Europe, mixing along the way with the Turkic, Eastern Sarmatian and Ugric tribes, which formed a new Hun ethnic group.

Their invasion is considered one of the main factors that marked the beginning of the great migration, more precisely, its second wave. On a long journey, which led to such catastrophic consequences, they were obviously driven by the impoverishment of pastures, which is a constant problem for nomads and the reason for their permanent movement. This was also the reason for their constant conflicts with China, as a result of which the Great Wall of China was built. However, in the 1st century BC, China took advantage of the weakening of the Hunnic state due to civil strife, and inflicted a crushing defeat on them, which summed up the centuries-old conflicts.

The Xiongnu state collapsed, and its disparate parts scattered across Asia and Europe. Some of the most desperate, or, according to Gumilyov, passionaries, moved to the West, where they passed through Kazakhstan in the 50s of the 2nd century AD and reached the banks of the Volga. After 360, perhaps again due to a general cooling, they crossed the Volga and continued their journey to the West, where they defeated the Alans and Ostrogoths. This is how Ammian Marcellinus described it: “The Huns, having passed through the lands of the Alans, which border on the Greitungs and are usually called Tanaits, made a terrible extermination and devastation among them, and made an alliance with the survivors and annexed them to themselves. With their assistance, they boldly broke through with a surprise attack into the vast and fertile lands of Ermanaric, the king of the Ostrogoths. They were followed by the Goths, who, under the pressure of the nomads, were divided into Visigoths and Ostrogoths. The Huns firmly settled in the territories of the Northern Black Sea region, coming close to the Roman borders.

How the Slavs were formed

To date, there is not a single generally accepted version of the origin of the Slavic ethnos. But we know that the Slavic ethnic space, which later became the foundation for the formation of the Old Russian state, was formed due to the great migration.

We know practically nothing about the Proto-Slavs: who they were, what kind of life they led, and where they actually lived. Ancient sources are silent about this period in the history of our ancestors. This may indicate that before the arrival of the Huns and resettlement, their territories were located far from the borders of the Roman Empire and were not included in the circle of interests of its politicians. True, sometimes we still come across rare mentions of the tribes of the Wends, which Herodotus recalled, as well as in later sources, about the Antes (already in the later sources of the 6th-7th centuries) and the Slavs (the common name used by Byzantine authors to describe Slavs), who are considered to be the ancestors of the Slavic tribes.

According to some versions, all possible progenitors of the Slavs were originally a "combustible mixture" of Scythian nomadic tribes and local peoples (including Greek). Their common Slavic language, as well as the archaeological community, begins to take shape no earlier than the 5th century, most likely in the territories of the Empire of Attila. It is in it, on the basis of borrowings from various cultures, that the common Slavic language is formed, later known as Old Bulgarian or Old Slavonic (Bulgarians are known as the closest relatives of the Huns). That is, being part of the empire of Attila, the Proto-Slavs experienced a huge influence of both nomadic Asian and sedentary European cultures.

Subsequently, the new ethnos completed the last stage of the Great Migration of Nations (VI-VII centuries), settling in Eastern, South-Eastern and Central Europe.

At the end of the 4th century, the development of provincial Roman cultures - Przeworsk and Chernyakhov, identified as ancient Slavic - was interrupted by the invasion of nomadic Huns, whose ethnicity is defined as mestizo Turkic-Mongolian. The regions of the Northern Black Sea region and the lands north of the Carpathians, inhabited by the ancient Slavs, were devastated. The most active segments of the population were forced to leave the inhabited lands. In particular, the Germanic tribes left the places of cohabitation with the Slavs. Significant masses of the Slavic agricultural population also left the previously densely populated territories. The situation of that time was aggravated by the significant deterioration of the climate in the lands adjacent to the Baltic Sea. The first centuries of our era, on the contrary, were very favorable for life and agriculture. Archaeologists recorded here in the 3rd-4th centuries an increase in the number of settlements, a significant increase in population and the rapid development of agricultural technology. From the end of the 4th century, a rather sharp cooling set in in Europe. The 5th century was especially cold, when the lowest temperatures in the last 2000 years were observed. Soil moisture has sharply increased, the level of rivers and lakes has noticeably increased, groundwater has risen, swamp spaces have expanded in breadth. Many settlements of Roman times were flooded or flooded, and arable land was unsuitable for agriculture. The great Slavic migration began.

Part of the ancient Slavs of the Northern Black Sea region, known under the tribal name "Antes", was involved in the Hun invasion of Europe, moving to new lands to the north and northwest of their former habitats.

At the very beginning of the Middle Ages, archaeologists discover Slavs both in their former territories of residence, but in smaller numbers, and far beyond them - in the north-west of the Russian Plain, on the Middle Volga, on the southern coast of the Baltic, on the Danube and the Balkans. Widespread Slavic migration led to further cultural and dialectal differentiation. At the end of the 6th century, the Slavs of the Prague-Korchak culture also mastered the right-bank lands of the Middle Dnieper, and the other part of them, bypassing the Carpathians, advanced into the interfluve of the Danube and the Dniester. At the end of the 4th-5th centuries, the Middle Wistle, densely populated in the Przeworsk time, was almost completely deserted. Due to the high humidity, the inhabitants of these lands were forced to move to the northeast along an elevated ridge left from the last glaciation, stretching up to Valdai. In the new place, the Slavs came into contact with the aboriginal Finno-Ugric population and together with them created new cultures. In the basin of lakes Pskov and Ilmen, on the territory that previously belonged to the Baltic-Finnish population, the culture of Pskov long mounds is being formed.

The dialect of the Slavs of the Pskov-Ilmensky region is being restored on the basis of relics of Pskov dialects and birch bark letters from excavations in Novgorod and is called Old Novgorod. Academician A.A. Zaliznyak showed that it was one of the dialects of the Proto-Slavic language.

Having settled in the forest region, the Slavs were forced to engage in slash-and-burn agriculture. Only in some places the traditions of arable farming have been preserved, in particular in the Udomelsky lake district. Starting from the 8th century, when warming sets in, which led to a decrease in moisture, this population becomes more active and populates the most fertile areas of the Ilmensky region. The culture of the hills is being formed, identified with the annalistic Slovenes of Ilmen or Novgorod.

In the Polotsk Dvina and Smolensk Dnieper regions, in the conditions of mixing of newcomer Slavs with local Balts, the Tushemly culture (5th-7th centuries) is being formed. In the 8th century, in connection with the activation of the Slovenes of Novgorod, a part of the population of the Pskov long kurgan culture settled in this territory. As a result, the culture of the Smolensk-Polotsk long mounds is formed, which is identified with the annalistic Krivichi.

As a result of the same migration wave that emanated from the Vistula region, the Slavs in the middle of the 1st millennium also developed the interfluve of the Volga and Klyazma. The appearance in these lands of large masses of a new population is evidenced both by a new type of settlement and a new form of economic activity, incompatible with the previous ones. In the period of formation Old Russian state the Slavs of the Volga-Klyazma interfluve were called merey - an ethnonym inherited from a local Finnish tribe, which, for the most part, dissolved among the newcomers. When the chronicler wrote that “the feathers of a resident ... in Rostov Merya,” he meant the Slavs who settled the lands of Mary, and not Finnish-speaking natives, as was thought before the start of systemic excavations in Rostov. The Slavs, who settled during the period of the great migration of peoples in the forest belt of the East European Plain, formed the basis of the future northern Great Russians.

During the invasion of the Huns, a large group of Slavs from the Dniester-Dnieper region moved to the empty fertile lands of the Middle Volga region, where the Imenkovskaya culture developed. The fate of these farmers was twofold. At the turn of the 7th and 8th centuries, under the onslaught of the Turkic-speaking nomadic Bulgars who appeared here, significant masses of them were forced to leave the Volga lands and move to the forest-steppe between the Dnieper and Don rivers, where they created the Volyntsev culture. The carriers of the Imenkovo ​​culture who remained in the Middle Volga region submitted to the Bulgars and made up the agricultural part of the population of the Volga Bulgaria. Back in the 10th century, its ruler Almush Ibn-Fadlan called the “king of the Sakelib” (that is, the Slavs), and he called the Volga the Slavic river.

The tribes of the Volyntsevo and the Roman, Borshev and Oka cultures that developed from it settled a vast territory - forest-steppe and partly forest lands on the left bank of the Dnieper, the upper reaches of the Oka and the Voronezh Don region. The Slavs of this tribal group, as can be judged from the "Bavarian Geographer" of the 9th century, were called Rus and were the direct neighbors of Khazaria. The Russians at that time were quite well known in Bavaria, and they were not Scandinavians.

The formation of nationalities proceeded differently in different places of the Slavic area. The largest early medieval Slavic peoples, Polish and Old Russian, developed under the conditions of integration of various tribal formations of the Proto-Slavs.

The Old Russian nationality included several Slavic tribal formations of different dialects and the assimilated local population of the East European Plain. One of the phenomena that actively contributed to the integration of the Eastern Slavs was the migration of the Slavs from the Danube region. It refers to the time when the East European Plain was already mastered by the Slavs. It began in the 7th-8th centuries, and the largest influx of Danube settlers took place in the 8th-9th centuries and continued at the beginning of the 10th century. The penetration of the Slavs from the Danubian lands was a multi-stage process, the resettlements were carried out by more or less large groups and affected all the Eastern Slavic lands. The ebb of the Slavs from the Danube to Eastern Europe was reflected in Russian folklore and rituals, as well as in the annals.

The chronicles and monuments of hagiography of the 11th-12th centuries testify that at first the military service and church estates called themselves Rus, but very soon broad sections of the population of the entire Old Russian state began to consider themselves Rus, Russian people. The question of the origin of the ethnonym "Rus" remains debatable. On the one hand, in the Dnieper-Don region there was a Slavic tribe Rus, and this name in Ancient Russia could spread to the entire territory of Eastern Slavs. This is what the “Tale of Bygone Years” seems to be talking about: in 882, Oleg, organizing a campaign from Novgorod to the Dnieper region, takes into his army “many Varangians, chyud, Slovenes, I measure, all, Krivichi” (there were no Rus in the squad ). And only after Oleg established himself in Kiev, "the Varangians and Slovenes and others were nicknamed Rus." On the other hand, the same chronicle reports that in 862, "Rus, Chyud, Slovenes and Krivichi and Vesi" decided to invite princes from across the sea and turned "to the Varangians, to Russia." "And from those Varangians the Russian land was nicknamed." There has never been a Rus tribe in Scandinavia, Western Finns call the Swedes that way. Hence the hypothesis widespread in the literature that the Varangians were originally called Rus, then representatives of the retinue class, regardless of ethnic group, and at the next stage this term was transferred to all the inhabitants of Ancient Russia.

The reason that caused the simultaneous movement of a huge multi-tribal mass of people was a sharp cold snap, which adversely affected the economic conditions of many peoples, prompting them to look for a new habitat in lower latitudes.Moving along the strip, which was the Goths, to the south of it, archaeologists find historical monuments related to the Slavs.Having set off almost simultaneously with the Goths, the Slavs settled a huge territory from the shores of the Baltic to the Dnieper, to the Aegean and Mediterranean seas, and occupied the Balkans.The main reason for the migrations was also foreign policy factors: the pressure of some barbarian tribes (most often nomadic) on others and the weakening of the Roman Empire, which was no longer able to withstand the onslaught of its strengthened neighbors.The invasion of the Huns into the territory of Europe led to the destruction of the entire former ethno-political situation in the barbarian world, led to mass displacements.The Slavs also became participants in the Great Migration of Nations, and it was then that they first appeared in documents under their own names.

The Markoman wars (166-180) became a peculiar prerequisite for this process.In the century preceding the Marcomannic Wars, the Slavs were too distant from the borders of the Roman Empire.Only some of them could participate in the Marcomannic wars, and later, in the 3rd century, in sea and land campaigns against the Roman Empire.During the Marcomannic Wars, part of the Vistula-Oder Slavs, having joined the German movements, advanced to the region of the Middle Danube.Thus, on the eve of the Migration, the main mass of Slavic tribes occupied the territory from the shores of the Baltic Sea to the northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains, primarily -. swimming poolVistula.By III - IV centuries.the territory of settlement of the Slavs increased significantly.

At the end of the II century.migratory waves are ready swept through the lands of the Wends.The Wends lived in stripes with the Goths, participating in the military coalitions of the tribes.Before the arrival of the Huns, there were no serious military conflicts between these tribes.The tense and hostile relations were not in the nature of ethnic persecution.Mutual influence and exchange of tradition went on constantly, prevailing in peaceful periods, hostility on an ethnic basis was alien to the barbarian world.As a result of migrations, the once united community of the Wends was divided into two parts - the Sklavens and the Antes.

The resettlement of the Slavs in the VI century.n.e.

With the advent of the Huns in the Northern Black Sea region, a conflict broke out between the Goths and the Ants.Moving southeast, the Goths entered the "limits of the Antes".The Antes had to submit to the fact that the Goths controlled the main trade routes by which the Antes were connected with other tribes.The war dragged on for several years.The Goths won.Their reprisal against the ants was cruel - the king of the Goths Vinitarius crucified the leader of the ants of God with seventy elders.Traces of this conflict are preserved not only in the Slavic, but also in the Gothic epic: as evidenced by a unique monument ancient Russian literature- "A word about Igor's regiment."

The Slavs in the 4th century joined the general flow of migration processes and the opposition to the Roman Empire.And although at the first stage of the Great Migration of Peoples, the Goths and Slavs were more often allies, but already in the fourth century AD, the Slavs became rivals of the Goths and allies of the Huns, which facilitated the victory of the Huns over the Goths.

At the second stage of the Great Migration of Peoples, the invasion of the Huns forced part of the Slavic population to leave their lands and seek salvation in new places. This invasion was at the end of the 4th century. determined the main directions of Slavic migrations - west and southwest. The expansion of the Slavs spread to the interfluve of the Odra and Laba. The Slavs appeared in Polabye at the turn of the 5th-6th centuries. Another wave of Slavic tribes approached the borders of the Byzantine Empire from the east and northeast, occupying areas on the left bank of the Danube. The resettlement of the tribes in the Empire was preceded by almost a century of their stay in the coastal regions. Periods of peaceful relations alternated with conflicts, raids with robberies and the capture of slaves.

The departure to the west of the Goths and the Sarmatians, and then the collapse of the empire of Attila, allowed the Slavs in the 5th century.to start a wide colonization of the Northern Danube, the lower reaches of the Dniester and the middle reaches of the Dnieper.At the end of the 5th centurythe advance of the Slavs to the south (to the Danube, in the North-Western Black Sea region) and their invasion of the Balkan provinces of Byzantium began.The Antes invaded the Balkan Peninsula through the lower reaches of the Danube, the Slavs attacked the Byzantine provinces from the north and northwest.

The first independent raid on the Balkans recorded in Byzantine sources was made by the Slavs during the reign of Emperor Justin I (518-527).These were the Antes, who "having crossed the Istra River, invaded the land of the Romans with a huge army."But the Antian invasion was unsuccessful, and for some time peace reigned on the Danube border of the empire.

From 527a continuous series of Slavic invasions devastates the Balkan lands and threatens the very capital of the empire -.Constantinople.The idea of ​​Justinian, who sought to restore the unity of the Roman Empire, was the result of the weakening of the northern border. For some time, the empire held back the Slavic pressure. In 531, the talented commander Khilvudius was appointed commander-in-chief in Thrace. He tried to transfer hostilities to the Slavic lands and organize strongholds on the other side of the Danube, placing troops there for winter quarters. However, this decision caused a strong murmur among the soldiers, who complained about unbearable hardships and cold. After the death of Hilwoodius, the Byzantine troops returned to a purely defensive strategy. In 550/551, the transition from raids to the settlement of the occupied territories began.

Danube among the Slavs -.the boundary of the world of the living and the dead, a semi-fairytale line beyond which either death or execution awaits a persondesires. According to the remarkable domestic philologists inIvanova, I v.Toporov - "this is a certain main boundary, beyond which lies a land abundant in wealth, but fraught with dangers, the border of a fertile land and the longed-for goal of all aspirations".

Ivanov S.V."The death of a migrant on the way" (1889, Tretyakov Gallery)

The Sklavins and Antes managed to penetrate into Thrace and Illyricum almost every year.. Many areas were plundered more than five times.According to Procopius, each Slavic invasion cost the empire 200,000 inhabitants - .killed and taken prisoner. At that timeThe population of the Balkans reached its lowest point, dropping from two million to one million.

Sklavins by this time lived in the area of ​​​​Lake Balaton.The territory of their settlement extended to the Dniester.The left bank of the Lower Danube and its southeastern regions were inhabited by Ants.The relationship between the Slavs and the Antes changed from peaceful to openly hostile.The strife between the Antes and the Slavs opened up the opportunity for the Empire to reverse relations with the barbarians.

Ambassadors were sent to the Ants, who suggested that the barbarians settle as allies (“Ensponds”) in the city of Turris in order to secure this part of the Danube border.. (The relations of "Ensponds" with the empire go beyond the purely military sphere, have a long-term permanent character, the status of "Ensponds" is characterized by their political independence, the empire had to pay "Ensponds" money). According to Procopius, “... the emperor Justinian promised to give them gifts and help them in settling, as far as he could, and also to pay them a lot of money, so that they, being henceforth his allies, would always be an obstacle to the Huns who wanted to raid the power of the Romans."Byzantium preferred to bribe barbarians rather than fight them.In all likelihood, the negotiations ended successfully.Enticed by the imperial gifts, the Antes recognized the supremacy of Byzantium, and Justinian included the epithet "Antsky" in his imperial title.In 547a small detachment of Antes took part in military operations in Italy against the troops of the Ostrogothic king Totila.Their skills in warfare in wooded and mountainous areas served the Romans well.Having occupied a narrow passage in one of the difficult places of hilly Lucania, the Antes repeated the feat of the Spartans at Thermopylae.“With their inherent valor (despite the fact that the inconvenience of the terrain also succumbed to them), as Procopius of Caesarea narrates, the Antes ... overturned the enemies;and there was a great massacre of them.Perhaps the alliance with the Antes was also directed against the Slavs.

The Sclaveni did not join the Byzantine-Ante agreement and continued devastating raids on the lands of the empire.In 547-548 years.barbarians attacked Illyricum and Dalmatia, took Dyrrachium on the Adriatic coast, in 549again invaded Thrace, plundering, killing and capturing the inhabitants.Encouraged by success, the Slavs during the next raids already remained in the Balkans for the winter "as if in their own country, not being afraid of any danger," Procopius writes indignantly.Even the grandiose defensive system of 600 fortresses built by order of Justinian I along the Danube did not help stop their invasions.The Slavs spread over the Thracian and Illyrian regions.At the siege of Topir, they resorted to military stratagem.Having lured the garrison out of the city with a feigned retreat, the Slavs surrounded and destroyed it, after which they rushed to the attack with their whole mass.The inhabitants tried to defend themselves, but were driven off the wall by a cloud of arrows, and the Slavs, putting ladders against the wall, broke into the city.The population of Topir was partly slaughtered, partly enslaved.

An even greater danger hung over the empire in 558 or 559, when the Slavs, in alliance with the Bulgar Khan Zabergan, approached Constantinople itself.Discovered in long wall openings formed after the recent earthquake, they penetrated this defensive line and appeared in the immediate vicinity of the capital.The city had only a foot guard, and in order to repel the attack, Justinian had to requisition all the city's horses for the needs of the army and send his courtiers to guard the gates and on the walls.Expensive church utensils, just in case, were transported to the other side of the Bosphorus.Then the guards, under the leadership of the aged Belisarius, launched a sortie.To hide the small number of his detachment, Belisarius ordered the felled trees to be dragged behind the battle lines, which caused thick dust to rise, which the wind carried towards the besiegers.The trick worked.Believing that a large Roman army was moving towards them, the Slavs and Bulgars lifted the siege and retreated from Constantinople without a fight.

But the Byzantine fleet cut off the way home to the other side of the Danube for the Slavs and Bulgars.This forced the Khan and the Slavic leaders to negotiate.But at the same time, Justinian set another Bulgar tribe against the Zabergan horde -.Utigurs, allies of Byzantium.

The movements of the Slavs were intertwined with invasions of the Balkans and the centralEurope of nomadic Turkic tribes. Afterthe collapse of the Hunnic state in the southern regions of Eastern Europe, numerous tribes remained nomadic:Akatzirs, Savirs, Utigurs, Hunugurs, Saragurs, Ugrian, Avars, Onogurs, Kutrigurs, Bulgars, Khazars.Soon, most of them begin to perform under the single name of the Bulgarians.

Yet the successes of the Byzantines in the Balkans were temporary.In the second half of the VI century.the balance of power in the Danube and the Northern Black Sea region, based on the Byzantine-Antian alliance and setting the nomads who were once part of the Hun empire against each other, was disturbed by the arrival of new conquerors.Already in 463An embassy of the Bulgarian-Saragurs arrived in Constantinople.It reported an attack on them by new nomads, the Avars.This time it was Avars.

It is believed that the Avars - pthe remnants of the Asian Khagan of the Zhuan-Zhuan defeated by the Turks.The Avars in the VI century repeated the path of the Huns from Asia to Europe.The movement of the Avars through the Eastern European steppes was accompanied by fierce clashes with the Slavs.Militant Avars constantly raided Byzantium and Western Europe, their hordes reached the shores of the North Sea. The Tale of Bygone Years tells that the Avars (“obry”) enslaved part of the Slavs and subjected them to cruel oppression.Having passed the Eurasian steppe corridor from the Urals, Lower Volga and being in Ciscaucasia, the Avars sent in 558embassy to Justinian in Constantinople.They became allies ("symmachi") of Byzantium.(Ethnic units called symmachi (summacoi or symmachoi -. "allies"), militias put up by barbarian tribes for money through diplomatic relations with the head of the tribe) . Relations with the new barbarians developed according to the standard patternFirst, an agreement was reached under which the Avars took upon themselves the obligation, subject to the receipt of an annual tribute from Byzantium, to protect the Danube borders from the invasion of other barbarians.But then the Empire refused to pay tribute to them.More than half a century of disagreements, conflicts and wars began.In 562Avars approached the Lower Danube.They turned to Byzantium with a request to allocate them lands on the Byzantine border and in the Danube region.The Avars demanded from Byzantium permanent places of settlement within certain boundaries and with a settled population.Having been refused, the Avars occupied the lands inhabited by the Slavs.

The conquered Slavic population of the Middle Danube became the basis of the power of the Avar Khaganate.Since the last decades of the VI century.in the space from the Vienna Woods and Dalmatia in the west to Potissia in the east, the Avar culture arises.Its creators were not only the Avars, but also larger tribes that were subordinate to them or were included in the conglomerate as allies.The most numerous part of the population of the Avar Khaganate were Slavs.More numerous was the influx of the Slavic population into these lands under the conditions of powerful Avar migration.The Avars tried to subdue the Slavs from the Lower Danube, but the Lower Danubian Slavs and Antes managed to maintain their independence.

Slavic warriors as an auxiliary force participated in numerous wars of the Khaganate against Byzantium and the Franks.An important role of the Slavs in the Khaganate was shipbuilding.Experienced Italian shipbuilders founded the Slavic maritime industry in Dalmatia, the center of which was Dubrovnik.Slavic one-tree ships (monoxyls) were used by the kagan when forcing rivers, during the siege of Constantinople in 626, etc.operations.

Slavs and Avars devastated the Balkans.In 576 and 577this coalition of tribes attacks Thrace. In 578, a 100,000-strong army of Slavs, having crossed the Danube, devastated Thrace and Greece.

Byzantium and the Slavs in the first half of the VI century.- the beginning of the 7th century.

Relations between Byzantium, the Sclavins and the Khaganate were notable for their inconsistency.When the kagan sent an embassy to Prince Davrit demanding to obey,Davrit and his elders answered: “Was that person born in the world and warmed by the rays of the sun who would subdue our strength to himself.Not others our land, but we are accustomed to possessing someone else's.And we are sure of this as long as there is war and swords in the world.”When Davrit went on a campaign against Byzantium, the kagan opposed him.However, already in 580, the kagan, together with the Slavs, attacked the Byzantine city of Sirmium and took it in 582.

The empire provoked an attack by the Avars on the Slavs, but this did not save it from new invasions. In 581, the Slavs make a successful campaign in the Byzantine lands, after which they settle within the Empire. They "...began to rule the earth and live on it, ruling as on their own...".

From 578-581began the development of the Slavs and Greece. In 584, the Slavs besiege Thessaloniki for the first time.The settlement of this vast territory of South-Eastern Europe was the result of a wide infiltration of the Slavic agricultural population, as well as numerous Avaro-Slavic military raids on Byzantine lands, when large masses of Slavs settled in the conquered areas.Military invasions created conditions for the subsequent resettlement of farmers.In 585-586.followed by a new Avaro-Slavic invasion and a second siege of Thessalonica.The barbarians who appeared from behind the Danube from the left bank of the Sava tried to take Thessalonica for seven days.Having failed, they began to plunder Macedonia and Greece.Part of the Slavs, after the invasion, stopped in these lands of Byzantium.V587-588 WithLavians penetrate into Thessaly, Epirus, Attica, Peloponnese.“In the third year after the death of Emperor Justin, -.testified in the VIauthor " church history"John of Ephesus," the damned people of the Slavs moved, which passed through all of Hellas ... He took many cities, fortresses;he burned, plundered and conquered the country, sat down in it imperiously and without fear, as in his own, and for four years, while the emperor was busy with the Persian war and sent his troops to the East, the whole country was given to the mercy of the Slavs.They devastate, burn and plunder... They have become rich, have gold and silver, herds of horses and many weapons.They learned to wage war better than the Romans ... "

In 593, having invaded the Sremskaya region and laid siege to Singidun, the Avars once again violated the peace with the Empire.At the same time, the Slavs attacked the regions of Moesia and Thrace.Emperor Mauritius decided to continue fighting the barbarians on their territory.Twice (594, 595) Byzantine troops crossed to the left bank of the Danube, invading the possessions of the Slavs and Avars, devastating their lands.Punitive expeditions of the Byzantines did not bring the expected results.The Slavs continued their onslaught to the south.In 597they besieged Thessalonica, in 599They attacked Thrace.In 602Byzantine troops, relying on the support of the Avars, defeat some part of the Antes on their own land.It was not possible to consolidate the victory of the Empire, as a soldier's rebellion soon broke out, affecting the Danube garrisons as well.

The Danube ceased to be the border separating more than one hundred years of barbarians from the Roman, and then the Byzantine world.The Slavs were able to freely populate the Balkan Peninsula.A succession of invasions into the Balkans by land and sea follows.In 616An attempt was made to take Thessalonica.... Having with them on land their families with their property.They intended to settle them in the city after the capture."

The beginning of the resettlement of the Serbo-Croatian tribes to the Balkans and the unsuccessful campaign of the Avars against Constantinople in 626 led to the weakening of the Khaganate and the withdrawal of part of the Slavs from under his authority.In 630-640, the Slavs of Macedonia refused to recognize the power of the kagan, at the same time, perhaps, the Croats also achieved independence.

In 581many Slavs crossed the Danube.They swiftly passed through Thrace, Macedonia and all of Hellas, devastated and burned many cities and fortresses, and took prisoners.This time they did not go beyond the Danube, but settled in empty lands.Devastated by three hundred years of invasions and completely depopulated Thrace became their new homeland, the settlements of the Slavs reached almost to the very capital.From the end of the VI century.and in the 7th century there was a mass settlement by the Slavs of Macedonia, Thrace, Moesia, Greece, Peloponnese. During these, as well as all previous invasions, the Slavic tribes "leaked" into the Empire in small groups, mastered the lands of the Balkan Peninsula.

. The main crossing of the Danube by Slavic migrants was carried out in its middle course, near Vidin.After crossing the river, the Slavic settlers, as a rule, moved in two directions.Some mastered the lands of Macedonia, Thessaly, Albania, Greece,.Peloponnese and CreteOther - .. reached the northern coast of the Aegean Sea and headed towardsSea of ​​MarmaraIt is assumed that the crossing was made both in the lower reaches and in the middle, somewhere in the area of ​​the Iron Gates.

"Gate of the Danube" - Dzherdap Gorge.The narrowest point is called the Iron Gate.Here the Romanian Carpathians and the Serbian Balkans come closest to each other

The migration of the Slavs to the Balkans led to the emergence at the end of VI -.Early 7th century Slavic settlements near the Danube border of the Byzantine Empire.In Macedonia, near Thessalonica (Thessaloniki), a number of Slavic groups lived from the end of the 6th century.During the 7th century, they tried several times to take possession of Thessalonica, this is described in the Miracles of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica.Then they were baptized and became subjects of the Byzantine Empire, with certain rights of autonomy.And these sub-territories, which were inhabited by these Slavic groups, the Byzantines called the term "Slovinia".These tribal associations of the Slavs arose on a territorial basis and some of them existed for several centuries.The areas entirely inhabited by the Slavs in Northern Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, received the name "Slovinia".

On the territory of the former Roman province of Moesia in the 7th century, a large association of Slavs “the union of seven Slavic tribes” arose with centers in Ruse, Dorostol and Rossava, which was not yet a state entity, but only a military union.But within its framework, the formation of power institutions accelerated.In. second half of the 7th centurythe nomadic horde of Proto-Bulgarians invaded the lands of the "Seven Clans" -.people of Turkic origin. The head of the nomads, Khan Asparukh (from the Dulo clan) managed to lead the military actions of the tribal association Against Byzantium and then stand at the head of a new intertribal unionByzantium, weakened at that time, recognized the independent position of the unification of tribes. Thus, the First Bulgarian state was formed in 681, which included many lands inhabited by Slavs, who subsequently assimilated the newcomers and played a major role in the ethnogenesis of the Bulgarians.

The Slavs who invaded Byzantium were at the stage of formation of their communal administration.The need for a military struggle against the empire stimulated its formation.The need to join forces in the fight against a common enemy led to the creation of the vast state of Samo in Central Europe.This association, headed by the franc Samo in the 20-30s of the 7th century, took shape on the Middle Danube.

It owes its name to a military leader, and in the past to a Frankish merchant with that name.The former merchant turned out to be not only a strong military leader, but also a capable ruler.For thirty-five years, he held power in the state created under his leadership, and, having pushed back the Avars, he later successfully repelled the invasion of the Slavic lands of his ex-compatriots, the Franks.The Slavs, led by Samo, fought with the Franks, several times invading the regions of the Frankish "kingdom".This tribal association dealt a strong blow to the Avar Khaganate, after long wars, the Avars ("obry") were defeated by the Franks and disappeared from the pages of history.In The Tale of Bygone Years, the following description of the Avars is preserved: “These obrys were great in body and proud in mind, and God destroyed them, they all died, and not a single obry remained.And there is a saying in Russia to this day: "They perished like obry", - they have neither a tribe nor offspring.

Freed from the power of the Avars, the Balkan Slavs simultaneously lost their military support, which halted the Slavic advance to the south.

In 657/658 Emperor Constant II made a campaign against the Slavs and resettled some of those captured in Asia Minor.The numerous Slavic colony was placed by the imperial authorities in Asia Minor, in Bithynia, in the position of conscripts.However, at every opportunity, the Slavs violated the oath of allegiance. In 669 5,000 Slavs fled from the Roman army to the Arab commander Abd ar-Rahman ibn Khalid and, after the joint devastation of the Byzantine lands, left with the Arabs for Syria, where they settled on the Oronte River, north of Antioch. By 685 most of the Balkan Slavs were under the rule of Byzantium.Under Emperor Justinian II, who occupied the throne twice (in 685-695 and 705-711), the Byzantine authorities organized the resettlement of several more Slavic tribes to Opsikia, a province of the empire in the north-west of Asia Minor, which included Bithynia, where there was already a Slavic the colony.The Bithynian colony of the Slavs lasted until the 10th century.

In the second half of the first millennium, the Slavs occupied the Upper Dnieper and its northern periphery, which previously belonged to the Eastern Balts and Finno-Ugric tribes. A small group of Slavs settled on the coast of the Gulf of Riga, where their remnants under the name "Vendi" were recorded at the beginning of the 12th century by Henry of Latvia.

By the beginning of the 7th century, in the northern and middle strip of the Balkan Peninsula, the Slavs had become the dominant force that changed the ethnic map of the Balkans. Slavs became the predominant population everywhere. The remnants of the peoples that were part of the Byzantine Empire, in essence, survived only in remote mountainous areas. By the 9th century The split of the Slavic unity led to the creation of new, previously non-existent peoples. As a result of the mixing of the Slavs with the Illyrians, Serbs and Croats appeared, and in Thrace, the mixing with the newcomers nomads marked the beginning of the Bulgarian ethnic group. The territory of the Eastern Roman Empire, from the Danube to the Aegean Sea, was occupied by the Slavs, who subsequently founded their states here: Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia.

With the extermination of the Latin-speaking population of Illyricum, the last connecting element between Rome and Constantinople disappeared: the Slavic invasion erected an insurmountable barrier of paganism between them. Latin, which was until the VIII century. the official language of the Byzantine Empire, has now been replaced by Greek and has been forgotten. The “pagan rampart” erected by the Slavs in the Balkans deepened the gap between the European East and West and, moreover, at the very time when political and religious factors were increasingly separating the Church of Constantinople and the Roman Church. This barrier was partly removed in the second half of the 9th century, when the Balkan and Pannonian Slavs adopted Christianity.

The settlement of the Balkans by the Slavs was the result of the third stage of the Migration of Peoples. They settled in Thrace, Macedonia, a significant part of Greece, occupied Dalmatia and Istria - up to the coast of the Adriatic Sea, penetrated into the valleys of the Alpine mountains and into the regions of modern Austria. The colonization of the Balkan Peninsula was not the result of resettlement, but the resettlement of the Slavs, who kept all their old lands in Central and Eastern Europe. Slavic colonization was of a combined nature: along with organized military campaigns, there was a peaceful settlement of new territories by agricultural communities looking for new arable land.

Slavic colonization of the Balkans became one of the most important migration vectors of the era of the Great Migration of Nations. The active phase of colonization took place in the 6th-8th centuries. Information about the first appearance of the Slavs in the Balkans in the 5th century is recorded in the writings of Byzantine historians: Procopius of Caesarea and John of Ephesus. By the 7th century, the Slavic tribes were firmly entrenched in the Balkan Peninsula and began to gradually move towards the Peloponnese and the Aegean Islands. Later, some groups of Slavs also penetrated into Anatolia. In the 7th-8th centuries, the Slavs created several state formations and eventually became a significant force on the Balkan Peninsula.

One of the first authors to mention the migration of Slavic tribes to the Balkans was the Byzantine Prisk, who wrote The History. In it, he testified to the fact of the penetration of the Slavs into the Balkan Peninsula. A more complete picture of this process is given by the History of the War with the Goths by Procopius of Caesarea. It describes the territories occupied by the Slavs, the campaigns of the Slavs, their social system, life and religion in the 6th century. A valuable addition to this information is the "Strategikon" by the Byzantine commander and emperor Mauritius. The Slavs are also described by the work of Agathius of Mirinea "On the reign of Justinian". Theophylact Simokatta tells in detail about the settlement of the Slavs within the Byzantine Empire in his History. Valuable sources about the events after the resettlement and the development of statehood among the Slavic tribes were the writings of the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus "On the Fems" and "On the Peoples" ("On the Management of the Empire").

Separate information about the Slavs during their settlement of the Balkans is also present in The Church History of John of Ephesus, Theophanes the Confessor's Chronography, Paul the Deacon's History of the Lombards, Fredegar's Chronicle, etc. At the same time, written sources about the Slavs mainly tell about external events Slavic history- about the course of wars, tactics of warfare, military structure, about the relations of the Slavs with other peoples, and so on.

The social system of the Slavs during the period of settlement of the Balkans was similar to the system of the Germans from the time of Tacitus. Slavs settled in forests, or near rivers, lakes or swamps. They preferred to build a dwelling in hard-to-reach places. The settlements of the Slavs consisted of several huts and outbuildings located at some distance from each other, since the level of development of the economy and tools required significant areas for each family. The family itself consisted of the head, several adult sons and their families. Several families occupying a certain territory formed a community. Several neighboring communities made up a tribe. Each tribe occupied a special district called zhupy. There were councils of elders and people's assemblies.

The basis of the economy of the Slavs was agriculture. However, depending on natural conditions, preference was given to various types management. Agriculture was either slash-and-burn or associated with uprooting the forest. In settlements located near water bodies, a significant role was assigned to fishing. Hunting and beekeeping were common in the forested areas. Cattle breeding has also become widespread in the Balkans. Byzantine authors noted the high level of development of agriculture among the Slavs. The land was cultivated by bulls harnessed to plows with iron tips. Plow was widely used. Bread was harvested with sickles, grain was stored in special pits.

At the beginning of our era, the Slavs occupied a huge territory in Central and Eastern Europe north of the Carpathian Mountains and between the Vistula basin and the middle Dnieper. At different times they were in contact with the Celts, Goths, Thracian, Sarmatian and other numerous tribes, partially absorbing them, partially dissolving in their environment. The first reliable evidence of written sources about the Slavs dates back to the 1st-2nd centuries. In them, the Slavs appear under the name of the Wends, who are referred to as a large people who lived on the Vistula near the Baltic Sea, beyond the Carpathians. However, until the 6th century, information about the Slavs is scarce and fragmentary, since the Romans and Greeks did not come into direct contact with them. Only at the beginning of the 6th century, when the Slavs began to attack the Byzantine possessions, did more detailed and detailed reports about them appear in the testimonies of historians. At this time, the Slavs were known to contemporaries under the common names of Sclaveni and Antes. The Sklavins occupied the territory west of the Dniester. The Antes, located mainly to the east of it, partially penetrated into the areas of settlement of the Slavs. By the 6th century, Slavic settlements in this area had spread significantly to the south and had already moved to the lower Danube.

The largest movement of the Slavs was their spread from beyond the Carpathians towards the lower Danube, to Pannonia and the surrounding areas, and then beyond the Danube to the Balkan Peninsula. Historian D. A. Machinsky wrote that the migration of the Slavs to the Danube region determined "progressive changes in the life of the Slavs of this time and the eastern and southern Slavs of the subsequent era." This expansion of the Slavs to the south was in close connection with the movements of other peoples. As early as the end of the 4th and in the 5th century, many Slavic tribes were affected by the Hunnic invasion of Europe and the subsequent movement of the Gepids and Goths. According to a number of historians, these events accelerated the process of the movement of the Slavs to the south, which apparently began in the first centuries of our era. In the sources of the middle of the 5th century, Slavic tribes are noted in Pannonia and on the left bank of the Danube. The testimonies of the Byzantine Priscus, who traveled in 448 as an ambassador to the camp of the Hun leader Attila and described the customs of the people who lived in Pannonia, are interpreted by many researchers as referring to the Slavs. The movement of the Slavs was probably uneven in time - weaker at the beginning, wide and massive after the fall of the Hunnic state.

As they moved south, the Slavs came to the possessions of the Eastern Roman Empire, better known as Byzantium, which at that time belonged to the Balkan Peninsula. Initially, the Slavs went on campaigns against the power of the Romans as part of the armies of other nations, but from the first quarter of the 6th century they began to launch independent attacks. At the end of the 20s of the 6th century, a large Antian army crossed the Danube, but was defeated. In the 30s of the VI century, the Byzantine troops on this section of the border of the Empire were led by the commander Khilbudiy, a Slav from the Ants tribe. For three years, he successfully held back the onslaught of the Slavs and undertook retaliatory campaigns across the Danube, devastating their villages. After the death of Khilbudius in 533, the Slavic raids on the right bank resumed again.

The historian S. A. Ivanov noted that for the main part of the population of Byzantium, the appearance of the Slavs on its borders was an unexpected phenomenon. He suggested that the Empire did not want to divert forces to fight the Slavs and preferred to remain silent about the threat emanating from them. They started talking about it openly only when the Slavic detachments began to penetrate deep into the Balkans.

Byzantium was vulnerable during this period. She waged wars with the Vandals in Africa, with the Visigoths in Spain, with the Ostrogoths in Italy, and in Syria and Transcaucasia with the Persians. Protracted wars complicated the internal situation of the country. The increase in taxes caused the impoverishment of large sections of the population, which was accompanied by a series of uprisings. Under these conditions, the invasion of the Slavs into the empire became more and more frequent. In the 30-40s of the VI century, they devastated Thrace more than once, and in 540 for the first time they approached the walls of Constantinople and captured its suburbs. To protect the border along the Danube, Emperor Justinian restored the old fortifications on the banks of the river and built many new ones. However, this could not hold back the onslaught of the Slavs. Justinian tried to put the Slavs in the position of federates (allies), giving them the territory near the Danube for settlement. In exchange for this, the Slavs had to defend the border of the Empire. However, soon after this, in 548, the Slavs made a devastating campaign in Illyria, reaching as far as Epidamnus (modern Durrës) on the Adriatic Sea. A detachment of 3,000 soldiers crossed the Danube and began to plunder everything in its path. Separate detachments of the Byzantine army were defeated. The commander Azbad, who was with a garrison in the Tsurul fortress in Thrace, attacked the Slavs with a cavalry detachment, but was defeated and captured. The Slavs skinned him and then burned him alive. Then they stormed the Thracian city of Toper, where up to 15,000 men were killed, and women and children were taken into slavery. Those of them who could not be taken across the Danube were burned alive.

In their raids, the Slavs, with the help of the Gepids, crossed the Danube within their possessions. At the same time, returning with rich booty from the plundered Byzantine lands, they paid the Gepids a ducat for each person transported to the left bank of the Danube. As a rule, thanks to them, the Slavs kept all the captured booty, having time to cross the Danube before they were overtaken by the Byzantine troops. Serbian historian Vladimir Čorović estimates that the Byzantine troops left in the Balkans numbered 15,000 soldiers in the middle of the 6th century and could not effectively resist the Slavs.

From about the middle of the 6th century, the Slavs began to arrive in the Balkans not only for the sake of robbery, but also for the purpose of resettlement. An increasing number of them settled in different parts of it. In 550, a large detachment of Slavs crossed the Danube. When the troops of the Empire came out to meet him, the Slavs retreated in the direction of Dalmatia. After some time, they received reinforcements and moved towards Thrace. At Adrianople, they were blocked by the Byzantines, who were then forced to attack due to lack of food. In the battle, the attackers were completely defeated, the Byzantine banner became the Slavic trophy for the first time, and the Slavs for the first time remained to winter in the territory of Byzantium. Until that moment, they had never invaded the lands of Byzantium in winter time. On the contrary, in winter it was the Byzantine troops who were recommended to attack the Slavic settlements. Therefore, with the beginning of settling on the lands of the Empire, the struggle for new possessions was often no longer fought by newcomers from across the Danube, but by residents of the surrounding areas.

In 552, King Totila of the Ostrogoths fell in a battle with the troops of Byzantium. The news of his death shocked the Slavs; for some time they stopped raids across the Danube. Justinian fortified the fortresses on the Danube and strengthened the garrisons stationed there. In the last years of his reign, the country received a kind of respite, but the weaker the emperor himself became, the greater the apathy seized his country. Italy was completely ravaged during the war with the Ostrogoths. North Africa was desolate due to wars and disease, although until recently it was considered the breadbasket of the Empire. The treasury of the state was empty, at the same time taxes were growing. The army was reduced from 645,000 to 150,000, while the remaining troops were poorly maintained, there were interruptions in their supply.

The historian Valentin Sedov wrote that in addition to military campaigns within the limits of the Empire, the Slavs settled the Balkans peacefully. Mostly they were farmers. During the VI century, they penetrated in small groups into the western and central parts of the Balkans, where they settled in the mountainous terrain. Sedov noted that these groups of farmers penetrated those parts of the peninsula where there were no hostilities and where they could feel safe.

At this time, part of the Slavs (in the region of the Danube and Pannonia) was subordinate to the Avars. The Slavs accompanied them in raids, in major battles they ensured the mass character of the army of the Avar Khaganate. The Slavs knew how to fight on the water and attacked the Byzantine cities from the sea, and on land the maneuverable Avar cavalry was the main striking force. After the victories, the Avars returned with booty to the Pannonian steppes, and the Slavs settled in the conquered territory.

The settlement of Slavic tribes in the 7th century is highlighted in orange. The nominal border of the Eastern Roman Empire is marked in purple

After 590, Byzantium made a short-term peace with Persia and its troops began to retake the Balkan provinces. They managed to recapture Sirmium and Singidunum from the Avars, as well as transfer fighting on the other side of the Danube. Thus the pressure on the borders of the Empire was relieved. However, in 602, the Byzantine troops, who were forced to spend the winter in enemy territory, revolted. They deposed Emperor Mauritius and supported the newly proclaimed Emperor Phoca. To ensure his power, Byzantine detachments from the border moved to Constantinople, the defense of the border was significantly weakened. The Slavs took advantage of this. They began a massive migration across the loosely guarded border and overran the Balkans within a few years. In 614 they took Salona, ​​around 617 they besieged Thessaloniki, around 625 they attacked the Aegean Islands. Gradually, a number of cities on the Adriatic coast were captured by the Slavs. Only Yader (Zadar), Trogir and some others survived.

On July 31, 626, the Slavs, led by the Avars, laid siege to Constantinople. They were also joined by the Gepids, the Proto-Bulgarians and those Slavs who did not submit to the Avars and marched thanks to the promises of large booty. The Slavs were to attack Constantinople from the sea, while the Avars and the rest were to attack the walls. On the other side of the Bosphorus stood another enemy of Byzantium - the Persians. The Byzantines had a strong navy that prevented the Avars and their allies from making contact with the Persians. Using cunning, the Roman fleet lured the Slavic ships into an ambush, where they suffered heavy losses. The surviving Slavs were killed by the Avars. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the water in the strait turned red from the blood of the Slavs. The Golden Horn Bay was full of corpses and empty ships. After that, the Slavs left the camp of the besiegers, and on August 8, the Avars also left the walls of the city.

Valentin Sedov noted that if before the 7th century the Byzantines meant the territories north of the Danube under the Slavic lands, then in the 7th century the lands in the center of the Balkans were already considered such. Macedonia and the surrounding areas were covered with Slavic settlements. Only the southeastern regions of the peninsula remained under Byzantine control. However, by the end of the 7th century, its troops managed to recapture part of the previously lost possessions. A similar point of view was expressed by the Czech Slavist Lubor Niederle.

The Slavs could not completely and evenly populate the Balkans. Presumably, they moved along the ancient Roman roads and settled in those places that were already developed and suitable for life. In the territories that came under the rule of the Slavs, there were enclaves of the autochthonous population of the peninsula. Their number and exact location is unknown. The Serbian historian Sima Chirkovich believed that the autochthonous population of the Balkans at that time lived in the mountains and hard-to-reach places that were not occupied by the Slavs. Most of the indigenous people were in Northern Albania, Macedonia, Thessaly and the Dinaric highlands.

Historian D. A. Machinsky noted that the settlement of Thrace and Macedonia by the Slavs made them less attractive to the Slavs who remained on the left bank of the Danube. The system of military campaigns across the Danube in order to capture wealth and prisoners was violated, which, together with the activation of Byzantium and various civil strife, led to the fact that the Danube ceased to be the center of gravity of the Slavic tribes. Separate groups of Slavs from the Danube, Carpathian and more remote areas began to move towards the Vistula and Dnieper regions.

As they moved deeper into the Balkans, the Slavs came into contact with the local population. First of all, they met with the Romans, subjects of the Byzantine emperors. They then came into contact with the Romanized populations of the coastal cities. In the mountains, the Slavs clashed with the Vlachs and the ancestors of modern Albanians. Historians do not have accurate data on the early contacts of the Slavs and the indigenous population. Folk traditions composed later speak of enmity between the Christian population of the Balkans and the pagan Slavs. Borrowing toponyms and agricultural terminology. For example, the Slavs borrowed the names of large rivers from autochthonous languages, and their tributaries already received Slavic names. The names of a significant number of mountains and cities are also of Romanesque origin. In the agrarian terminology of the Albanians and Vlachs, there are terms of Slavic origin, and in the terminology of the agriculture of the Slavs there are borrowings from the autochthonous population of the peninsula.

By the beginning of the second quarter of the 7th century, the migration of the Slavs to the Balkans was basically completed. Later, only a few minor movements took place.

Some time after the resettlement to the Balkans, the Serbs formed several large communities, which then became state entities. Between the rivers Cetina and Neretva was the Neretvlan principality, which the Byzantines called Pagania. She also owned the islands of Brac, Hvar and Mljet. The area between the Neretva and Dubrovnik was called Zachumle. The lands from Dubrovnik to the Bay of Kotor were occupied by Travuniya and Konavle. To the south, to the Bojana River, stretched Dukla, which later became known as Zeta. Between the rivers Sava, Vrbas and Ibar was Raska, and between the rivers Drina and Bosna was Bosnia.

In the "Frankish Annals" in the information about the events of the beginning of the 9th century, the Serbs appear as a special nationality that occupied a significant part of Dalmatia. Presumably, by this time, the Serbs had already assimilated the autochthonous population in the occupied territories.

As in other parts of the Balkan Peninsula, in the Serbian lands, the spread of Christianity among the Slavic tribes began shortly after their resettlement. The initiator of Christianization in these lands was Byzantium, which hoped in this way to expand its political influence on the Slavs. Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus reports that the baptism of the Serbs began under the emperor Heraclius (610-641), who sent priests from Rome to the Serbs. According to a number of historians, Byzantine attempts to spread Christianity in the Serbian lands had somewhat better results than in Croatia. Christianity initially spread slowly, broad sections of the population hardly accepted it and often returned to paganism again. However, part of the Slavic population retained its adherence to Christianity, especially in the coastal areas bordering the Byzantine possessions. The new religion was finally established in the Serbian lands only in the second half of the 9th century under Emperor Basil I, when the princely family was baptized in Raska. Presumably, this happened between 867 and 874. At the same time, individual representatives of the Serbian nobility could have been baptized earlier, while in some areas (especially in Pagania) and among the peasantry, paganism dominated even in the 10th century.

The appearance of the Croats on the Balkan Peninsula was described in sufficient detail by the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus. He paid special attention to them, since they captured a large part of Dalmatia, which was the largest of the western provinces of Byzantium. In Dalmatia there were ancient cities, including numerous ports, the loss of which the Byzantine rulers did not want to put up with. In the description of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the resettlement of the Croats is shown as the next wave of Slavic colonization. In modern historiography, it is believed that the Croats came to the Balkan Peninsula in the first half of the 7th century, during the time of Emperor Heraclius, which is confirmed by archaeological data.

The next stage of Croatian history is closely connected with the development of expansion by the Franks. In 812, Charlemagne and the Byzantine emperor Michael I Rangave concluded an agreement according to which the Frankish Empire received the right to Croatian lands. Her reign lasted until the end of the 870s. After that, Croatia acquired the status of an independent principality, and its rulers began to have the right to collect tribute from cities on the coast of Dalmatia, which were still part of Byzantium.

During the uprising of Ludevit of Posava in Slavonia in 818-822. Prince of Maritime Croatia Borna died. With the consent of Emperor Charles, Borna's nephew Ladislaus became the successor. This marked the beginning of the rule of a hereditary dynasty, which received the conditional name of the Trpimirovich dynasty, on behalf of one of the heirs of the Frankish vassal. The second half of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century became the heyday of the Trpimirovich state.

In the 6th century, the Slavs settled over a wider area in the east of the Alps. The first wave of migration of the Slavs, dated around 550, took place from the side of present-day Moravia. Another wave of migration occurred in 568 after the Lombards left the territory of modern Slovenia for Italy. Avars and Slavs began to move to the liberated territories. The territory where the Slavs moved was also inhabited by the remnants of the Wallachians, who still partially preserved Christianity. The colonization of the Eastern Alps by the Slavs is confirmed by the collapse of the dioceses in the region of the Eastern Alps in the second half of the 6th century, the change in population and material culture, but mainly the establishment of a new Slavic speech. Even during the settlement in the new territory, the Karantan and Pannonian Slavs fell under the rule of the Avars. They not only paid tribute to the Avars, but sometimes had to go with them on campaigns against Byzantium. The dependence of the Slavic tribes in Pannonia was especially strong. Charlemagne conquered Bavaria and Carantania and destroyed the Avar Khaganate. Already at the beginning of the 9th century, Great Carantania became part of the Eastern March of the Carolingians.

On the territory of modern Bulgaria, the Slavs created several clavinias, the most powerful of which was called " Seven Clans". Presumably, it was formed on the left bank of the Danube, and when the Slavs who made it moved to Moesia and Dobruja, they retained part of the lands beyond the Danube. Perhaps by the 670s, part of the Slavs of the "Seven Slavic Clans" recognized the sovereignty of Byzantium and were listed as federates of the Empire, obliged to protect the border along the Danube.

The formation of neighboring communities was accompanied by a change in tribal division to territorial. During the resettlement of the Slavs, their tribes mixed up, and tribal ties were broken. This is evidenced by the preservation in different parts of the Balkan Peninsula of toponyms derived from such, for example, the names of tribes as Dulebs and Croats. When the peninsula was settled, the territorial demarcation of the tribes took place. As a result, belonging to a tribe was determined not so much by kinship as by residence in the corresponding territory. Basically, the tribes got their name from the territory they occupied. This is evidenced by the appearance of such tribal names as Timochan, who lived in the Timok River basin.

The most powerful zhupan princes in the 7th-8th centuries managed, relying on their squads, to extend power to several tribes, and thus unite the territory they occupied. These tribal alliances were already significantly stronger political entities than those that temporarily arose among the Slavs during the period of resettlement. The Byzantines called them sclavinii. It is known that initially the Byzantines called so the Slavic territories on the left bank of the Danube.

Some time later, the Byzantines launched a counterattack on the lost lands. Initially, they conquered the lands around the coastal cities, but then they began campaigns deep into the peninsula. Byzantine emperors usually turned the conquered Slavic principalities into military-administrative units - themes. Thema was led by a strategos, appointed directly by the emperor. The Byzantines made especially large conquests during the reign of