[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Leo Diaconus, p.126.This John was probably the grandson of Romanus I s general, John Curcuas,John Tzimisces s great-uncle : his father was called Romanus.209troops to spare, they certainly neglected the one satisfactory opportunity of checkingJohn s advance.On Wednesday, April 3, the Emperor arrived before Great Preslav.The city wasdefended by Svyatoslav s third-in-command, Svengel, a Varangian of immensestature and bravery, [1] and by the traitor Calocyras.Svyatoslav himself was atDristra, on the Danube, probably trying to keep open communications with Russia inthe teeth of the Imperial fleet.The Russians at once gave battle, but after a terribleand long-undecided conflict they were severely defeated and fell back behind the citywalls.Next morning, on Holy Thursday, reinforcements reached the Emperor,including his latest machines for shooting fire.Thereupon he gave the order forassault of the city to begin.During the night Calocyras, who had noticed the Imperial insignia among theattacking force, and who knew what his fate would be were he captured andrecognized, slipped out of the city and fled to Svyatoslav s camp at Dristra.Svengel,however, defended the walls as best he could; but the Russians, weakened by theprevious day s battle, could not man the huge enceinte properly against theoutnumbering assailants, and they were no match for the Greek Fire.After a fewhours desperate fighting they retired, as many as could, into the inner city, thefortress-palace of the Tsars.The Emperor s troops burst into the outer city and overran it, slaying what Russiansthey met.Many, too, of the Bulgarian inhabitants perished, guilty or suspected ofhaving helped the heathen barbarians.In the midst of the butchery they came uponTsar Boris and his wife and two children, for over two years the prisoners of the S.Runciman - A history of the First Bulgarian empire - 3.2 Page 21 of 26Russians.1. Sf ???e???. Drinov (op.cit., p.104) identifies him with Nestor s Svienald, a Varangian chiefwho had served under Igor and who was mentioned in the peace of 972, but, according to LeoDiaconus, he was killed before Dristra.210This miserable family was brought before the Emperor.John deigned to receive themgraciously, saluting Boris as Prince [1] of the Bulgars, and saying he was come toavenge the injuries inflicted on Bulgaria by the Russians.But, though he releasedBulgarian prisoners, his actions put a curious interpretation on his words.Meanwhile, his soldiers besieged the Palace, a vast, well-fortified group of buildingsforming, like the Great Palace at Constantinople, a town within the city.The Russiansresisted with some success till the Emperor brought fire to his aid.Flames swept overthe palace buildings, burning the Russian warriors or forcing them out to the open, totheir deaths.Svengel, with a small bodyguard, fled through the Imperial army toDristra.Thus by the evening all Preslav was in the Emperor s hands.Good Friday morning broke on a mass of smouldering ruins and streets choked withcorpses.It was the end of Great Preslav, the city that so few years before had been thelargest and wealthiest of all the cities of Eastern Europe, save only Constantinople.The Emperor John spent the Easter week -end there, restoring order and refreshinghis army, and sending a curt embassy to Svyatoslav at Dristra, to bid him either laydown his arms and beg for pardon, or meet the Imperial armies and be slain.A fewdays later he set out in full force for Dristra.Before he left, he rebuilt the fortificationsof Preslav and re-christened it after his own name, Ioannupolis.Henceforward itshould be a minor provincial city of the Empire, distinguished only for the vastnessof its ruins.Svyatoslav at Dristra heard of his troops disaster in a wild fury.There were largenumbers of Bulgarian hostages or unwilling auxiliaries at his camp, and on them he1. ????a??? , not ßas???a in Leo Diaconus (p.136).However, Leo speaks of him as ßas??e??, and Cedrenus says that John called him ßas???a (ii., p.396).211gave rein to his rage.Suspecting treachery from their compatriots, knowing that evenImperial rule was better in their eyes than his, and, determining to terrorize them S.Runciman - A history of the First Bulgarian empire - 3.2 Page 22 of 26into alliance, he threw the Bulgarians in his power into chains, and beheaded all themagnates and the b?yars, to the number of three hundred.[1] Later, as the Emperorapproached, he released the humbler Bulgarians and enrolled them in his armies; buthe ordered his Petcheneg allies to mow them down without mercy should theyattempt treachery or flight.From Preslav John marched to Pliska, the ancient capital, and thence, by way of atown called Dinea, to Dristra.He arrived before the city on Saint George s Day; andat once the two armies met in battle on the plain outside the walls.It was anotherhard, heroic contest, but by nightfall the Russians were driven back with heavy lossesbehind their fortifications
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
