The reorganisation of the western Balkan lands in the mid-eleventh century
took place against a background of renewed nomad threats to Paradounabon.
Between 1032 and 1036, a series of raids by the Pechenegs penetrated
the empire as far as Thessaloniki, laid waste much of Thrace and Macedonia,
and sacked a number of the smaller fortified kastra on the lower
Danube. Excavations at two such fortresses, Dervent and Capidava, have
revealed destruction levels dated by coins ofMichael IV (1034–41). At Capidava
archaeologists have uncovered a pit full of dismembered bodies and
burnt debris.42 The suburbs ofDinogetia showsimilar signs of a devastating
nomad assault, datable by over 100 coins to spring 1036.43 New houses were
subsequently built there; unlike earlier semi-subterranean dwellings, they
were erected at ground level on a foundation of small stones and twigs, and
the regular pattern of construction suggests this was a coordinated imperial
enterprise. A contemporary project saw the construction of similar
surface-level houses on the island of P˘acuiul lui Soare near Dristra.44
BothDinogetia and P˘acuiul lui Soare appear to have flourished as trading
posts in the mid-eleventh century, sharing in the remarkable growth in trade
between Constantinople and the lower Danube which coincided exactly
with the intensification of the Pecheneg threat. This probably reflects a
deliberate policy of encouraging the nomads to trade rather than raid.
Contemporary written references to this phenomenon are scarce. The Life
of Cyril the Phileote reveals that the saint was employed as a navigator on
board a ship that traded along the Black Sea coast and at the watch-towers of
the lowerDanube.45MichaelAttaleiates provides a brief description of these
fortified entrepˆots, where a myriad of languages could be heard.46 However,
the archaeological record provides greater insights. Finds of amphorae, used
to transport a variety of goods including olive oil and wine, have been
abundant at sites along the lower Danube, while trade in other ceramics
also grew rapidly, most commonly olive-green glazed wares produced in
Constantinople.47 Further evidence for trade links with the imperial capita
is provided by a seal discovered atNoviodunum struck by ‘Niketas, notarios
and boullot¯es’, a Constantinople-based official responsible for oversight of
controlled merchandise.48
Large numbers of coins facilitated trade on the lower Danube. Most of
them were struck in Constantinople. To cite just a couple of examples,
over 1,000 eleventh-century Byzantine bronze coins have been discovered
at P˘acuiul lui Soare, with a peak underMichael IV (c. 200 coins) and Constantine
IX (c. 300 coins). Of the more than 600 bronze coins discovered
at Dinogetia, 100 represent a single hoard of folleis struck by Michael IV.
While such numbers are still modest when compared with extensively excavated
sites in the heart of the empire, such as Athens or Corinth, they are
far greater than in previous periods in this region. Significant numbers of
Byzantine precious coins have been found in lands which were then occupied
by the Pechenegs, for example in Bessarabia and Wallachia, which
may represent tribute payments.49 Great care was taken to maintain good
relations with the people who lived alongside the Pechenegs. The citizens
of the towns on the lower Danube were provided with annual stipends
(philotimiai) to guarantee their loyalty and to support a substantial local
army.50
Payments and opportunities for trade failed to prevent a massive migration
of Pechenegs into Byzantine lands in 1043. A feud had erupted between
the Pechenegs’ supreme chieftain, Tyrach, and his subordinate Kegen, who
had fled with his followers to an island near Dristra.51 Kegen was baptised
in Constantinople, awarded the rank of patrikios and given command of
three kastra on theDanube, whence he provoked Tyrach to launch an invasion
across the frozen river in winter 1047.52 The nomads pillaged widely,
before an outbreak of pestilence forced their surrender. Captives were settled
along the main road that ran fromNiˇs to Sofia.53 Just as all seem settled,
an attack on the eastern frontier by the newly arrived Seljuq Turks inspired
the emperor to raise a force of 15,000 from among the Pecheneg colonists.
Despatched to the east under their own chiefs, the nomads rebelled as
soon as they had crossed the Bosporus. They made their way back into the
Balkans, crossed the Haemus and settled in the vicinity of Preslav. Kegen’s
Pechenegs, previously loyal to the emperor, joined the rebellion, and efforts
to crush the rebellions led to a series of imperial defeats.54 Public reaction
was strong, and the emperor was left with no option but to recognise the
settlement of an independent group of nomads between the Haemus and
lower Danube, in a region called the ‘hundred hills’.55 In 1053 he agreed
a thirty-year peace treaty, and with ‘gifts and imperial titles soothed the
ferocity and barbarity’ of the Pechenegs.56
It is in the context of the Pecheneg wars that we first find mention of
an integrated command known as Paradounabon. We have the seals of
several katepanoi of Paradounabon, which have all been dated later than
c. 1045.57 The magistros and doux Basil Apokapes was probably appointed
to command Paradounabon during the brief reign of Isaac I Komnenos
(1057–9).58 In response to a joint assault of Hungarians and Pechenegs,
Isaac renewed an aggressive policy. He achieved no substantive success,
but returned to Constantinople having destroyed some nomad tents and
bearing booty, with ‘his head crowned with the garlands of victory’.59 If
the Pechenegs proved unwilling to relinquish territory in Paradounabon it
had much to do with the Uzes, or Oghuz, who now occupied their former
lands north of the lower Danube. Ominously for both the Pechenegs and
Byzantines, in 1064,
when the commanders of the towns of the Danube were the magistros Basil
Apokapes and the illustrious magistros Nikephoros Botaneiates, the entire tribe of
Uzes, bringing their possessions, crossed the frozen river Danube in long wooden
boats and sharp-prowed vessels made of branches lashed together. They defeated
the Bulgarians and other soldiers who attempted to block their passage.60
Both Byzantine commanders were captured, and lands were despoiled even
beyond Thessaloniki. Fortunately for the Byzantines, like Tyrach’s Pechenegs
in 1047, the Uzes fell victim to disease. Some survivors were recruited
into the Byzantine army, others returned north and were employed as
border guards by the rulers of the Rus and Hungarians.
World History
