All Battles 
Emperors 
Siege of Thessalonica (III) |
year: 617 |
| Unsuccessful siege of the city by Avars and Slavs | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
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enemy: Slavs & Avars
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location: Modern Thessaloniki, Northern Greece
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accuracy:
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battle type: Siege |
war: Wars against Avars & Slavs |
modern country:
Greece |
| ▼ The Byzantines(emperor: Heraclius) | ▼ The Enemies | |
| Commander: | Unknown | Khagan of the Avars Bayan II |
| Forces: | ||
| Losses: |
| Background story: |
| In the 580s, the Slavs had begun raids in the Southern Balkans. Τhese raids gradually took the form of a large population movement and relocation that went down in history as the Descent of the Slavs. Thrace and Macedonia, but to a large extent the rest of Greece, had been devastated by the raids. One of the few cities that had resisted was Thessaloniki. The Slavs besieged it in 586 (or maybe 597) but without success even though Thessaloniki had few defenders. They made a new attack from the sea in 604 but were repulsed. In 615 a large coalition of Slavic tribes besieged the city again, but again failed, while their leader Chatzon was killed. The main source from which we learn about these attacks are the two books of Stories of the miracles of Agios Dimitrios (Miracula Sancti Demetrii –work of 610 the first and 680 the second), which attribute the salvation of Thessaloniki to its patron saint, Agios Dimitrios. After the failure of 615, the leaders of the Slavic tribes turned to the Khagan of the Avars, whom they persuaded for a joint operation to capture Thessaloniki, which was the most important and richest city in the Balkans. It should be noted that in previous years the emperors Phokas and Heraclius had secured the peace with the Avars by paying an annual tribute. They tried to do the same with the Slavs but with limited success, as the Slavs were divided into many tribes without a single ruler. The Byzantines were not always consistent in paying the tribute and it is very likely that the Avars were not paid at that time, and that is why the Avar Khagan may have violated the peace. |
The Battle: |
 Slav warrior of the 7th cent. Their siege machines were surpisingly elaborate and fearsome. Emperor Heraclius could not help. (The problems with the Persians were many at that time.) Only a small fleet of supplies was sent from Constantinople during the siege. The siege this time lasted 33 days. The siege engines did not prove very effective. The catapults did not do much damage to the walls while a siege tower fell killing its crew. According to the anonymous author of the second book on the miracles of Saint Demetrius, the Saint appeared many times: either on the ramparts in white, or walking on the water, or on horseback in front of the gates, thus giving courage to the defenders and spreading terror to the enemies. Seeing that the siege lasted a long time, the khagan was persuaded to leave after being well paid in gold by the Thessalonians. The Slavs also made some profit by selling the captives to the Byzantines. The horde of Avars and Slavs left after burning all the churches and monasteries around Thessaloniki. |
Noteworthy: |
| The failures of the Slavs to take Thessaloniki propagated the cult of St. Demetrius throughout the Greek world and later became very popular in Slavonic states and also among the crusaders. |
Aftermath: |
| Eventually, the Avars and the Byzantines conclude a treaty, according to which Heraclios agrees to pay an annual tribute of 20,000 gold coins to secure its back in view of its campaign against the Persians. The Slavs continued to spread and settle in the Southern Balkans, while the Avars remained a serious threat to Byzantium. Thessaloniki, however, was not attacked by the Slavs until the great siege of 678. |
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