|Left to right - Slavic peasant, Avar warrior and Avar nobleman approx. 7th century AD.|
The Invasion of the Eurasian Avars
The Roman Empire faced a thousand years plus of endless waves militaristic barbarian invasions including Huns, various Gothic tribes, Arabs, Bulgars and Turks. The 6th century saw the newest barbarian tribe to threaten the Empire - the Avars.
The Avars were a group of equestrian warrior nomads who established an empire spanning considerable areas of Central and Eastern Europe from the late 6th to the early 9th century. They were ruled by a Khagan, who led a tight-knit entourage of professional nomad warriors.
In 557, the Avars sent an embassy to Constantinople, marking their first contact with the Eastern Roman Empire, presumably from the northern Caucasus. In exchange for gold, they agreed to subjugate the "unruly gentes" on behalf of the Byzantines. They conquered and incorporated various nomadic tribes -- Kutrigur Bulgars, Onogur/Utigur Bulgars, and Sabirs—and defeated the Antes.
By 562 they controlled the steppes north of the Black Sea and the lower Danube basin. By the time they arrived in the Balkans, the Avars formed a heterogeneous group of about 20,000 horsemen. After the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527-565) bought them off, they pushed northwest into Germania. However, Frankish opposition halted further expansion in that direction.
Seeking rich pastoral lands, the Avars initially demanded land south of the Danube River (in present-day Bulgaria), but the Byzantines refused, using their contacts with the Göktürks as a threat against Avar aggression. They thus turned their attention to the Carpathian plain and to the natural defenses it afforded.
By about 580 the Avar Khagan, Bayan, established supremacy over majority Slavic, Hunno-Bulgar, and Germanic tribes. When the Eastern Roman Empire was unable to pay subsidies or hire Avar mercenaries, the Avars raided their Balkan territories.
According to Menander, Bayan commanded an army of 10,000 Kutrigur Bulgars and sacked Dalmatia in 568, effectively cutting the Byzantine land link with North Italy and the West.
At Maurice's accession, the greatest omissions of his predecessors were to be found in the Balkans. Justinian I neglected Balkan defenses against the Slavs, who threatened the frontier since 500 and pillaged the Balkan provinces ever since.
Although he rebuilt the fortifications of the Danube Limes, he abandoned campaigns against the Slavs in favour of a policy focusing on western and oriental theatres.
His nephew and successor Justin II played off the Avars against the Gepids and later on against the Slavs. But this only allowed the Avar Khaganate to become a more powerful threat than Gepids and Slavs. As Justin II let the Avars attack the Slavs from Roman territory, they soon noted where the most booty was to be made.
To make matters worse, Justin II started the Roman-Persian War of 572–591, which tied down forces in the east at a time when they were needed in the Balkans. Maurice's predecessor and father-in-law Tiberius II Constantine emptied the treasury. For all those reasons, the Slavic incursions in the Balkans continued.
A few months before Maurice's accession in the winter of 581/2 the Avar Khagan Bayan, aided by Slavic auxiliary troops, took Sirmium, a large fortified settlement south of the Danube. Doing this, Bayan established a new base of operations within Roman territory from which he could raid the anywhere in the Balkans unhindered.
The Avars were only compelled to leave territory once the Romans under Maurice agreed to pay 80,000 solidi annually. The Slavs, partially under Avar rule, were not bound by the treaty and continued to pillage south of the Danube, making the Avars and Slavs quite different threats.
|An Avar Invasion|
Originally from the Pontic-Caspian steppe, the Avars were a group of equestrian warrior nomads who established an empire spanning considerable areas of Central and Eastern Europe from the late 6th to the early 9th century.
Roman Wars on Four Fronts
Romans faced wars on multiple fronts in