The following years were tragic for Byzantium. Especially the decade of 1070-1080 is probably one of the worst in the history of Hellenism. The defeat at Mazikert was followed by a general invasion of the Seljuks and Turcomans in Asia Minor, while the Normans, having consolidated their gains in Southern Italy landed in Dyrrhachium (Durazzo). During the reign of Nikephorus III Botaneiates (1078-1081), the Pechenegs invaded Thrace and besieged Adrianople where the rebel Nikephorus Bryennios had found refuge. They left after receiving a large amount of money. At the same period, a young general, Alexius Komnenos who served the Empire managed to neutralize two claimants to the throne, Nikephorus Bryennius and Nikephorus Basilakes, and ascend to the throne after removing old Nikephorus Botaneiates. The situation he was facing was chaotic. Immediately after his ascension, he had had to face a 3-front war in the East, North and West.
Exploiting the Norman and Seljuk invasions, the Pechegs raided Thrace, facing weak Imperial forces. In 1084, they besieged Durostolon. During the same period, the war against the Normans had reached its peak and Alexius was unable to allocate more men against the Pechenegs.
In the spring of 1086, 50.000 nomads invaded the Imperial territory once again. Gregorius Pacurianos, domesticus of the West and general Nikolaos Branas were sent along with 17.000 men to deal with them. The invaders outnumbered the Byzantines to 3:1 ratio. Pacurianos suggested that they should wait for reinforcements but Branas insisted that they should attack saying he and his men were ready to fight. Finally, the opinion of the latter prevailed and the army was ordered to attack. The soldiers from Asia Minor, Thessaly and Macedonia as well as a unit of Frankish troops left the camp shouting, took battle formation and immediately attacked the Pechenegs who had already begun to flood the hills. The Byzantines hadn't moved for more than a few hundred meters when they were suddenly flanked by thousands of light cavalry while at the same time the center of the Imperial formation was suffering an attack by the Pecheneg heavy cavalry. The Byzantine Army was unable to withstand the pressure of the attack and therefore lost its cohesion, broke its formation and was initially slaughtered. Pacurianos, wounded in his arm continued to fight. But his horse was killed and while falling he broke his neck. A few meters closer, Branas was falling, hit by uncountable arrows.
The news of the disaster struck Alexius like a lightning bolt, while he was camped outside of Didymoteicho. However, the Emperor was not a man who'd easily lose hope and despair. He immediately called for the domesticus of the East, Taticius, who was still fighting against the Turks, to cross the Hellespont with as many men as he could and meet him in Adrianople. There, he handed him 8.000 Greek soldiers and a body of 1.500 Latin mercenaries from Cyzicus, under Umvertopoulos. Taticius, in head of 25.000 soldiers moved north, towards Phillipopolis.
The scouts found a large force of Pechenegs which was returning back, full with loot and prisoners. The Imperial Army struck the unsuspecting nomads. They were scattered leaving back their loot, prisoners and 4.000 dead. Taticius tried to persecute them in order to defeat them completely but the attempt failed because it was too dangerous for the Imperial Army to march through the mountainous area of Bulgaria. So, he returned to Constantinople (October 1086). This victory was mostly a tactic one and not a strategic one because the Pechenegs returned the next year.
In April of 1087, 80.000 of them along with Ogguzes and Hungarians invaded Thrace and camped in the area of Scoteinon, near river Ebrus. The generals Nicolaos Maurokatakalon and John Vempetziotes marched against them with 25.000 soldiers. The two generals moved towards the Pamfilon fort between Didimoteicho and Rhaidestus, in order to organize their defense there. But the Imperial roads were full of civilians who were trying to find refuge from the Pechenegs.
They had been identified by Pecheneg scouts and it was sure that the next day they'd have to face the enemy. When it dawned, general Maurokatakalon went to a hill near the plains of Dydimoteicho along with his staff and witnessed the dust overwhelming the plains because of the thousand horses of the Pechenegs as they were arriving to battle the Byzantines. The general was shocked. His officers though, insisted that he should attack the nomads immediately.
Maurokatakalon and Vempetziotes divided their army in 3 parts and moved quickly, surprising the enemy. In the intense fighting that followed, the tides of battle steadily turned towards the Pechenegs until their general Gelgu suffered a deadly hit. In the meantime, the Hungarian Solomon suffered an arrow hit in his eye. The nomads panicked and they started retreating. The Pechenegs left 9.000 dead in the field of battle.
Despite their defeat, the Pechenegs continued their raids. The Emperor was losing his patience. The wars against them had cost the Empire a great amount of money and manpower. Thousands of civilians were killed while huge areas of Macedonia, Thrace and Bulgaria had been destroyed. All the attempts of Alexius to come in terms or divide the Pecheneg chieftains had failed. He realized that arms would give the final solution. Therefore, he personally led a new campaign against them. In the 10th of May, 1087 he left Constantinople, in head of some 2/3 of the Imperial Tagmata (3.000 Immortals, 800 Vestiaritai, 2.000 Archontopouloi, and 700 Chomatinians) and marched towards Adrianople. In his way towards the city, he added more units in his army, raising his numerical strength.
In Adrianople, Alexius was united with the forces of Katakalon and Vempetziotes. Adrianos Komnenos, the new domesticus of the West, joined them up with the “Latinikon”, a unit of 6.000 French, Italian and Norman mercenaries. Alexius marched towards the North reaching an area called Lardaea (Central Bulgaria). In the meantime, the Imperial fleet was ordered to move in Danube in the area of Dorystolon in order to cut the retreat of the nomads.
The Emperor stayed in Lardaea for 40 days, waiting for more reinforcements. His objective was now to hit the Pechenegs hard and annihilate them and not just to intercept their raids. In the war council, he expressed his intension to hit the nomads in Northern Bulgaria. His older generals, Nikephorus Bryennios and Gregorius Maurokatakalon objected this idea while his younger ones, George Palaiologos, Nikephorus Mellisinus and the two sons of former Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes, Nikephorus and Leon (18 and 16 years old respectively), said that they were ready to attack and slaughter the enemy. Alexius, carried away by the optimistic comments of his young generals raised his sword and shouted “The Pechenegs only understand the language of steel!” Hence, a large force of 54.000 men marched in formation, moved through the mountainous area of Bulgaria and was again united in Dorystolon. There, a force of 70.000 Pechenegs was awaiting them ready for battle. Alexius ordered 5 men to guard him. These were the two sons of Romanus IV, Nikolaos Maurokatakalon, Ioannakes the captain of the Varangian Guard and Gules, a friend of his.
The blooded battle lasted until late at night and the casualties were huge for both sides. After the first clashes, the Pechenegs were fortified behind their wagons placed in a circle and defended from there. Alexius was trying to break their defense with continuous assaults. However, the Pechenegs were fighting fiercely and were counterattacking. The battle was undecided until sunset when suddenly, 36.000 Pechenegs appeared moving towards the battlefield. The morale of the Imperial Army was broken and it retreated in complete disorder. The Emperor, with his sword in his hand continued to fight heroically. Finally, he understood that the cause was lost and decided to retreat with the soldiers that remained near him.
The Roman casualties amounted to 11.000 dead and 6.000 captured men. The Pechenegs had 9.500 dead. In this battle Alexius suffered a light hit by a spear. Even though he wasn't wounded, a continuous pain was troubling him for years. The Emperor gathered the remnants of his army, purchased the prisoners by handing large amounts of money to the Pechenegs and started recruiting additional men. Phillipopolis though had been already conquered by the nomads (August of 1088). Alexius tried to limit the Pecheneg raids with guerrilla tactics, small raids and small-scale attacks in order to gather soldiers from Asia Minor. However, the situation was tragic there as well (1088-Autumn of 1089). The heavy winter of 1089-1090 helped the Byzantines as the Pechenegs stopped their raids. However, in the spring of 1090, they returned and captured Chariopolis. In the June of 1090, the Imperial Army was once again defeated. The worst thing was that the elite Archontopouloi Tagma (sons of dead officers) was almost annihilated, losing some 300 men. This saddened the Emperor.
The Byzantines answered later. A unit of 1.000 Pechenegs was ambushed and annihilated by Taticius. In December of 1090, the Pechenegs moved towards Eastern Thrace, near Marmara. Alexius was waiting for them though, and a large battle was fought between them, although it was undecided. Alexius retreated 30 km west of Constantinople, where he reorganized his forces. A new battle was fought the next day. This time the Pechenegs were defeated, suffering 7.000 casualties.
Then, the Emperor rested his army for 3 days and left for Jurulo where he camped in a castle. The Pechenegs followed him and camped in the plains, between the castle and a river. There, Alexius, seeing that his forces were not sufficient for a hand to hand battle, thought about a trick. During the night, he hanged some wheels by ropes in the walls. In the morning, the Imperial Army marched against the Pechenegs. The Pechenegs attacked the Byzantines who retreated with order, just as their plans were. Suddenly, the trumpets rang and the Byzantine Army was divided in 2 units, leaving enough space between them. That moment, the soldiers cut the ropes and the wheels started rolling down, killing all the Pechenegs in front of them. At the same time, the soldiers were slaughtering those who had fallen from their horses. The rest of them retreated.
Despite their loss, the Pechenegs were again ready for battle the very next day. This time, the Imperial Army, with its morale in its peak, came out of the castle and attacked the nomads. The Byzantine victory was overwhelming.
The winter had finally come. Alexius decided to return to Constantinople letting his army rest. He placed Ioannakes and Nikolaos Maurokatakalon as generals with the objective to keep the Pechenegs in check and recruit more men. It was obvious that with the arrival of spring, a deciding battle was about to occur.
Senator
[History] Alexius Komnenos and the Byzantine-Pecheneg Wars
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
