The Slavs, Byzantium, and the historical significance of the First Bulgarian Kingdom

Abstract

The author of this paper makes a number of points: that Slavic settlements in Greece proper, including the Peloponnesus, and the inner coastal regions of the northern Aegean, were established in the last two decades of the sixth century; that the Slavs involved were numerous, but probably not as numerous as is generally believed; that despite their proneness to violence, they adjusted early to their new environment, gave themselves to the arts of peace, and began to succumb to the cultural influences of the Greeks; that in the penetration of this influence among them, the milieu, i.e. the native population which had survived the invasions, played an important role; that this penetration was accelerated by the more effective administrative system introduced by Byzantium and by the conversion of the Slavs to Christianity; and that iinally the regions involved became again Greek in character, however that character might have been affected by the invasions late in the sixth century. This point has also been made, that the creation of the Bulgar state in the interior of the Balkan peninsula in the seventh century, its expansion westward to include the Slavs of upper Macedonia and beyond, the fusion between Bulgare and Slavs, and the development of a national tradition among the Slavs of these regions rendered these regions definitely Slavic. The failure of Byzantium to impose its authority on the Slavs of the interior of the Balkan peninsula and little by little bring about their Byzantinization as it did with the Slavs of the coastal regions is to be attributed in the final analysis to the persistent opposition of the First Bulgarian Kingdom and the role which that kingdom played in the formation of these Slavs into a people. Here in lies its historical significance.