The province of Scythia and the Avaro-Slavic invasions (576-626)

Abstract

The theory of the fall of the Danubian limes is now obsolete. The case of
the province of Scythia shows that the downfall of the limes and of the townlife
was a gradual processes. The chronology of the Avar and Slavic invasions
in Scythia could be established by a comparison between literary, archaeological
and numismatic sources. The evidence gathered from several towns and
fortresses shows that the invasions that led to the downfall of the Scythic limes
and of the whole province could be dated in three periods: 576-584, 593-595,
614-626. The attacks of the first period had no major consequences (except the
destruction of Tropaeum). In the second period was ravaged especially the
northern part of the province. (It seems that this region was no more defended
later). The wave of invasions that began in 614 was the final stage of a long
process. There was not a sudden end of the Byzantine civilisation in Scythia,
but a transition period.