Battle of Dorostol (Svyatoslav on the Danube). The Battle of Dorostol and other great battles in the history of Rus' that have been forgotten

Second war with Byzantium

The first stage of the war with the Byzantine Empire ended in victory for Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich. Constantinople had to pay tribute and agree to the consolidation of Russian positions in the Danube region. Constantinople resumed paying annual tribute to Kyiv. Svyatoslav was satisfied with the success achieved and released the allied troops of the Pechenegs and Hungarians. Russian troops were mainly located at Dorostol. A new war was not expected in the near future; no one was guarding the mountain passes.

However, Constantinople was not going to adhere to peace. The Romans viewed the peace agreement only as a respite, a military ploy that made it possible to lull the enemy’s vigilance and mobilize all forces. The Greeks acted according to their old principle: if you get peace, get ready for war. This tactic of the Byzantine Empire was formulated by its commander XI Kekaumen in his work “Strategikon”. He wrote: “If the enemy eludes you day after day, promising either to make peace or to pay tribute, know that he is waiting for help from somewhere or wants to fool you. If the enemy sends you gifts and offerings, if you want, take them, but know that he does this not out of love for you, but wanting to buy your blood for it.” Numerous truces and peaces concluded by Constantinople with surrounding states and peoples, their payment of tributes and indemnities were often necessary only to gain time, outwit the enemy, deceive him, and then deliver a sudden blow.

The stay of the Rus on the Danube and, most importantly, the alliance of Bulgaria with Russia, completely contradicted the strategy of Byzantium. The union of the two Slavic powers was very dangerous for Byzantium and could lead to the loss of Balkan possessions. The Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes was actively preparing for a new war. Troops were pulled up from the Asian provinces. Military exercises were held near the walls of the capital. Food and equipment were prepared. The fleet is prepared for the campaign, about 300 ships in total. In March 971, John I Tzimiskes reviewed the fleet, which was armed with “Greek fire.” The fleet was supposed to block the mouth of the Danube in order to stop the actions of the Russian boat flotilla.

Battle of Preslav

In the spring, the basileus, together with the guards (“immortals”), set out on a campaign. The main forces of the Byzantine army were already concentrated in Adrianople. Having learned that the mountain passes were clear, John decided to strike the Bulgarian capital, and then defeat Svyatoslav. Thus, the Byzantine army had to defeat the enemy troops piece by piece, preventing them from uniting. In the vanguard was a phalanx of warriors, completely covered with armor (“immortals”), followed by 15 thousand selected infantry and 13 thousand horsemen. The rest of the troops were commanded by Proedr Vasily, he walked with a convoy, carrying siege and other vehicles. Despite the fears of the commanders, the troops crossed the mountains easily and without resistance. On April 12, Byzantine troops approached Preslav.

In the Bulgarian capital there was Tsar Boris, his court, Kalokir and the Russian detachment under the command of Sfenkel. Leo the Deacon calls him “third in dignity after Sfendoslav” (the second was Ikmor). Another Byzantine chronicler, John Skylitzes, called him by the name Svangel and was considered “second in dignity.” Some researchers identify Sfenkel with Sveneld. But Sveneld survived this war, and Sfenkel fell in battle. Despite the surprise of the enemy’s appearance, the “Tavro-Scythians” lined up in battle formation and struck the Greeks. Initially, neither side could gain the upper hand, only a flank attack by the “immortals” turned the situation around. The Rus retreated beyond the city walls. The garrison of Preslav repulsed the first assault. The rest of the forces and siege engines approached the Romans. At night, Kalokir fled from Preslav to Dorostol. In the morning the assault was resumed. The Russians and Bulgarians desperately defended themselves, throwing spears, darts and stones from the walls. The Romans fired at the walls using stone-throwing machines and threw pots of “Greek fire” into the city. The defenders suffered heavy losses, but held out. However, the superiority of forces was clearly on the side of the Greeks, and they were able to take the external fortifications.

The remnants of the Russian-Bulgarian forces entrenched themselves in the royal palace. The Romans stormed into the city, killing and robbing the inhabitants. The royal treasury, which was safe and sound during the Rus' stay in the city, was also plundered. At the same time, the Bulgarian Tsar Boris was captured with his children and wife. John I Tzimiskes hypocritically told him that he had come “to avenge the Misians (as the Greeks called the Bulgarians), who suffered terrible disasters from the Scythians.”

The Russian troops defending the palace repulsed the first assault, and the Romans suffered heavy losses. Having learned about this failure, the basileus ordered his guard to attack the Rus with all their might. However, seeing that an attack in the narrow passage of the gate would cause heavy losses, he recalled his troops and ordered the palace to be set on fire. When it broke out strong flame, the remaining Russian troops came out into the open and launched a final furious attack. The Emperor sent Master Varda Skleros against them. The Roman phalanx surrounded the Rus. As even Leo the Deacon noted, writing about thousands of killed “Scythians” and a few Greeks, “the Dews desperately resisted, without showing their backs to the enemies,” but were doomed. Only Sfenkel with the remnants of his squad was able to cut through the enemy ranks and went to Dorostol. The remaining warriors pinned down the enemy in battle and died the death of the brave. In the same battle, many Bulgarians, who fought on the side of the Rus to the last, also fell.

The Greeks storm Preslav. A stone thrower is shown as a siege weapon. Miniature from the chronicle of John Skylitzes.

Defense of Dorostol

Having left Preslava, the basileus left a sufficient garrison there, and the fortifications were restored. The city was renamed Ioannopolis. The period of occupation of Bulgaria by Byzantine troops began. After some time the emperor solemn ceremony will deprive Tsar Boris of his royal regalia, and eastern Bulgaria will come under the direct control of Constantinople. The Greeks wanted to completely liquidate the Bulgarian kingdom, but Byzantium was unable to subjugate the western part of Bulgaria, where an independent state was formed. In order to lure the Bulgarians to his side and destroy the Bulgarian-Russian alliance, Tzimiskes, in the destroyed and plundered Preslav, announced that he was fighting not with Bulgaria, but with Russia, and wanted to take revenge for the insults inflicted by Svyatoslav on the Bulgarian kingdom. This was a monstrous lie common to the Byzantines. The Greeks actively led " information war”, declaring black to be white and white to be black, they rewrote it in their favor.

On April 17, the Byzantine army quickly marched towards Dorostol. Emperor John I Tzimiskes sent several prisoners to Prince Svyatoslav with a demand to surrender, surrender to the victors and, asking for forgiveness “for his insolence,” to immediately leave Bulgaria. The cities between Preslava and Dorostol, which did not have Russian garrisons, capitulated without a fight. The Bulgarian feudal lords joined Tzimiskes. The Romans marched through Bulgaria as invaders; the emperor gave the occupied cities and fortresses to the soldiers for plunder. John Kourkuas distinguished himself in robbery Christian churches.

Byzantine Emperor John Tzimisces returns to Constantinople after defeating the Bulgarians.

Svyatoslav Igorevich found himself in a difficult situation. The enemy was able to deliver a sudden and treacherous blow. Bulgaria was largely occupied and could not field significant forces to fight the invaders. The allies were released, so Svyatoslav had little cavalry. Until now, Svyatoslav Igorevich himself attacked and had the strategic initiative. Now he had to hold the line, and even in a situation where the enemy had all the trump cards. However, Prince Svyatoslav was not one of those who surrender to the mercy of fate. He decided to try his luck in a decisive battle, hoping to break the enemy with a fierce onslaught and turn the situation in his favor with one battle.

Leo Deacon reports 60 thousand. Russian army. He's clearly lying. The Russian chronicle reports that Svyatoslav had only 10 thousand soldiers, which is apparently closer to the truth, given the outcome of the war. In addition, the Rus were supported by a number of Bulgarians. From 60 thousand Svyatoslav's army would have reached Constantinople. In addition, Leo the Deacon reported that in the battle for Preslav the Romans killed 15-16 thousand “Scythians”. But here too we see a strong exaggeration. Such an army could hold out until Svyatoslav’s main forces arrived. There was a small detachment in Preslav, which could not provide a tight defense of the fortifications of the Bulgarian capital. It is enough to compare the defense of Preslava and Dorostol. Having apparently about 20 thousand soldiers in Dorostol, Svyatoslav gave the enemy battles and held out for three months. If there were about 15 thousand soldiers in Preslav, they would also have held out for at least a month. It is also necessary to take into account that Svyatoslav’s army was constantly declining. The Hungarian and Pecheneg allies did not have time to come to his aid. And Rus', in the words of the Russian prince himself, “is far away, and the neighboring barbarian peoples, fearing the Romans, did not agree to help them.” The Byzantine army had the opportunity to constantly replenish itself, it was well supplied with food and fodder. It could be strengthened by ship crews.

On April 23, the Byzantine army approached Dorostol. In front of the city lay a plain suitable for battle. Ahead of the army were strong patrols, inspecting the area. The Greeks feared the ambushes for which the Slavs were famous. However, the Romans lost the first battle; one of their troops was ambushed and completely destroyed. When the Byzantine army reached the city, the Rus built a “wall” and prepared for the battle. Svyatoslav knew that impact force Byzantine army - heavily armed cavalry. He opposed her with a dense formation of infantry: the Russians closed their shields and bristled with spears. The emperor also formed the infantry into a phalanx, placed archers and slingers behind, and cavalry on the flanks.

The warriors of the two armies fought hand-to-hand, and a fierce battle ensued. Both sides fought for a long time with equal tenacity. Svyatoslav fought together with his soldiers. Tzimiskes, who led the battle from a nearby hill, sent his best warriors to make their way to the Russian leader and kill him. But they were all killed either by Svyatoslav himself or by the soldiers of his close squad. “The Rosses, who among neighboring peoples had gained the glory of constant victors in battles,” over and over again repelled the onslaught of the Roman hoplites. The Romans were “overcome with shame and anger” because they, experienced warriors, could retreat like beginners. Therefore, both troops “fought with unsurpassed courage; the dews, guided by their innate brutality and rage, rushed in a furious impulse, roaring as if possessed, towards the Romans (Leo the Deacon tries to belittle the “barbarians”, but in fact describes an element of the military psychotechnics of the Russians. - Author’s note), and the Romans advanced, using my experience and military art."

The battle continued with varying success until the evening. The Romans could not realize their numerical advantage. In the evening, the basileus gathered his cavalry into a fist and threw it into the attack. However, this attack was also unsuccessful. The Roman “knights” were unable to break the formation of the Russian infantry. After this, Svyatoslav Igorevich withdrew the troops behind the walls. The battle ended without decisive success for the Romans or Rus. Svyatoslav was unable to defeat the enemy in a decisive battle, and the Romans were unable to realize their advantage in numbers and cavalry.

The siege of the fortress began. The Greeks built a fortified camp on a hill near Dorostol. They dug a ditch around the hill, built a rampart, and reinforced it with a palisade. On April 24, the troops exchanged fire with bows, slings and throwing weapons. At the end of the day, a Russian equestrian squad rode out of the gate. Leo the Deacon in “History” contradicts himself. He argued that the Rus did not know how to fight on horseback. Cataphracts (heavy cavalry) attacked the Rus, but were unsuccessful. After a heated fight, the parties separated.

On the same day, the Byzantine fleet approached Dorostol from the Danube and blocked the fortress (according to other sources, it arrived on April 25 or 28). However, the Russians were able to save their boats and carried them in their arms to the walls, under the protection of the archers. The Romans did not dare to attack along the river bank and burn or destroy Russian ships. The situation for the fortress garrison worsened; Roman ships blocked the river so that the Rus could not retreat along the river. The possibilities for supplying troops with provisions were sharply narrowed.

On April 26, the second significant battle took place near Dorostol. Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich again led his troops into the field and imposed battle on the enemy. Both sides fought fiercely, alternately pushing each other back. On this day, according to Leo the Deacon, the valiant and enormous governor Sfenkel fell. According to Deacon, after the death of their hero, the Rus retreated to the city. However, according to the Byzantine historian Georgiy Kedrin, the Russian soldiers retained the battlefield and remained on it all night from April 26 to 27. Only by noon, when Tzimiskes had deployed all his forces, the Russian soldiers calmly turned their formation and went into the city.

On April 28, a Byzantine convoy with metallurgical vehicles approached the fortress. Roman craftsmen began to set up numerous machines, ballistas, catapults that threw stones, pots with “Greek fire”, logs, and huge arrows. The shelling of throwing machines caused huge losses among the defenders of the fortresses and suppressed their morale, since they could not respond. Basileus wanted to move the machines to the walls. However, the Russian commander was able to forestall the enemy. On the night of April 29, Russian soldiers dug a deep and wide ditch at a distance from the fortress so that the enemy could not get close to the walls and install siege engines. Both sides engaged in a heated exchange of fire that day, but did not achieve any noticeable results.

Svyatoslav spoiled a lot of blood for the enemy with his ideas. That same night, the Russians succeeded in another idea. Taking advantage of the darkness, Russian warriors on boats, unnoticed by the enemy, passed through the shallow water between the shore and the enemy fleet. They obtained food for the army and on the way back they dispersed a detachment of Byzantine foragers and attacked enemy convoys. Many Byzantines were killed in the night massacre.

The siege of the fortress dragged on. Neither Tzimiskes nor Svyatoslav could achieve decisive success. Svyatoslav was unable to defeat the Byzantine army, which was a first-class fighting machine, in a series of battles. The lack of warriors and the almost complete absence of cavalry had an effect. Tzimiskes failed to defeat the Russian army and force Svyatoslav to capitulate in the face of superior forces.

Leo the Deacon noted the highest fighting spirit of Svyatoslav’s army throughout the siege of Dorostol. The Greeks were able to overcome the ditch and bring their vehicles closer to the fortress. The Russians suffered heavy losses. The Greeks also lost thousands of people. And yet Dorostol held out. The Greeks found women among the killed Rus and Bulgarians who fought together with Svyatoslav’s soldiers. “Polyanitsy” (female heroes, heroines of the Russian epic) fought equally with men, did not surrender, and endured all difficulties and food shortages. This ancient Scythian-Russian tradition of women’s participation in wars will continue until the 20th century, until the Great Patriotic War. Russian women, together with men, met the enemy and fought with him to the last. Svyatoslav's warriors performed miracles of fortitude and heroism, defending the city for three months. Byzantine chroniclers also noted the custom of the Rus not to surrender to the enemy even when defeated. They preferred to kill themselves rather than be captured or slaughtered like cattle in a slaughterhouse.

The Byzantines strengthened their patrols and dug all the roads and paths with deep ditches. With the help of battering and throwing weapons, the Greeks destroyed the fortifications of the city. The garrison thinned out, many wounded appeared. Hunger became a big problem. However, the situation was difficult not only for the Rus, but also for the Romans. John I Tzimisces could not leave Dorostol, as this would be an admission of military defeat, and he could lose the throne. While he was besieging Dorostol, there were constant revolts in the empire, intrigues were woven and conspiracies arose. Thus, the brother of the murdered Emperor Nikephoros Phocas, Leo Kuropalates, rebelled. The coup attempt failed, but the situation was alarming. Tzimisces was absent from Constantinople for a long time and could not keep his finger on the pulse of the empire.

Svyatoslav decided to take advantage of this. The Russian commander decided to give the enemy a new battle with the goal of, if not defeating the enemy, then forcing him to negotiate, showing that the Russian army, which was under siege, was still strong and capable of holding out in the fortress for a long time. At noon on July 19, Russian troops dealt an unexpected blow to the Romans. The Greeks were sleeping at this time after a hearty lunch. The Russians chopped up and burned many catapults and ballistae. In this battle, a relative of the emperor, Master John Kurkuas, was killed.

The next day, Russian soldiers again went outside the walls, but in larger forces. The Greeks lined up in a “thick phalanx.” A fierce battle began. In this battle, one of the closest associates of the great Russian prince Svyatoslav, governor Ikmor, fell. Leo the Deacon reported that Ikmor, even among the Scythians, stood out for his gigantic stature, and with his detachment he defeated many Romans. He was hacked to death by one of the emperor's bodyguards, Anemas. The death of one of the leaders, and even on the Day of Perun, caused confusion in the ranks of the soldiers, the army retreated beyond the walls of the city.

Leo the Deacon noted the unity of the funeral customs of the Scythians and Rus. Reported the Scythian origin of Achilles. In his opinion, this was evidenced by the clothes, appearance, habits and character (“extravagant irritability and cruelty”) of Achilles. The Russians contemporary to L. Deacon - the “Tavro-Scythians” - preserved these traditions. The Rus are "reckless, brave, warlike and powerful, they attack all neighboring tribes."

On July 21, Prince Svyatoslav convened a military council. The prince asked his people what to do. Some suggested leaving immediately, boarding the boats at night, since it was impossible to continue the war after losing the best warriors. Others suggested making peace with the Romans, since it would not be easy to hide the departure of an entire army, and Greek fire-carrying ships could burn the Russian flotilla. Then the Russian prince took a deep breath and exclaimed with bitterness: “The glory that marched behind the army of the Rus, who easily defeated neighboring peoples and enslaved entire countries without bloodshed, has perished, if we now shamefully retreat before the Romans. So, let us imbue ourselves with the courage that our ancestors bequeathed to us, remember that the power of the Rus has so far been indestructible, and we will fight fiercely for our lives. It is not proper for us to return to our homeland, fleeing; we must either win and survive, or die in glory, having accomplished feats worthy of valiant men!” According to Leo the Deacon, the soldiers were inspired by these words and happily decided to engage in a decisive battle with the Romans.

On July 22, the last decisive battle took place near Dorostol. In the morning the Russians went outside the walls. Svyatoslav ordered the gates to be locked so that there would be no thought of going back. The Russians themselves struck at the enemy and began to violently push back the Romans. Seeing the enthusiasm of Prince Svyatoslav, who cut through the enemy ranks like a simple warrior, Anemas decided to kill Svyatoslav. He rushed forward on his horse and struck a successful blow at Svyatoslav, but his strong chain mail saved him. Anemas was immediately struck down by Russian warriors.

The Rus continued their attack, and the Romans, unable to withstand the onslaught of the “barbarians,” began to retreat. Seeing that the Byzantine phalanx could not withstand the battle, Tzimiskes personally led the guard - the “immortals” - into a counterattack. At the same time, heavy cavalry units launched strong attacks on the Russian flanks. This somewhat straightened the situation, but the Russians continued their offensive. Lev the Deacon calls their onslaught “monstrous.” Both sides suffered heavy losses, but the bloody battle continued. The battle ended in the most unexpected way. Heavy clouds hung over the city. A strong thunderstorm began, a gusty wind, raising clouds of sand, hit the Russian soldiers in the face. Then a heavy downpour came. Russian troops had to take refuge behind the walls of the city. The Greeks attributed the violence of the elements to divine intercession.

Peaceful agreement

In the morning, Svyatoslav, who was wounded in this battle, invited Tzimiskes to make peace. Basileus, amazed by the previous battle and wanting to end the war as soon as possible and return to Constantinople, willingly accepted this offer. Both commanders met on the Danube and agreed on peace. The Romans allowed Svyatoslav's soldiers through without hindrance and gave them bread for the journey. Svyatoslav agreed to leave the Danube. Dorostol (the Romans called it Feodoropol) was abandoned by the Rus. All prisoners were handed over to the Greeks. Rus' and Byzantium returned to the norms of the treaties of 907-944. According to Greek authors, the parties agreed to consider themselves “friends.” This meant that the conditions for the payment of tribute by Constantinople to Kyiv were restored. This is also stated in the Russian chronicle. In addition, Tzimiskes had to send ambassadors to the friendly Pechenegs so that they would not obstruct the Russian troops.

Thus, Svyatoslav avoided military defeat, peace was honorable. The prince planned to continue the war. According to the Tale of Bygone Years, the prince said: “I’ll go to Rus' and bring more troops.”

To be continued…

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Siege of Dorostol

The siege of Dorostol began, which lasted 65 days.

The city was completely blocked. The Romans dug up all the roads with ditches, and guards were posted everywhere. Reinforcements approached John almost daily.

The Rus were not prepared for a long siege. Food supplies in Dorostol soon became depleted, and the Russians had to organize forays to get food for themselves. Skylitsa reports that one of these forays (on the twentieth of July) was led by Svyatoslav himself. On a dark night, under pouring rain, 2000 Rus got into boats and sailed out of the city. Having freely robbed the inhabitants of the coastal villages, on the way back they also killed the Roman baggage servants, who led the horses to the Danube for watering. The angry Tzimiskes threatened the commander of the fleet with death if the Russian boats appeared on the Danube again.

The Roman siege engines bombarded the city with piles of stones every day. The powerful walls of Dorostol (up to 4.7 m thick) withstood the impacts of projectiles without much damage. But the Rus who were on the walls suffered severe damage from them.

Svyatoslav decided to destroy the enemy’s siege equipment. On July 19, a strong Russian detachment left the city and moved straight towards the Roman guns. These cars were guarded by a relative of the emperor, Master John Kurkuas. “Noticing the daring attack of the enemies,” writes Leo the Deacon, “Kourkuas, despite the fact that he had a severe headache and that he was sleepy from wine (it was after breakfast), jumped on his horse and, accompanied by chosen warriors rushed towards them. While running, the horse stumbled into a hole and threw the master off. The Scythians saw magnificent weapons, beautifully decorated plaques on horse harnesses and other decorations - they were covered with a considerable layer of gold - and thought that it was the emperor himself. Closely surrounding the master, they brutally chopped him down along with his armor with their swords and axes, impaled his head on a spear and began to make fun of the Romans, shouting that they had slaughtered their emperor like a sacrificial animal.” The Russians were about to set fire to the siege engines, but the Romans arrived in time and defended them.

Encouraged by this victory, the Russians the next morning (it was July 20, according to the Slavic pagan calendar - Perun's Day) left the city and lined up in battle formation. The Romans “also lined up in a deep phalanx and moved towards them.”

In this battle, the Rus were led by a certain Ikmor (possibly the governor of the Tauride Rus). According to Leo the Deacon, he was “a brave man of gigantic stature, the first leader of the army after Sfendoslav, whom [the Scythians] revered in dignity as the second among them. Surrounded by a detachment of warriors close to him, he fiercely rushed against the Romans and defeated many of them. Seeing this, one of the emperor's bodyguards, the son of the archig [emir] of the Cretans Anemas, was inflamed with valor of spirit, pulled out the sword hanging on his side, galloped on his horse in different directions and, spurring him, rushed at Ikmor, overtook him and struck him in the neck with the sword - the head of a Scythian, cut off along with right hand, rolled to the ground. As soon as Ikmor died, the Scythians raised a cry mixed with a groan, and the Romans rushed at them. The Scythians could not withstand the enemy's onslaught; greatly depressed by the death of their leader, they threw their shields behind their backs and began to retreat to the city, while the Romans pursued them and killed them.” According to Skylitsa, among the killed Rus there were several women dressed in men's clothing.

At night, the Russians left the city and began to pick up their fallen soldiers. Leo the Deacon described in some detail the terrible picture of the pagan funeral: the Russians piled corpses in front of the wall, “made many fires and burned them, slaughtering many prisoners, men and women, according to the custom of their ancestors.

Svyatoslav conferring with his squad (miniature from the manuscript of John Skylitzes)

Having made this bloody sacrifice, they strangled several infants and roosters, drowning them in the waters of the Istra [Danube].”

At dawn, Svyatoslav held a council with the oldest squad about what to do next. According to Leo the Deacon, opinions were divided. Some commanders insisted on boarding their boats at night and trying to sneak past the Roman ships, “because it is impossible to fight with horsemen covered in iron armor without losing best fighters" Others were afraid of Greek fire and advised to first make peace with the Romans, taking an oath from them not to interfere with the departure of the Russian flotilla. Skylitza writes that everyone was in favor of ending the war one way or another. The Tale of Bygone Years conveys the speeches of peace supporters as follows: “If we do not make peace with the king, and the king learns that there are few of us, those who have come will step on us [block us] in the city. And the Russian land is far away... and who [will] help us?”

“Then,” writes Leo the Deacon, “Sfendoslav took a deep breath and exclaimed with bitterness: “The glory that marched behind the army of the Russians, who easily defeated neighboring peoples and enslaved entire countries without bloodshed, has perished if we now shamefully retreat before the Romans. So, let us be imbued with the courage [that our ancestors bequeathed] to us, let us remember that the power of the Russians has so far been indestructible, and we will fight fiercely for our lives. It is not proper for us to return to our homeland, fleeing; [we must] either win and stay alive, or die with glory, having accomplished feats [worthy] of valiant men!”

Very similar speech the prince addressed to his soldiers, we read in the Tale of Bygone Years (where it, however, precedes some unprecedentedly victorious battle of Svyatoslav with the Greeks): “We have no children [nowhere to go], willy-nilly, against the odds; Let us not disgrace the Russian land, but let us lie down with that bone; we are dead, for we have no rubbish; If we run away, then shame on us. The imam will not run away, but we will stand strong, and I will go before you: if my head falls, then provide for yourself [if they kill me, then act as you yourself know].”

Svyatoslav's words inspired the Russians. The next day, by sunset, the entire Russian army left the city; John, for his part, led the Romans out of the camp. Skylitzes reports that Tzimiskes, wanting to finish the matter without unnecessary bloodshed, proposed a duel to Svyatoslav. “But he did not accept the challenge and added mocking words that he, they say, better than the enemy understands his benefit, and if the emperor does not want to live anymore, then there are tens of thousands of other ways to death; let him choose whichever he wants.”

At a sign from their commanders, the Romans and Rus rushed at each other. In the battle, Svyatoslav was seriously wounded. According to Leo the Deacon, it happened like this: “Now a battle began, and the Scythians attacked the Romans with force, pierced them with spears, wounded their horses with arrows and knocked their horsemen to the ground. Seeing with what frantic fury Sfendoslav rushed at the Romans and inspired his ranks to fight, Anemas, who had become famous the day before for killing Ikmor, rushed forward on his horse (it became his custom to do this, and in this way he had already defeated many Scythians), lowering the reins , rushed at the leader of the Russians and, hitting him on the collarbone with a sword, threw him head down to the ground, but did not kill him. Sfendoslav was saved by a chain mail shirt and a shield, with which he armed himself, fearing the Roman spears. Anemas was surrounded by rows of Scythians, his horse fell, struck by a cloud of spears; He killed many of them, but he himself died...”

The death of Anemas inspired the Rus. Having uttered a victory cry (to the ears of the Romans these were “wild, piercing screams”), they began to push back the faltering phalanx of the Romans. Then Tzimiskes, in order to save the situation, “called the soldiers close to him, squeezed his spear with all his might and rushed towards the enemies... Ashamed that the sovereign himself was going into battle, the Romans turned their horses and rushed forcefully towards the Scythians.”

The Russes, according to Skylitsa, “worthily accepted” the attack led by the emperor himself, and the battle continued with equal success. Unable to achieve victory by force, the emperor decided to resort to military cunning. As Leo the Deacon testifies, John noted that “the battlefield is very crowded” and “that for this reason the Scythians are pushing back the Romans.<...>And so the strategists were ordered to retreat back to the plain, moving away from the city and pretending at the same time that they were running away, but in fact not running headlong, but retreating calmly and little by little; when the pursuers are diverted to a great distance from the city, they should suddenly pull the reins, turn their horses and attack the enemy. The order was carried out, and the dews, considering the retreat of the Romans to be a real flight, rushed after them with a war cry, encouraging each other. But when the Romans reached the appointed place, they turned and bravely rushed towards the enemies. A fierce battle ensued there, and it happened that the general Theodore of Mysthia, whose horse was struck by a pike, fell to the ground. In this place a stubborn battle began to boil, for the Dews were trying to kill him, and the Romans were trying to protect him. This Theodore, falling from his horse, grabbed some Scythian by the belt and, moving it with the force of his hands in all directions like a small light shield, covered himself with it from the spears flying at him, and he himself, defending himself in this way, gradually retreated, approaching the Romans , who finally pushed back the Scythians and saved this man from danger.”

Apparently, the Russians pressed the Romans very hard, because they urgently needed help from above. By church calendar it was the day of the martyrs Theodore and George. And Leo the Deacon tells how a white horseman suddenly descended from the sky and began to strike the Rus right and left. It was, of course, impossible not to recognize Saint Theodore. True, the Russians did not see anything like this, but only noticed how “a hurricane suddenly broke out, mixed with rain; rushing from the sky, he shielded the enemies; Moreover, dust rose and filled their eyes.”

The legend about heavenly help most likely indicates that the victory was truly miraculous for the Romans. In a “hot battle,” writes Leo the Deacon, “the Scythians could not withstand the onslaught of the cavalry phalanx. Surrounded by Master Varda, nicknamed Skler, who with many warriors went around them from the rear, they fled. The Romans pursued them to the very wall, and they died ingloriously. Sfendoslav himself, wounded by arrows and losing a lot of blood, was almost captured; he was saved only by the onset of night.”