Battle of Arcadiopolis (970) 970
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 970 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Turkey | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Hungarian invasions of Europe, Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Bulgarians, Byzantine Empire, Hungarians, Kievan Rus', Pechenegs | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 41.4000, 27.3500 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Arcadiopolis was fought in 970 between a Byzantine army under Bardas Skleros and a Rus' army, the latter also including allied Bulgarian, Pecheneg, and Hungarian (Magyar) contingents. In the preceding years, the Rus' ruler Sviatoslav had conquered northern Bulgaria, and was now menacing Byzantium as well. The Rus' force had been advancing through Thrace towards Constantinople when it was met by Skleros' force. Having fewer men than the Rus', Skleros prepared an ambush and attacked the Rus' army with a portion of his force. The Byzantines then feigned retreat, and succeeded in drawing off the Pecheneg contingent into the ambush, routing it. The remainder of the Rus' army then suffered heavy casualties from the pursuing Byzantines. The battle was important as it bought time for the Byzantine emperor John I Tzimiskes to settle his internal problems and assemble a large expedition, which eventually defeated Sviatoslav the next year.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Arcadiopolis (970) (revision 1370432363), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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