Battle of Thessalonica (995)
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Era | Date not recorded (no reliable year in Wikidata) | derived from year |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Greece | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 40.6500, 22.9000 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Thessalonica (Bulgarian: Битката при Солун) was part of the long Bulgarian–Byzantine war and it occurred in 995 or earlier, near the city of Thessalonica, Greece.
With Byzantine Emperor Basil II away on campaign in Anatolia, General Samuil of Bulgaria launched raids into the territories around Thessalonica. Lacking siege engines to assault the city, Samuil resorted to traditional Bulgarian ambush tactics. His forces succeeded in ambushing and destroying the city's Byzantine garrison, killing its commander Gregory Taronites and capturing his son Ashot. Although victorious, Samuil was not prepared to besiege Thessalonica and instead led his army south into Greece on a plundering expedition. Basil sent an army under his general Nikephoros Ouranos, who defeated Samuil in 997 at the Battle of Spercheios.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Thessalonica (995) (revision 1371843809), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Sack of Thessalonica (904) 904 · 0 km
- Battle of Thessalonica (1014) 1014 · 0 km
- Battle of Thessalonica (2nd 1040) 1040 · 0 km
- Battle of Thessalonica (1040) 1040 · 0 km
- Battle of Thessalonica (380) 380 · 4 km
- Siege of Thessalonica (1422–1430) 1422 · 4 km
Other battles of the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria
All 4 battles of the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria →
Browse more: battles in Greece · Europe · Date not recorded battles