Back Битка при Аркадиопол (970) Bulgarian Bitva u Arkadiopole Czech Schlacht von Arkadiopolis (970) German Μάχη της Αρκαδιούπολης (970) Greek Batalla de Arcadiópolis Spanish Bataille d'Arcadiopolis French Arkadiopoliszi csata (970) Hungarian Battaglia di Arcadiopoli (970) Italian アルカディオポリスの戦い (970年) Japanese არკადიოპოლის ბრძოლა (970) Georgian
| Battle of Arcadiopolis | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria and the Hungarian invasions of Europe | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Byzantine Empire | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Bardas Skleros Peter | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 10,000–12,000[2][3] | 10,000-30,000[4][5] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 20-55 or heavy[6] | Heavy | ||||||
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.
- ^ Stephenson 2000, p. 51.
- ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 508.
- ^ Haldon 2001, p. 98.
- ^ Talbot & Sullivan 2005, p. 159.
- ^ Hupchick 2017, p. 235.
- ^ Svyatoslav's invasion of Thrace and the Battle of Arkadiopolis