2021-07-16 Fri

Samuel was the Tsar of the first Bulgarian empire.

Samuel began his effective rule in the 980s in what is now western Bulgaria and Macedonia. He then conquered Serbia and further extended his power into northern Bulgaria, Albania, and northern Greece. He established his capital in Ohrid and revived the Bulgarian patriarchate.

In the 980s he defeated the Byzantine emperor Basil II (the “Bulgar Slayer”) near Sofia, but from 997—the date of Samuel’s coronation as Bulgarian tsar—the intermittent struggle with the Byzantines went against him.

Today on 16th July in the year 997, The Battle of Spercheios took place, on the shores of the Spercheios River near the city of Lamia in central Greece. It was fought between a Bulgarian army led by Tsar Samuil, which in the previous year had penetrated south into Greece and a Byzantine army under the command of general Nikephoros Ouranos. The Byzantine victory virtually destroyed the Bulgarian army and ended its raids in the southern Balkans and Greece.

Here is an image of 10 Leva coins which depicts the Battle of Bulgarian warriors and the Byzantine army inside a dotted circle.

Image Source: https://i.colnect.net/