page_title: Byzantine–Bulgarian wars
section_title: Simeon I's Imperial ambitions
hierarchical_section_title: Byzantine–Bulgarian wars / Simeon I's Imperial ambitions
caption_attribution_description: Bulgarian forces rout the Byzantines at Bulgarophygon in 896. en:Madrid Skylitzes, fol. 109r
context_page_description: The Byzantine–Bulgarian wars were a series of conflicts fought between the Byzantines and Bulgarians which began when the Bulgars first settled in the Balkan peninsula in the 5th century, and intensified with the expansion of the Bulgarian Empire to the southwest after 680 AD. The Byzantines and Bulgarians continued to clash over the next century with variable success, until the Bulgarians, led by Krum, inflicted a series of crushing defeats on the Byzantines. After Krum died in 814, his son Omurtag negotiated a thirty-year peace treaty. In 893, during the next major war, Simeon I, the Bulgarian emperor, defeated the Byzantines while attempting to form a large Eastern European Empire, but his efforts failed.
  In 971 John I Tzimiskes, the Byzantine emperor, subjugated much of the weakening Bulgarian Empire, facing wars with Russians, Pechenegs, Magyars and Croatians and by defeating Boris II and capturing Preslav, the Bulgarian capital. Constantinople under Basil II completely conquered Bulgaria in 1018 as a result of the 1014 Battle of Kleidion. There were rebellions against Byzantine rule from 1040 to 1041, and in the 1070s and the 1080s, but these failed.
context_section_description: With the ascendance of Simeon I to the throne in 893, the long-lasting peace with the Byzantine Empire established by his father was about to end. A conflict arose when Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise, acting under pressure from his wife Zoe Zaoutzaina and her father, Stylianos Zaoutzes, moved the marketplace for Bulgarian goods from Constantinople to Thessaloniki, where Bulgarian merchants were heavily taxed. Forced to take action, in the autumn of 894 Simeon invaded the Byzantine Empire from the north, meeting little opposition due to the concentration of most Byzantine forces in eastern Anatolia to counter Arab invasions. Informed of the Bulgarian offensive, the surprised Leo sent an army consisting of guardsmen and other military units from the capital to halt Simeon, but his troops were routed somewhere in the theme of Macedonia.The Magyars managed to defeat Simeon's army twice, but in 896 they were routed in the Battle of Southern Buh. The war ended in 896 with a great Bulgarian victory near Bulgarophygon in Eastern Thrace. The market was returned to Constantinople, and the Byzantine Emperor had to pay annual tribute to Bulgaria. More importantly, with help from the Pechenegs Simeon successfully fended off a Magyar invasion, which was coordinated with the Byzantines.
  After the death of Leo VI on 11 May 912 and the accession of his infant son Constantine VII, under the guidance of Leo's brother Alexander, who expelled Leo's last wife and Constantine's mother, Zoe Karbonopsina, from the palace, Simeon claimed the imperial title and tried to replace Byzantium as the biggest power in the region, perhaps building a new Bulgarian–Byzantine empire. Alexander died on 6 June 913, leaving the capital in anarchy and the rule of the empire in the hands of a regency council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos. This gave the Bulgarian ruler a great opportunity to attempt a campaign towards the Byzantine capital, so he attacked in full force in late July or August 913, reaching Constantinople without any serious resistance. The protracted negotiations resulted in the payment of the arrears in the Byzantine tribute, the promise that Constantine VII would marry one of Simeon's daughters, and, most importantly, Simeon's official recognition as Emperor (tzar) of the Bulgarians by Patriarch Nicholas in the Blachernai Palace. Until the end of his reign, Simeon used the style of "Emperor of the Bulgarians and the Romans".
  Shortly after Simeon visited Constantinople, Constantine's mother Zoe returned to the palace on the insistence of the young emperor and immediately proceeded to eliminate the regents. Through a plot, she managed to assume power in February 914, practically removing Patriarch Nicholas from the government, disowning and obscuring his recognition of Simeon's imperial title, and rejecting the planned marriage of her son to one of Simeon's daughters. In retaliation, Simeon invaded Thrace in the summer of 914 and captured Adrianople. In 917, a particularly strong Byzantine army led by Leo Phokas, son of Nikephoros Phokas, invaded Bulgaria accompanied by the Byzantine navy under the command of Romanos Lekapenos, which sailed to the Bulgarian Black Sea ports. En route to Mesembria (Nesebǎr), where they were supposed to be reinforced by troops transported by the navy, Phokas' forces stopped to rest near the river of Acheloos, not far from the port of Anchialos (Pomorie). Once informed of the invasion, Simeon rushed to intercept the Byzantines, and he attacked them from the nearby hills while they were resting disorganized. In the Battle of Achelous (or Anchialus) on 20 August 917, one of the largest in medieval history, the Bulgarians completely routed the Byzantines and killed many of their commanders, although Phokas managed to escape to Mesembria. As a result of the victory Simeon drew into his orbit the Pecheneg leaders and started a major offensive against the European dominions of Byzantium. The Bulgarians sent to pursue the remnants of the Byzantine army approached Constantinople and encountered Byzantine forces unde
caption: The Bulgarians routing the Byzantine forces at Bulgarophygon in 896
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