Maurice's Balkan Campaigns - Balkan Peninsula Before 582

Balkan Peninsula Before 582

At Maurice's accession, the greatest omissions of his predecessors were to be found in the Balkans. Justinian I neglected Balkan defences against the Slavs, who threatened the frontier since 500 and pillaged the Balkan provinces ever since. Although he rebuilt the fortifications of the Danube Limes, he forwent campaigns against the Slavs in favour of a policy focusing on western and oriental theatres. His nephew and successor Justin II played off the Avars against the Gepids and later on against the Slavs. But this only allowed the Avar Khaganate to become a more powerful threat than Gepids and Slavs. As Justin II let the Avars attack the Slavs from Roman territory, they soon noted where the most booty was to be made. To make matters worse, Justin II started the Roman-Persian War of 572-591, which tied down forces in the east at a time when they were needed in the Balkans. Maurice's predecessor and father-in-law Tiberius II Constantine emptied the treasury. For all those reasons, the Slavic incursions in the Balkans continued.

A few months before Maurice's accession in the winter of 581/2 the Avar Khagan Bayan, aided by Slavic auxiliary troops, took Sirmium, a large fortified settlement south of the Danube. Doing this, Bayan established a new base of operations within Roman territory from which he could raid the anywhere in the Balkans unhindered. The Avars were only compelled to leave territory once the Romans agreed to pay 80,000 solidi annually. The Slavs, partially under Avar rule, were not bound by the treaty and continued to pillage south of the Danube, making the Avars and Slavs quite different threats.