The Battle of Aheloy

The Battle of Aheloy (Ахелой) (also spelled as Acheloi, Aheloi, Aheloj, Akheloy, etc.) took place on the 20th of August, 917, near the Aheloy River, between the troops of the First Bulgarian Empire (or First Bulgarian Tsardom) led by Tsar Simeon I the Great and the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) troops led by Magister Leo Phocas (Лъв Фока, Lav Foka), domestic of the scholias and commander-in-chief of the land forces of the empire. In this battle Bulgaria won a decisive victory. This battle is among the most grandiose battles of the entire European Middle Ages.

According to the Arab chronicler al-Masudi (ал-Масуди, al Masudi, al Massoudi), a total of 122,000 people took part in it.

At the head of the Bulgarian army was Tsar Simeon I the Great, who personally participated in the battle itself.

The terrain where the battle took place:

The Aheloy Plain borders the Black Sea to the south. It is relatively flat, with several low hills to the west. The plain is crossed by the Aheloy River (reka Aheloy), which, although not particularly full-flowing, is muddy at its eastern end, deep and wide enough to be relatively safe for crossing.

There is still a lot of debate about the specific location of the battle - whether it took place northeast of the mouth of the Achelous, near Messemvria (Месемврия, Месембрия, Masemvriya, Messembria, Mesembriya), or whether the battle was fought southwest of the river, i.e. in the field between Anchialos (Aheloy) and Achelous.

Since it is known that after the defeat many of the Byzantines drowned in the sea and the river on the one hand, and on the other, the military leader Leo saved himself by fleeing to Messemvria, it is likely that the battle took place on the eastern shore. If the battle took place southwest of Achelous, Magister Leo Phocas would have had difficulty reaching Messemvria, and ordinary soldiers who were not as informed as the command staff about the area would have preferred to flee the opposite way and there would not have been such a large number of drowned.

The outcome of the battle:

The Eastern Roman army was almost completely scattered and destroyed by the Bulgarians. According to the historian al-Masudi, only 2,000 Eastern Roman cavalrymen managed to escape the defeat intact, probably from a detachment that had not been engaged. They have probably managed to withdraw south along the sandbar in the immediate rear of the Byzantine army and reach the Byzantine-held fortified city of Anchialos (now the town of Aheloy, municipality/obshtina of Pomorie, province/oblast of Burgas , Bulgarian).

The huge loss of men in this battle had temporarily paralyzed the military power of the Byzantine Empire.

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Sources used:

MyHistory.bg | Моята българска история