Русите «откриват» Византия (Сведението от житието на св. Георги Амастридски и неговата хронология)

Abstract

The present paper deals with the widely-commented information in the Vitae of St. George of Amastris focusing on some aspects of the administrative history of Byzantium in the first half of the IXt h c. It aims to verify its reliability and possibly to enlighten the problem of the time of appearance of the Russ as a factor in the Byzantine foreign policy. In the course of presentation, the conclusion was reached that the Russian campaign which ended up with the plundering of Amastris seems more logically to be attributed to the years 814-815, when the new Emperor Leo V was still facing the standing engagement against the Bulgarian threat to the imperial capital and when he strengthened his position on the throne. But even if this assumption is not accepted, the important thing is that with the campaign to Amastris the Russ actually "discovered" Byzantium. A new factor appeared in the history of the Byzantine foreign policy and a long process of confrontation and integration began which eventually led to determining the northeastern boundary of the Byzantine commonwealth.