Sklavinies

The defeat of the Avars in front of Constantinople in 626 is the signal of the revolt for the subjected Slavic tribes. In Balkans, they occupy already the Mésie, the Macedonia, the Thessalie and part of the Peloponnese. Serb and Croatian, come from Carpates and Bohemia settle in the west of Balkans and recognize with the very theoretical empire only one authority. Byzance controls in Balkans only Thrace, the coast until Thessalonique, is of the Peloponnese and the islands.

The Slavic invaders form “sklavinies”, small principalities independent from/to each other, which escapes the capacity more or less completely from the emperor. No area of the Balkans is well off this flow, even certain islands that the Slavic ones approach on their monoxyles. The density of the Slavic settlement is strong in Macedonia but less in Épire, Thessalie in central Greece and in the Peloponnese where remain of the Greek communities which are used as a basis for the finally total hellenisation of these populations. The importance of the Slavic toponyms in these areas however translates the importance of their establishment.

The Slavic tribes often bear the names of the former people which dominated them. Thus the Serb ones and the Croats bear the name of Sarmates people. They speak about the dialects close from/to each other (“Slavic commun run”, of use until the 9th century). Farmers and stockbreeders, they know the swing-plow and practice a summary culture leading them to frequent changes of soils, to which displacements for safety reasons are added (they tend to take refuge in the marshy forests and zones). They use metals (gold, copper, money, tin, iron) and manufacture rather rough potteries. The tribal company is organized on the basis of clan and rests on the broad family - the zadruga - which exploits the ground collectively. The tribe is managed by the council of the chiefs of the zadrugas, in a kind of democracy (Procope). The council elects however a chief in the event of war or of crisis. They borrowed from the Scythians and Sarmates of the religious elements, similar to those of old Iran, in Goths, the art of warfare and practiced the trade with the Romans, in particular that of amber.

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