Sclaveni Siege of Thessalonica

Date: July 27, 678 • Location: Ágios Pávlos, Greece

Unable to penetrate the city's defences, the Sclaveni gave up their siege of the Byzantine city of Thessalonica.

The Sclaveni or Sklabenoi were early Slavic tribes that raided, invaded and settled in Southeastern Europe in the Early Middle Ages and eventually became one of the progenitors of modern South Slavs. They were mentioned by early Byzantine chroniclers as barbarians having appeared at the Byzantine borders along with the Antes, another Slavic group. The Sclaveni were differentiated from the Antes and Wends ; however, they were described as kin. Eventually, most South Slavic tribes accepted Byzantine or Frankish suzerainty, and came under their cultural influences and Chalcedonian Christianity. The term was widely used as a general catch-all term until the emergence of separate tribal names by the 10th century.