![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jassa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/backsz.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nChapter 12<\/strong> [At night during the celebrations of Saint Demetrius’ day, barbarians set fire to the basilica’s ciborium and everyone was called to arms]<\/p>\n “All the people having heard this call, rushed to their houses and armed went to man the walls. \u00a0From there they glanced in the plain in front of the sanctuary of the Holy Matron, a throng of barbarians, albeit not too large, estimated at about five thousand, but of great strength for the all were selected and battle-hardened warriors. \u00a0They would not have assaulted this city great city were they not possessed of greater might and bravery than those [denizens of the city] who had never defeated them [the barbarians].”<\/p>\n “It was with the coming of the dawn that the townsfolk spotted the enemy from the walls, raised a cry and many of them ran down and through the open gates stepped outside. \u00a0Aided by Christ and the Victorious Demetrius] they joined battle with the enemies who, full of battle rage, had by then already breached the sanctuary of the three holy martyrs: Chiona, Irene and Agappa, which sanctuary, as you know, was found in the vicinity of the town walls. \u00a0The sides continued in battle throughout most of the day and the hosts of Demetrius, with great risk, once chased the enemy, then gave way to it, because, as is told, the enemy brought out the elite flower of the entire Slav tribe. \u00a0Eventually, thanks to the martyr’s [Demetrius’] aid, on that day the barbarians were driven out and retreated in smaller numbers than they arrived with. \u00a0In this way ended this unexpected and wild assault.”<\/p>\n Chapter 13<\/strong> “It is said, that the then ruler of the Avars decided to send emissaries regarding a certain matter to Maurice who was, with God’s choice, then wielding the scepter of the Byzantines. But since his requests did not bring desired results, he fell into an uncontrollable rage, feeling that he must not refrain from causing great harm to the one who so casually listened to his demands, pondering in what manner he could cause him [Maurice] the greatest harm and concocting the most terrible things, which then, however, came to pass. \u00a0He realized that the God-honored capital of the Thessalonicans stood out from amongst all cities of Thrace and Illyricum by reason of its diverse riches and pious, wise and most humble people; that is, to put it simply, he knew that the above-mentioned city was dear to the Emperor’s heart for it shines everywhere with its accolades; so that if suddenly it found itself in some kind of danger, the Byzantine Empire would suffer for it.”<\/p>\n “So he called to his side the entire wild tribe of the Slavs – this nation was subordinate to him at that time – and joining with them barbarians from other tribes, ordered them all to set out against Thessalonica. \u00a0This was the greatest host that had been seen in our day. \u00a0Some estimated it at over one hundred thousand armed men, others at a little bit less, and others yet at much more. \u00a0Since the exact truth could not be ascertained\u00a0due to the countless numbers [of the enemy], the people looked to the eyewitnesses [to guess the numbers of the enemy]\u2026 We heard of rivers and streams by\u00a0 which these armies stopped, about all the country which they traversed and which, as in [writing] of the prophet [Joel] \u2018were put out to waste.\u2019\u00a0 This numerous army was ordered to cross the lands at such a pace that we did not become aware of its arrival until the immediately prior day.”<\/p>\n “This [news] was relayed to us on Sunday, the 22nd of September.\u00a0 While the denizens of the city were pondering whether the enemy would take the city after four days or later and for this reason the city guard were not adequately prepared, that very same night [they] silently approached the city walls.\u00a0 It was then that the praiseworthy martyr, Demetrius, aided [the city] for the first time, confusing them during that night so that they spent many hours about the fortress of the praiseworthy Matron martyr, thinking that they had arrived at the city itself.\u00a0 When it finally dawned and they realized that the city is nearby, they set out for it in unison, roaring like lions.\u00a0 Thereafter, they attached siege ladders to the walls which ladders they had brought with them, ready to ascend them\u2026.”<\/p>\n [Demetrius appears under the guise of a Thessalonican soldier and defeats the barbarians climbing the siege ladders]<\/p>\n “\u2026All the barbarians, who were present there in great numbers, filled with terrible dread, instantly moved away from the walls; that night there were few sentries on the walls and [many] had headed home for it was believed that the throng of barbarians would not appear until a few days from then.”<\/p>\n “When day finally came,\u00a0these wild animals tightly surrounded the city walls so that even a bird could not fly away beyond the gates, nor enter the city from the outside. \u00a0They girded the city from the endings of the eastern wall reaching the sea to the western wall, like a deadly wreath and not a scarp of land was to be seen by virtue of the [density of the] barbarians. \u00a0In lieu of the ground, the grass and the trees all that could be seen were the heads of the enemy, one behind the other, all angry and threatening us with death by tomorrow. \u00a0And it was strange that on that day not only did they surround the city as if [they were] the sands but also many of them took up spots in the suburbs and fields surrounding the city [proper], destroying everything, consuming and pommeling all, and all that was left trampling with their feet, just as the beast did in Daniel’s vision. \u00a0They did not even need to build a stockade around the city or any trenches; rather, their shields formed an impassable palisade \u00a0one after the other and a stockade was made of their bodies tightly woven together like a fisherman’s net.”<\/p>\n Chapter 14<\/strong> “Many of them, having lost hope of a quick victory in the next few days, went to the city masters and confessed through a translator [as follows]: \u00a0“The leader of the Avars sent us having received exact reports from many people [spies] that the city had only a few militiamen, for it had only recently been touched by a plague, and he assured us that we would take it the very next day. But when we arrived we saw many soldiers, who exceeded our armies in numbers and in bravery. \u00a0From that moment we stopped believing in our victory and decided instead to seek safety with you.”<\/p>\n “But that only happened later. \u00a0Instead on that day [when the Slavs arrived] when they found themselves at the walls, they busied themselves with provisions, prisoners and booty which they carried with them. \u00a0But all the grains and other crops (which agricultural produce, even if harvested in prior years, it was customary at that time to keep outside [of the city]) stolen by them would only last them through that day [and] till morning on the day following. \u00a0And thereafter, they ate fruits, tree branches and tree roots as well as all manner of vegetables, then grass, wild herbs and the so-called thistle plant – until, eventually, they were devouring dirt and they were hungry still for the Earth did not, as it is written, did not withstand their onrush.”<\/p>\n “In the evening of the first day they gathered brushwood and set up campfires around the city… Then, by this terrible fire there issued from them an even more terrible cry, of which it is said in the prophesies that the ‘Earth shook and the the heaven sent down rain.'”<\/p>\n “Throughout the whole night we heard around us much rumble and on the next morrow we saw that they set up siege engines, iron battering rams, huge stone throwers and the so-called turtle shields which they along with the\u00a0stone throwers\u00a0covered with hard leather. \u00a0Then, they covered them with the skins of freshly killed cattle and camels so as to protect them from fire and hot tar [of the defenders]. \u00a0And in this matter they came closer to the city walls and starting on the third day they began to gather on the other side [of the city walls] stones which in their size were reminiscent of mountain boulders and their bowmen were issuing hails of arrows so that no one from the city could stick themselves out or to look outside.* They attached [protective] lids\/covers on the other side of the walls while they used rods and war axes ceaselessly trying to break through the [wall] foundations….”<\/p>\n * note: presumably while the stone gatherers were picking them up at the outside of the city walls.<\/p>\n “We have said already that during the first and second day of the siege, the enemy was gathering provisions and getting ready all kinds of terrible machines against the city. \u00a0Between the third and the seventh day (for the blessed martyr did not suffer the siege to last longer) they brought to the city walls siege towers, battering rams, stone throwing catapults and wooden mantlets. \u00a0First they brought out a battering ram with a head of iron and set it in front of Cassandra’s gate but when they saw a grappling iron hanging over the gate that’d been put up there by the citizens, though it was small and harmless as a child’s toy, they were filled with dread and they spurned their great contraption – I speak of the ram – and burning it down as well as other similar ones and not having achieved their goals, they departed for the day to their tents…”<\/p>\n “Later, under cover of leather covers they tried, like vicious snakes, to destroy the ramparts, they say with axes and wooden poles. \u00a0And perhaps they would have achieved their desired goal, had not Providence shone down upon the inhabitants, armed their hearts with bravery and sent them out beyond the walls so as to terrify those, who\u00a0shielded by the covers had almost manage to destroy all [ramparts]. \u00a0For it had been [until then] not possible to toss anything at those protected below hidden by the walls so that they remained unseen from above. \u00a0Thus, armed men, filled with God-ignited fervor, came in front of the gate using a lowered so-called gangway, that had been damaged earlier. \u00a0When they approached the exterior walls, they caused panic among the enemies. \u00a0Filled with unspeakable fear, they left all their gear with which they had intended to destroy the exterior walls and escaped; this, even though the men who came out to the did not wield anything other than spears and shields…”<\/p>\n “When the enemy, by reason of a single divine decree escaped, leaving behind mantlets, poles, and pickaxes, no one gave chase after them; [and] on the next day they used stone throwers.These were rectangular, set on broad platforms, with their ends set with sharp tips on which sat broad cylinders covered at the ends with iron; to these there were nailed beams as in a palisade. \u00a0At the back they had suspended projectiles and in the front strong ropes, which, when pulled downwards, rumbled as they lifted the catapults. Those, in turn, when lifted high, tossed giant, massive stones, such that neither the ground nor city houses could withstand their fall. \u00a0 Three sides of these rectangular stone throwers were secured with beams [designed] so that projectiles tossed from the walls would\u00a0not injure those who were pulling on the [catapult ropes] inside [the contraption]. \u00a0And if one of them were hit by [our] fire projectiles and burned down together with the beams, the [barbarians inside] were sent escaping together with their equipment. \u00a0The next day, they again brought these stone throwers, protected, as we said, with new skins and beams, and setting [the stone throwers] very close\u00a0to the city walls, they tossed at us heaps of stones…”<\/p>\n [only one projectile hit the walls and on the very same day the barbarians departed to their camp]<\/p>\n “There came Sunday, the seventh and last day of the siege when [our] enemies were resting after the exhaustion of the preceding days. \u00a0They wanted to force a life and death battle on the very next day, aiming to surround the walls tightly from all sides and thereupon to frighten the battlement guards with a sudden onrush so as to cause them to abandon the walls so that none of them watching from the top could [see what was going on in front of the gates] and could not come out and try to undertake any effort to help the others futilely fighting [in front of the gates?], upon their [the enemy’s] appearance. \u00a0When they were talking among themselves – of which we were made aware by their deserters – all our [men] were terribly frightened awaiting for the assault planned for the next day. \u00a0Surprisingly though, that very day, around eight in the evening, all of the barbarians escaped as one man with a great cry onto a [nearby] hill, having abandoned [their] tents with their supplies. \u00a0They had been so frightened that some were running away unarmed and without clothes. \u00a0They spent the next three hours or so in the nearby hills, seeing that of which we learned only later [the figure of Saint Demetrius]. \u00a0Finally, at the setting of the sun they returned to their tents, though by order of the triumphant [Christ], now robbing [and fighting] each other so that there were many wounded and some had even fallen.”<\/p>\n
\n Of the Fire of the Ciborium and the Surprise Attack by the Slavs<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n Of the Siege of the City by the Avaro-Slavs<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n
\nAbout the Recitalist Actor After the Siege by the Avaro-Slavs\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
![\n<\/a>](\"http:\/\/www.jassa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/miro7-1.jpg\"){kind=link}