Mecanismos de transmisión de la Crisis económica internacional

of their patron saint Achillios. Samuel's own wife is recorded to be a Larisean of Vlach origin; Risos, 'The Vlachs of Larisa', 206-207.

980-983 is a totally different person from N ikulitzas m entioned by Skylitzes to have repeatedly changed sides during the period 1003-1018. 59

Larisa paid a heavy price not only in econom ic and dem ographic but also in religious term s. The relics o f the tow n’s patron St. A chillios whose cult had reached its peak in the 10th century, constituted the m ost valuable loot o f Sam uel's success. T he seizing and transportation of the saint's holy relics to O chrid, w here a huge basilica was consecrated in his nam e dem oralised the Thessalian population and at the sam e tim e gave a strong religious boost to the w ar o f liberation which Sam uel had proclaim ed only ten years earlier. 60

As far as the adm inistrative status o f the town in this critical period is concerned A vram ea has suggested that Larisa was upgraded to the rank o f capital of the them e of H ellas, due to the special circum stances that persisted after the beginning o f the Bulgarian w ars in 976. 61 She bases her argum ent on two facts: i) the tw o m ilitary officials appointed as strategoi o f the them e o f Hellas during the prolonged siege o f the town are m entioned by K ekaum enos to have perform ed their duties in Larisa, ii) an inscription that w as found in A rm enia (dated in 1006-7) m entions a certain "G regory patrician and general o f Larisa and M acedonia': on the basis of this m ention A vram ea believes that G regory was exercising pow er over the com bined m ilitary forces o f the town (or region) of Larisa and M acedonia. 62

N evertheless, now here in the sources, contem porary or later is it stated that L arisa w as ever the capital of the them e of Hellas. The presence of the tw o strategoi in Larisa in the period under consideration is to be explained by the strategic im portance o f the town as a physical ram part that could prevent Sam uel from penetrating further dow n, and posing a threat to the vital econom ic interests o f the em pire in southern G reece. The strategoi w ere dispatched there in order to organise the defensive system and co-ordinate the repulsive operations. R egarding the inscription, apart from O ikonom ides' argum ent

59 Skylitzes, 334, 363 : Lemerle, 'Prolegomenes', 53, note (I) 60 Skylitzes, 330

61 Avramea, Byzantine Thessaly, 32-33; Lemerle, 'Prolegomenes', 34 62 above note no. 62

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that it refers to an adm inistrative apparatus based in Asia M inor, we can additionally suggest that it would be very unusual for a strategos to supervise tw o different m ilitary units located in separate geographically areas. Besides, the em ergence o f Larisa as a new capital for the them e is not so likely, if we bear in m ind that it w ould involve the transference o f a com plex netw ork of adm inistrative and fiscal officials.

The new s o f the capture o f Larisa urged Basil II to take the initiative, and organise a cam paign against Sofia, aim ed at distracting Sam uel from G reece and preventing the B ulgarians from expanding into their old eastern provinces. H ow ever the years until 995 are characterised by the com plete dom inance of the Bulgarians in the Balkan battlefields. In the sam e year Sam uel won an im portant victory close to Thessalonica and forced his way southw ards . He passed through the valley o f Tem pe, crossed the Peneius river, and m arching through the narrow pass o f T herm opylae he reached B oetia, A ttica and eventually the Isthm us o f Corinth. 63

T he em peror was engaged in the eastern front but he show ed great interest in the invasion by sending to G reece one o f his ablest generals. N ikephoros O uranos arrived in T h essalon ica in the course o f the year 996 and follow ing the fringes o f O lym pus m anaged to recapture Larisa w here he left his heavier accoutrem ents. Skylitzes does not provide any further details concerning the opposition offered by the Bulgarians in Larisa. Perhaps O uranos led a pow erful arm y, as is indicated by the great ease with which he passed unopposed through Pharsala and the A pidanos river, and reached Spercheios river (near m od. Lam ia) w here he crushed, the bulk o f the Bulgarian arm y. Sam uel with his son and som e of his follow ers hardly m anaged to flee through the m ountains o f Aetolia. From 996 onw ards he was not given the chance to invade T hessaly again, because the em peror personally took arm s against him. In 1003, after a successful cam paign in M acedonia Basil II entered Thessaly where he spent two m onths rebuilding the fortresses that had been destroyed by Sam uel and besieging the rest that w ere still in B ulgarian hands. T h eir garrisons after their su rrend er (or capture) w ere tran sferred to the

63 Skylitzes, 341. The fear which the Bulgarian descent inspired in the general of Peloponnesos Apokaukos is reflected in a hagiographical text of the 10th century, Sullivan, Saint Nicon, 40

M acedonian town o f Volerus where they w ere settled perm anently so as to strengthen the labour force o f the area,

The revolt which broke out in Bulgaria in 1040 as a result o f the harsh fiscal policy of the em p ero r M ichael IV the P aphlagonian (1034-1041) affected T h essaly only tem porarily. The leader o f the revolt Peter Delian m anaged to bring the whole population o f the B yzantine them e o f B ulgaria (i.e. the population around the tow ns o f m odern B elgrade, N aissos, Skopia) over to his side, and in the same year he captured D yrrachium and D em etrias. The Bulgarian general Litoboes Diaboletes who was left behind to guard the Thessalian port proved incapable o f consolidating his authority. The population o f the town after entering into secret negotiations with the m ilitary governor o f T hessalonica (dux o f T hessalonica) arranged the dispatch o f a strong B yzantine squadron that assisted them to aiTest the invaders and surrender them to the Byzantines. The B ulgarian m enace had passed irreversibly. Delian was blinded and his recalcitrant supporters in B ulgaria w ere subdued after the cam paign which the em peror M ichael launched against them a year later (1041). 65

64 Skylilzes, 344 65 Kekaumenos, 28

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III. LARISA IN THE Î1TH CENTURY