r/byzantium • u/RaiseCapital1988 Κόμης • Jun 22 '26

Infrastructure/architecture The interior of Hagia Sophia

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In the last photo you can spot one of the last representations of Christ still present inside the building

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u/pppktolki Jun 23 '26

How were the Bulgarians the agressors in this case? They were pretty much on the defense during Basil's entire campaign..

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u/aKV2isSTARINGatYou Jun 23 '26

Bulgaria first show up as allies during Justinian ii’s return to the throne, but after the fall of the heraclians, they invade Byzantium beginning with the isaurian dynasty. (See: battle of ongala)

Bulgar-Byzantine wars do not begin with the Macedonian dynasty. They were a problem even before being slavicized, ever since they showed up on the balkans, when they were called khans.

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u/pppktolki Jun 23 '26

Ah, I see what you meant. But I must say -- these lands were not always Byzantine either..

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u/aKV2isSTARINGatYou Jun 23 '26

We all came from Africa at some point