Russian-Byzantine War (988). Byzantium Rus' and Byzantium

Chapter II THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES (IV-XII centuries) In the IV century. the unified Roman Empire was divided into Western and Eastern. The eastern regions of the empire have long been distinguished by a higher level of economic development, and the crisis of the slave economy took place here

RUSSIAN LANDING TROOPS. PRINCE SVYATOSLAV AGAINST THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

Gumelev Vasiliy Yuryevich 1, Parhomenko Alexander Viktorovich 2
1 Ryazan high airborne command school (the military institute) name of the General of the army V. Margelov, candidate of technical Sciences
2 Ryazan high airborne command school (the military institute) name of the General of the army V. Margelov, associate professor

One of the first attempts to create an empire was made by the Russians back in the middle of the 10th century. The Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatoslav the Brave (942 - 972), who defeated the Khazar Khaganate during a daring landing operation in 965, carried out an unsuccessful landing operation in Danube Bulgaria, which glorified Russian courage and perseverance in battle for centuries.

In the sixties of the 10th century, the most powerful power in Europe, the Near and Middle East was, undoubtedly, Byzantium (Figure 1).

Figure 1 – The Byzantine Empire at the end of the 9th – first half of the 10th century

The population of the empire reached 24 million people (the population of Rus' was 5–6 times less). The Byzantines (Romeans, that is, Romans - that’s what they called themselves), were brave and rigidly organized on the basis of centuries-old tradition. The center of the spiritual, social and cultural life of the Romans for many centuries was concentrated in the same center of their statehood - the capital of Byzantium, the city of Constantinople (Tsargrad of Russian chronicles). But due to the abundance of enemies, the economically developed, cultural and wealthy Orthodox Byzantine Empire constantly defended itself from numerous wild barbarian tribes and states of other faiths. With difficulty, if possible, she returned the lost territories.

In the middle of the 10th century, the Byzantines developed an extremely humiliating and economically unprofitable relationship with Danube Bulgaria - the Romans paid tribute to the Bulgarians. In 967, the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II refused to pay them tribute. He began to act towards Bulgaria according to traditional Byzantine policy, cynically and rigidly following the principle "divide and rule". The Byzantine emperor decided, using the Russians, to liquidate the very statehood of Bulgaria.

And so, according to this, a Russian boat landing force landed in Bulgaria in 967, which was personally led by the Grand Duke. Svyatoslav quickly captured most of Bulgaria. The strategic plan of Emperor Nicephorus was a success. The chronicler called the Byzantine payment to the Russians for the landing operation against the Bulgarians a tribute. Svyatoslav did his job, but was in no hurry to leave Bulgaria. The Byzantine emperor clearly did not like this. The state machine of Byzantium began to work according to a simple, but trouble-free and well-tested scheme that has been proven over the centuries.

Therefore, already in the next year 968:

“The Pechenegs came to the Russian land for the first time, ... and Olga locked herself up with her grandchildren ... in the city of Kyiv.”

The siege of the Russian capital was carried out extremely fiercely. Having learned about the Pecheneg raid, Svyatoslav left Bulgaria and returned to Kyiv. So easily and simply, through a rather primitive intrigue, the Byzantines thought that with the blood of Russian barbarians they had solved their problems with the Bulgarians. But it was this time that the crafty Romans made a mistake. Very serious problems for the Byzantine Empire have just begun...

Three days before the death of his mother, Princess Olga (she died on July 11, 969), Svyatoslav had a conversation with her and his closest associates, in which, according to him, he formulated his understanding of the further construction of the Russian state:

“I don’t like to sit in Kyiv, I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube - for there is the middle of my land, all the good things flow there...”

The prince's plans were quite reasonable. He, it seems, foresaw for centuries to come the urgent need for the development of the Russian state - to own the seas. Later, Peter I will build the capital of the Russian Empire on the seashore, only the sea will be much colder and much more Russian people will die. So the brave Russian prince was a wise statesman, and not an arrogant, greedy martinet and adventurer, as they try to present him in some historical works and works of art.

In the same year 969, the Bulgarian Tsar Peter also died, and on December 10, 969, John Tzimiskes, a cousin of Emperor Nicephorus, hacked him to death with his own sword and became the new emperor of the Romans.

After such events, Prince Svyatoslav wisely decided to begin implementing his plan. Clearly understanding the riskiness and danger of the business he had planned, in 970, before the second landing in Bulgaria, he determined the procedure for governing the Russian land - he divided it between his sons.

The second Bulgarian expedition of Svyatoslav began successfully for the Rus and all of Bulgaria quickly came under the control of Prince Svyatoslav. At this time, Emperor John I Tzimiskes began preparations for war with the Rus. And the Russian landing continued to develop the offensive.

Imperial troops, according to Byzantine sources, surrounded and killed all the Pechenegs allied with Svyatoslav who took part in this war. And then, allegedly, the main forces of Svyatoslav were defeated.

The Russian chronicle presents events differently. According to her information, Svyatoslav came close to Constantinople, but then retreated, taking a large tribute from the Romans.

In the winter of 970–971, the Bulgarians rebelled in Svyatoslav’s rear and captured the city of Pereyaslavets, which he had to take again and leave a strong garrison in it. Byzantium was forced to hastily transfer the most combat-ready troops from the east of the empire from Asia Minor to the borders of Bulgaria. John I Tzimiskes was gaining time to concentrate the necessary forces and means against the Rus. He tried to convince Svyatoslav to leave Bulgaria, promising tribute, but he deceived him and did not pay the tribute.

“And the Russians became angry, and there was a cruel slaughter, and Svyatoslav prevailed, and the Greeks fled. And Svyatoslav went to the capital, fighting and destroying cities that stand empty to this day.”

Next, Svyatoslav went to the city of Dorostol, located in the lower reaches of the Danube River. Here the prince with the main forces could wait out the winter, and in the spring begin a new campaign against the Greeks. Meanwhile, Emperor John again tried to involve Svyatoslav in negotiations, offering favorable peace terms and trying to pay off with silks and gold. But not successfully. Prince Svyatoslav did not intend to change his strategic goals. Negotiations dragged on.

The presentation of weapons by Byzantine ambassadors to Prince Svyatoslav in the form of gifts is presented in Figure 2.

In the spring of 971, Emperor John I Tzimiskes decided that enough forces and reserves had been accumulated and personally led the military operations against the Russian landing. On April 23, 971, Emperor Tzimiskes approached Dorostol. In the battle in front of the city, the Rus were driven back to the fortress. Svyatoslav had to gain a foothold in Dorostol. The Russians found themselves surrounded. The heroic three-month defense of the city began, glorifying Russian weapons for centuries.

The Romans methodically destroyed the city walls with their battering machines. But throughout this siege, the Russians made almost daily forays from the fortress, trying to destroy the Byzantine siege camp.

Both sides suffered heavy losses - in the continuous small skirmishes and major battles that the Russians regularly staged against the Byzantines, several Russian and Byzantine military leaders fell.

Figure 2 – Legend about Svyatoslav. Artist B. Olshansky

Before the decisive battle, Svyatoslav assembled a military council. Being a man of honor, the brave prince said to his soldiers:

«… It is not proper for us to return to our homeland, fleeing;[we have to] either win and stay alive, or die with glory, having accomplished feats, [worthy] valiant men!»

After listening to the prince, the Russian army decided to fight. Before the upcoming battle, a cruel ritual was performed with infant sacrifices. The Byzantines understood perfectly what this meant. Among many peoples of Aryan origin, especially among various Scythian tribes, the sacrifice of women and babies before the upcoming battle meant that the warriors had already said goodbye to their lives and were ready to die, but not retreat or surrender.

The Russian landing force gave its last battle near Dorostol on July 22, 971. The Russians once again entered the field in front of the fortress. Svyatoslav the Brave ordered the city gates to be locked - to raise the morale of those who could give way under the enemy onslaught. The prince believed his soldiers, but he knew human weaknesses too well.

The army of Emperor Tzimiskes also left the siege camp and lined up for battle. The battle immediately became extremely fierce. Prince Svyatoslav was wounded in the battle.

The Russians were forced to retreat. The Rus, constantly attacking the Byzantines and moving far from the city fortifications, made their way to Dorostol and took refuge behind the city walls. Thus ended the last but glorious battle of the Russian landing force near Dorostol.

The next day, Prince Svyatoslav, wounded in battle, invited Emperor John I Tzimiskes to begin peace negotiations.

Despite the fact that the Byzantines had numerical and technical superiority, they were unable to defeat the Russian landing party, blocked in the fortress from land and from the Danube River, in a field battle and take Dorostol by storm. The Russian army steadfastly withstood the three-month siege. Although this Russian-Byzantine armed confrontation can be called a siege rather conditionally. Prince Svyatoslav, having a much smaller army and only foot troops, skillfully used engineering structures and fortifications of the Dorostol fortress when conducting field battles.

The Byzantine historian John Skilitsa reports that allegedly the warrior-emperor John I Tzimiskes, wanting to stop the bloodshed, offered Svyatoslav personal combat. But he did not accept the challenge. It is quite possible that this episode was simply invented by the Greeks, who wanted to humiliate the leader of the Rus. Or perhaps the challenge was sent to the already wounded Svyatoslav in order to increase the emperor’s authority among the troops, which had probably fallen after three months of fierce fighting.

The Emperor was forced to agree to the conditions proposed by Prince Svyatoslav. Svyatoslav and his army were leaving Bulgaria; the Byzantines were supposed to let the Rus' boats through without hindrance and provided his soldiers (twenty-two thousand people) with a supply of bread for two months. Prince Svyatoslav also entered into a military alliance with Byzantium, and trade relations were restored.

All of eastern Bulgaria was annexed to Byzantium. The capital of Bulgaria was renamed in honor of the Caesar to Ioannopolis, and all of Danube Bulgaria turned into the Byzantine province of Paristrion.

The defeat of the Russians was the end of sovereign Bulgaria, which was reborn only two centuries later.

After the conclusion of peace, at the request of Prince Svyatoslav, his personal meeting with Emperor Tzimiskes took place (Figure 3).

Figure 3 – Meeting of Svyatoslav with the Byzantine Emperor Tzimiskes

on the banks of the Danube. Artist K.V. Lebedev

They met on the banks of the Danube:

“Sitting in the boat on the rowers’ bench, he talked a little with the sovereign about the terms of peace and left. Thus ended the war between the Romans and the Scythians.”

The fact that Svyatoslav was sitting in front of the emperor of the most powerful power had a special meaning. It was understandable both to the Byzantines, who attached great importance to various court ceremonies, and to the freedom-loving Rus.

Tzimisces was the Byzantine emperor from 969 to 976. He was born around 925, and died, poisoned by one of his courtiers, on January 11, 976. John emerged as a capable military leader.

Having become emperor, John I Tzimiskes spent most of his reign in campaigns and battles. He was a true patriot of his country and made great efforts to revive the former greatness of Byzantium. Having seized power in the country, Tzimiskes enlisted popular support, absolutely rightly believing that without the trust of broad sections of society, all his endeavors would go to waste. The emperor ordered the distribution of all his enormous wealth to the poor and constantly organized spectacles in Constantinople, to which many people flocked. Such a policy, of course, can be called populism. Or you don’t have to name it. Distribute to people your (or at least half of) the goods acquired through back-breaking labor in the name of the prosperity of your Motherland. And then honestly decide for yourself: who you are – a populist or a patriot.

So on the banks of the Danube there was a meeting between two worthy commanders.

After the conclusion of a peace treaty and a meeting between the prince and the emperor, the Russian landing force moved towards the Black Sea.

Emperor John I Tzimiskes was not only a warrior and commander, but also a prudent politician. The chronicler further describes the events as follows:

“Having made peace with the Greeks, Svyatoslav set off in boats to[Dnieper] rapids. And his father’s governor Sveneld said to him: “Go around, prince, the rapids on horseback, for the Pechenegs are standing at the rapids.” And he did not listen to him, and went in the boats. ...

Per year 6480 (972). When spring came, Svyatoslav went to the rapids. And Kurya, the prince of Pecheneg, attacked him, and they killed Svyatoslav, and took his head, and made a cup from the skull, bound it, and drank from it. Sveneld came to Kyiv to Yaropolk. And all the years of Svyatoslav’s reign were 28.”

Prince Svyatoslav was not only a commander, but also a warrior. He could have survived if he had listened to the governor's advice. But like a real soldier, he did not abandon his comrades, who fought with him shoulder to shoulder in many battles. Prince Svyatoslav remained brave until the end of his life. In a fierce battle with the Pechenegs, not only he himself, but also almost his entire squad fell. The last battle of the brave prince made an indelible impression on the Pechenegs. Such a ritual bowl could only be made from the skull of a very brave warrior. And not everyone among these wild warriors was allowed to drink from this cup.

Summing up the results of the brilliant reign of Svyatoslav, we can make a well-founded conclusion that during the first landing operation he successfully solved the most important task of ensuring the security of Russian state building from the hostile policy of the Khazar Kaganate.

The second task - the creation of a peaceful trading bridgehead on the western coast of the Black Sea - was not completed, since Byzantium opposed Rus' here. During the time of Svyatoslav, it was united and had significant military forces and resources thanks to the results of the state activities of Emperor John I Tzimiskes.

But the military exploits of the Russian landing in Bulgaria will never be forgotten by the descendants and successors of the soldiers of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich.

1. Gumelev V.Yu., Parkhomenko A.V. Russian landing. The death of the country of "archery". // Humanitarian research. – June, 2013 [Electronic resource]. URL:http://human.snauka.ru/2013/06/314
2. Gumilyov L. N. Ancient Rus' and the Great Steppe [Text] / L. N. Gumilev. – M.: Mysl, 1993. – 782 p.
3. Nestor the Chronicler. The Tale of Bygone Years. [Electronic resource] – URL: http://lib.rus.ec/b/149931
4. Leo Deacon. Story. Science, M.: 1988. [Electronic resource] - URL: http://www.rummuseum.ru/portal/node/
5. Defense of Dorostol. [Electronic resource] – URL:

The name of the capital of the Byzantine Empire is the subject of endless debate among several generations of historians. One of the most magnificent and largest cities in the world went by several names. Sometimes they were used together, sometimes separately. The ancient name of the capital has nothing in common with the modern name of this city. How has the name of one of the largest European cities transformed over the centuries? Let's try to figure it out.

First inhabitants

The first inhabitants of Byzantium known to history were the Megarians. In 658 BC. e. they founded a village at the narrowest point of the Bosphorus and named it Chalcedon. Almost simultaneously, the town of Byzantium grew up on the other side of the strait. A few hundred years later, both villages united and gave their name to the new city.

Steps to Prosperity

The unique geographical location of the city made it possible to control the transport of goods to the Black Sea - to the shores of the Caucasus, to Taurida and Anatolia. Thanks to this, the city quickly grew rich and became one of the largest shopping centers in the Old World. The city changed several owners - it was ruled by the Persians, Athenians, Macedonians, and Spartans. In 74 BC. e. Rome seized power in Byzantium. For the city, this meant the onset of a time of peace and prosperity - under the protection of Roman legionaries, the city began to develop at an accelerated pace.

Byzantium and Rome

At the beginning of the new millennium, Byzantium faced real danger. The eternal rivalry of Roman aristocrats for the right to be called emperor led to a fatal mistake. The Byzantines sided with Piscenius Niger, who never became emperor. In Rome, Septimus Severus, a stern warrior, an excellent military leader and a hereditary aristocrat, was crowned with a crimson robe. Angered by the grumbling of the Byzantines, the new ruler put Byzantium under a long siege. After a long confrontation, the besieged Byzantines surrendered. Prolonged hostilities brought disaster and destruction to the city. Perhaps the city would not have been reborn from the ashes if not for Emperor Constantine.

New name

The new ambitious emperor began his career with several military campaigns, which ended in victory for the Roman army. Having become the ruler of the vast territories of the Roman Empire, Constantine was faced with the fact that the eastern lands were governed by Roman governors in a semi-autonomous mode. It was necessary to reduce the distance between the center and remote areas. And Constantine decided to found the second most important city of Rome in the eastern lands. He settled on dilapidated Byzantium and directed his efforts to transform this provincial village into the brilliant capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The transformation began in 324. with his own spear he outlined the boundaries around the city. Later, the city walls of the new metropolis were installed along this line. Huge money and the personal participation of the emperor made the miracle possible - in just six years the city became worthy of the title of capital. The grand opening took place on May 11, 330. On this day the city received a new impetus for development. Revived, it was actively populated by settlers from other regions of the empire, and acquired the splendor and splendor befitting a new capital. This is how the city received its new name - Constantinople, and became a worthy embodiment of everything that the Byzantine Empire represented. It was not for nothing that the capital of this state was called the second Rome - the eastern sister was in no way inferior to its western brother in grandeur and splendor.

Constantinople and Christianity

After the split of the great Roman Empire, Constantinople became the center of a new state - the Eastern Roman Empire. Soon the country began to be called by the first name of its own capital, and in history textbooks it received the corresponding name - the Byzantine Empire. The capital of this state played a huge role in the formation of Orthodox Christianity.

The Byzantine Church professed orthodox Christianity. Byzantine Christians considered representatives of other movements to be heretics. The emperor was the personification of both the secular and religious life of the country, but there was no power of God, as was often the case with eastern tyrants. The religious tradition was quite diluted with secular ceremonies and rituals. The emperor was endowed with divine power, but nevertheless he was elected from among mere mortals. There was no institution of succession - neither blood relationship nor personal connections guaranteed the Byzantine throne. In this country, anyone could become an emperor... and almost a god. Both the ruler and the city were full of power and greatness, both secular and religious.

Hence there is a certain duality in the definition of Constantinople as the city in which the entire Byzantine Empire was concentrated. The capital of a great country was a place of pilgrimage for many generations of Christians - the magnificent cathedrals and temples simply amazed the imagination.

Rus' and Byzantium

In the middle of the first millennium, the state formations of the Eastern Slavs became so significant that they began to attract the attention of their wealthier neighbors. The Russians regularly went on campaigns, bringing home rich gifts from distant lands. The campaigns against Constantinople amazed the imagination of our ancestors so much that a new, Russian name for the capital of the Byzantine Empire soon spread. Our ancestors called the city Constantinople, thereby emphasizing its wealth and power.

Collapse of the Empire

Everything in the world has its end. The Byzantine Empire did not escape this fate. The capital of the once mighty state was captured and plundered by soldiers of the Ottoman Empire. After the establishment of Turkish rule, the city lost its name. The new owners preferred to call it Stanbul (Istanbul). Linguists claim that this name is a twisted tracing of the ancient Greek name polis - city. It is under this name that the city is still known today.

As you can see, there is no single answer to the question of what is the capital of the Byzantine Empire and what is it called. It is necessary to indicate the historical time period of interest.

During the time of the Macedonian sovereigns, Russian-Byzantine relations developed very lively. According to our chronicle, the Russian prince Oleg in 907, i.e. during the reign of Leo VI the Wise, stood with numerous ships under the walls of Constantinople and, having ravaged its surroundings and killed a large number of the Greek population, forced the emperor to enter into an agreement with him and conclude contract Although the Byzantine, eastern and western sources known so far do not mention this campaign and do not mention Oleg’s name at all, it must nevertheless be recognized that the Russian chronicle message, not devoid of legendary details, is based on a real historical fact.

It is very likely that the preliminary treaty of 907 was confirmed in 911 by a formal treaty, which, according to the same Russian chronicle, gave the Russians important trading privileges. The famous History of Leo the Deacon, an invaluable source on the history of the second half of the tenth century, contains an interesting passage which has generally been overlooked, although at present it must be regarded as the only allusion to an agreement with Oleg attested in Greek sources. This allusion is an appeal to Svyatoslav, which Leo the Deacon puts into the mouth of John Tzimiskes: “I believe that you have not forgotten about the defeat of your father Ingor, who, despising the oath agreement (taV enorkouV spondaV), sailed to our capital with a huge army of 10 thousands of ships, and sailed to the Cimmerian Bosporus with barely a dozen boats, becoming the messenger of his own misfortune."

These "oath treaties" concluded with the Byzantine Empire before the time of Igor must be the agreements with Oleg reported by the Russian chronicler. It is interesting to compare with the above data the news from Byzantine sources about the participation of Russians in the Byzantine troops in the form of auxiliary detachments from the beginning of the 10th century and the corresponding place in the agreement of 911 in our chronicle about allowing the Russians, if they wish, to serve in the army of the Byzantine emperor.
In 1912, the American Jewish scholar Schechter published and translated into English a curious, unfortunately preserved only in fragments, Jewish medieval text about Khazar-Russian-Byzantine relations in the 10th century. The value of this document is especially great because in it we meet the name of “King of Russia Khalga (Helga),” i.e. Oleg, and we find new news about him, for example, about his unsuccessful campaign against Constantinople. However, the chronological and topographical difficulties presented by this text are still at the stage of preliminary study, and therefore it does not yet seem possible for us to express a definite judgment about this new and, of course, highly interesting discovery. In any case, in connection with the latter, an attempt is now being made to revise Oleg’s chronicle chronology.

During the reign of Roman Lekapin, the capital was twice attacked by the Russian prince Igor, whose name, in addition to Russian chronicles, was preserved in both Greek and Latin sources. Igor’s first campaign in 941, undertaken by him on numerous ships to the Black Sea coast of Bithynia and to the Bosphorus, where the Russians, devastating the country, reached Chrysopolis along the Asian shore of the strait (modern Scutari, opposite Constantinople), ended in complete failure for Igor. Russian ships, especially thanks to the destructive effect of the “Greek fire,” were mostly destroyed. The remains of the ships returned to the north. Russian prisoners were executed.

Igor launched his second campaign in 944 with much greater forces. According to Russian chronicles, Igor gathered a large army from “Varangians, Rus, Polyans, Slavs, Krivichi, Tiverts and Pechenegs.” The frightened emperor sent the best boyars and rich gifts to Igor and the Pechenegs and promised the first to pay the tribute that Oleg took from Byzantium. Igor, approaching the Danube and consulting with his squad, decided to accept the emperor’s conditions and returned to Kyiv. The following year, an agreement and peace was concluded between the Greeks and Russians, which was less beneficial for the latter, in comparison with Oleg’s treaty, “until the sun shines and the whole world stands, in the present centuries and in the future.” The friendly relations formalized by this treaty became even more definite under Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, in 957, when the Russian Grand Duchess Olga arrived in Constantinople, where she was received with great triumph by the emperor, empress and heir. An official contemporary record of Olga’s reception in Constantinople has been preserved in the famous 10th-century collection “On the Ceremonies of the Byzantine Court.” Particularly important are the relations of Vasily II the Bulgarian-Slayer to the Russian Grand Duke Vladimir, with whose name the idea of ​​converting himself and the Russian state to Christianity is associated.

In the eighties of the tenth century, the position of the emperor and his dynasty seemed critical. Varda Fok, who raised an uprising against Vasily, having almost all of Asia Minor on his side, approached the capital itself from the east, while on the other side, the victorious Bulgarians at that time threatened it from the north. In such cramped circumstances, Vasily turned for help to the northern prince Vladimir, with whom he managed to conclude an alliance on the following conditions: Vladimir had to send a detachment of six thousand to help Vasily, in return for which he received the hand of the emperor’s sister Anna and pledged to accept for himself and for his people Christian faith. Thanks to the Russian auxiliary detachment, the so-called “Varangian-Russian squad,” the uprising of Varda Phokas was suppressed, and he himself died. Having got rid of the terrible danger, Vasily, apparently, did not want to keep his promises to Vladimir regarding his sister Anna. Then the Russian prince besieged and took the important Byzantine city in Crimea Kherson (Korsun). After this, Vasily II conceded. Vladimir was baptized and received the Byzantine princess Anna as his wife. The year of the baptism of Rus': 988 or 989, exactly unknown; Some scientists are for the first, others for the second. For some time, times of peace and harmony again came between Byzantium and Russia; both sides traded fearlessly with each other.

In 1043, during the reign of Constantine Monomakh, in Constantinople, according to the source, a quarrel occurred between the “Scythian merchants,” that is, the Russians, and the Greeks, during which one noble Russian was killed. It is very likely that this circumstance served as the reason for a new Russian campaign against Byzantium. The Russian Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise sent his eldest son Vladimir on a campaign with a large army on numerous ships. But the Russian ships suffered a complete defeat, especially thanks to the famous “Greek fire”. The remnants of the Russian army, led by Vladimir, hastily left. This was the last Russian attack on Constantinople in the Middle Ages. The ethnographic changes that occurred in the second half of the 11th century in the steppes of modern southern Russia, in the form of the appearance of the Polovtsians, deprived the Russian state of the opportunity to maintain direct relations with Byzantium.