After the unsuccessful siege of Sofia he retreated to Thrace, but was surrounded by the Bulgarian army under the command of Samuel in the Sredna Gora mountains.

The memory of the great victory over Basil II was preserved thirty years later in the Bitola inscription of Ivan Vladislav (1015–1018), the son of Aron.

In addition to the Bitola inscription where the victory of Samuel, commander of the Bulgarian army, is mentioned in summary form,[3] several medieval historians have written accounts for the battle.

Not only Byzantine historians wrote accounts for the battle, it was also recorded by the Melkite chronicler Yahaya of Antioch and the Armenians Stephen of Taron (also known as Asolic) and Matthew of Edessa.

[citation needed] The war against Bulgaria was the first major undertaking carried out by Basil II after his ascension to the throne in 976,[7] although the Bulgarian attacks had begun in that year.

[8] During that time, the main objective of the government in Constantinople was to crush the rebellion of the military commander Bardas Skleros in Asia Minor between 976 and 979.

[18][21] After the capture of Serdica, which was a strategic fortress between the northeastern and southwestern Bulgarian lands,[21] Basil II intended to continue his campaign towards Samuil's main strongholds in Bulgaria.

... And when you, Phaethon [Sun], descend to the earth with your gold-shining chariot, tell the great soul of the Caesar: The Danube [Bulgaria] took the crown of Rome.

The rumours that the Bulgarians had barred the nearby mountain routes stirred commotion among the soldiers and on the following day the retreat continued in growing disorder.

Only the elite Armenian unit from the infantry managed to break out with heavy casualties and to lead their Emperor to safety through secondary routes.

Soon after the Battle of the Gates of Trajan, the nobility in Asia Minor, led by the general Bardas Phokas, rebelled against Basil II for three years.