Serbia in the Roman era

The Danube River influenced the extension of the Roman Empire; its confluents, such as Sava and Morava, affected the growth of frontier fortresses and towns.

[1] Contemporary Serbia comprises the classical regions of Moesia, Pannonia, parts of Dalmatia, Dacia and Macedonia.

In 535, the city became center of the Archbishopric of Justiniana Prima, that had metropolitan jurisdiction over all provinces of the Diocese of Dacia.

From that time, and up to the middle of the 10th century, the region was controlled by the newly created Slavic state - the early medieval Principality of Serbia.

Often, the Byzantine Empire was stretched defending its rich Asian provinces from Arabs, Persians and Turks.

This meant that even numerically small, disorganised early Slavic raids were capable of causing much disruption, but could not capture the larger, fortified cities on the Aegean coast.

During the 6th and 7th century, Slavic tribes made eight attempts to take Niš and in the final attack in 615 the Slavs took the city.

[8] Menander Protector mentions a King of the Sklavenoi, Daurentius (577-579) that slayed an Avar envoy of Khagan Bayan I.

By 581, many Slavic tribes had settled the land around Thessaloniki, though never taking the city itself, creating a Macedonian Sclavinia.

[11] As John of Ephesus tells us in 581: "the accursed people of the Slavs set out and plundered all of Greece, the regions surrounding Thessalonica, and Thrace, taking many towns and castles, laying waste, burning, pillaging, and seizing the whole country."

Roman Mosaic in Felix Romuliana , near Zajecar , 289 AD.