After Ivanko ambushed and captured the protostrator Manuel Kamytzes near Batrachokastron late in 1199, he brought the theme of Smolena in the Rhodopes under his control and stirred the towns and forts from Mosynopolis to Xantheia, toward Mount Pangaion and as far as Abdera to revolt against the Romans; he drove out or killed the Romans he caught there and held others to ransom, while local people who joined him kept their lands (Choniates, book page 283).
On 1 January 1200 the plain between the Nestos and Mosynopolis is therefore ground neither side holds securely: Ivanko's mountain forts look down on it, the imperial towns (Mosynopolis, Peritheorion, Xantheia) are wavering or lost, and no imperial army is in the field until the emperor musters at Kypsella in the spring. The belt ends when Ivanko is seized (spring or about July 1200).
Who raids here
Ivanko's men (Vlachs and Bulgarians he armed, and local people who joined him) from the Rhodope forts and Smolena.
Raided
The imperial towns, villages and estates of the Boleron and Xantheia.
Anchors on each side
Ivanko: the forts on the Rhodope heights and the theme of Smolena (bul). Emperor: Mosynopolis, Peritheorion, and further back Trajanopolis and Kypsella.
Last campaign
Late 1199 (after the capture of Kamytzes); the imperial counter-campaign comes in spring 1200.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Choniates gives the places but not the dates or the state of each town; the timing (between late 1199 and spring 1200) is inferred from his order of events and the translator's dates.
On the map: Estimated from the places Choniates names; the land west of the Nestos (Pangaion) is mac's ground.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.