User:Antidiskriminator/Drafts of articles/Sclavinia

Sclavinias (Склавиније) were nominally Byzantine territories of Balkans which were populated and governed by Slavs between 7th and 9th century but without organizational structure of a state. In this period term Macedonia was replaced with term Sclavinias.

Sclavinia was term used in the 8th century for the territory populated by Slavic people in Byzantine empire but without real influence of imperial authority. Initially, when Slavs began populating Balkan territories of Byzantine Empire they were all recognized as Slavs while Croats and Serbs began to be recognized as independent groups around 630.

Background
Since the end of 5th century Slavs penetrated the territory of what is today known as Friuli, Dalmatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Thessaly, Albania and Greece. One century later, the Byzantine emperor Justinian II encouraged them to continue to settle Byzantine territories. The Slavs easily assimilated the older population of Illyrians, Romans, Goths, and others because of mostly egalitarian peasant warrior Slavic social order, while in Greece they were Hellenized. Although they did not capture the main cities, they populated these territories to such extent that starting in the 8th century the southern Balkans was known as "Sclavinia".

Sclavinias in Macedonia
The Sclavinias in Macedonia were formed since the end of 6th century. In the first decades of their existence they were nominally under suzerainty of the Byzantine Empire, while they were actually independently governed by their own leaders and constantly attacking Thesaloniki. In 658 Byzantine emperor Constantin II led the first successful attack on Sclavinias which attacked Thesaloniki, defeated their forces and enslaved numerous Slavs. For a short time Sclavinias in Macedonia were under real Byzantine suzerainty until Perbundos, leader of Rhynchinoi, joined all neighbouring Sclavinias with intention to capture Thesaloniki.

Sclavinias in Albania
The ethnic structure of Albania in the first centuries after Slavs colonized it is unknown.