History of the Balkans in Maps

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Continuing Avar raids along the frontiers of the Eastern Roman Empire weakened its control, and in 602 the armies fighting the Avars rebelled, marched on Constantinople and murdered the Emperor. In the chaos that followed the Avars swept to the gates of the capital. Besieged by the Avars and under attack from the Persians in the East, Emperor Heraclius sued for peace in order to ratain the eastern half of the empire. He also carried out a complete overhaul of the administration, eliminating Latin as the official language, and renaming the Constantinople with the old Greek term, Byzantium. Henceforth, it is known as the Byazantine Empire.

Following the Avar failure to capture Constantinople in 626, the Slavs who had moved into the largely depopulated Balkan areas, rebelled and gained full independence, but the absence of centralized authority contributed to Slavic impotence. Meanwhile, deep in the alpine hills skirting the Dalmatian Coast, remnants of Illyrians, driven out by the Slavs, took refuge. Preserving remnants of their ancient language, they now took up shepherding as a way of life. Although on the map they do not appear, these are the people who will become the Albanians.

In Italy new Duchies (that is an area ruled by a Duke, corruption of Dux or leader) appeared, and in the east the beginnings of a new threat appeared. The various splinter group of Huns became united in a new Khanate in the Azov region. Dropping the name Hun, they came to call themselves Bulgars