Battle of Thasos

Battle of Thasos
Part of the Arab–Byzantine Wars
Map of the Arab–Byzantine naval conflict in the Mediterranean, 7th–11th centuries
Date October 829 Location off Thasos Result Saracen victory
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire	Emirate of Crete

The Battle of Thasos was fought on October 829 between the fleets of the Byzantine Empire and the newly founded Emirate of Crete. The Cretan Arabs scored a major victory: Theophanes Continuatus records that almost the entire imperial fleet was lost. This success opened up the Aegean to the Saracens' raids. The Cyclades and other islands were pillaged, and Mount Athos was so devastated that it was deserted for a long time.

Sources

• Treadgold, Warren (1988), The Byzantine Revival, 780–842, Stanford University Press, p. 268, ISBN 0-8047-1462-2 
• Vasiliev, A.A. (1935), Byzance et les Arabes, Tome I: La Dynastie d'Amorium (820–867) (in French), Brussels: Éditions de l'Institut de Philologie et d'Histoire Orientales, p. 90