Siege of Constantinople (860)

Siege of Constantinople
Part of the Rus'–Byzantine Wars
The Rus' under the walls of Constantinople
Date 18 June 860 – 4 August 860 Location Constantinople 41°00′N 28°54′E / 41.0°N 28.9°E / 41.0; 28.9 Result Rus' victory[1] Full results Byzantines conclude a peace beneficial for the Rus[2] Successful raid[3]
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire	Rus'
Commanders and leaders
Michael III	Askold and Dir
Strength
Main Roman army of 60,000 men	Fleet of 200–300 ships 8,000 men[1]

The siege of Constantinople in 860 was the only major military expedition of the Rus' people (Medieval Greek: Ῥῶς) recorded in Byzantine and Western European sources. The casus belli was the construction of the fortress Sarkel by Byzantine engineers, restricting the Rus' trade route along the Don River in favour of the Khazars.^{[citation needed]} Accounts vary, with discrepancies between contemporary and later sources, and the outcome is unknown in detail.

It is known from Byzantine sources that the Rus' caught Constantinople unprepared; preoccupied by the ongoing Arab–Byzantine wars, the empire was unable, at least initially, to make an effective response to the attack. After pillaging the suburbs of the Byzantine capital, the Rus' retreated for the day and continued their siege in the night after exhausting the Byzantine troops and causing disorganization. The event gave rise to a later Orthodox Christian tradition, which ascribed the deliverance of Constantinople to a miraculous intervention by the Theotokos.