He engaged in a series of far-reaching campaigns and conquests, defeated a variety of enemies, and threatened the status quo in the Balkans and the Byzantine Empire itself.166

The ten years of Sviatoslav's rule of Kievan Russia, 962-972, which marked the culmination of the first period of Kievan history in the course of which the new state obtained a definite form and role on the east European plain, have been called "the great adventure." Even with their ultimate failure, Sviatoslav's daring campaigns and designs left their imprint all the way from Constantinople to the Volga and the Caspain Sea. Sviatoslav stands out in history as a classic warrior-prince, simple, severe, indefatigable, brave, sharing with his men uncounted hardships as well as continuous battles. His appearance, dress, and manner of life all remind us of the steppe. In the words of the Primary Chronicle: "Upon his expeditions he carried with him neither wagons nor kettles, and boiled no meat, but cut off small strips of horseflesh, game or beef, and ate it after roasting it on the coals. Nor did he have a tent, but he spread out a piece of saddle cloth under him, and set his saddle under his head."166

In 964 Sviatoslav started out on a great eastern campaign. First he subjugated the East Slavic tribe of the Viatichi, who had continued to pay tribute to the Khazars rather than to Kiev. Next he descended to the mouth of the river Oka bringing the surrounding Finnic-speaking tribes under his authority. From the mouth of the Oka he proceeded down the volga, attacked the Volga Bulgars, and sacked their capital, the Great Bulgar. But instead instead of developing his campaign against the Bulgars, he resumed in 965 his advance down the Volga toward the Khazar state, subduing Finnic and Turkic tribes on the way. Sviatoslav's war against the Khazars had a sweeping scope and impressive results: the Russians smashed the Khazar army, captured and sacked the Khazar capital, Itil, reached the Caspian and advancing along its western shore seized the key fortress of Samandar. Next, turning west, they defeated the Alans and some other peoples of the northern Caucasus, came to the mouth of the Don and stormed the Khazar fortress of Sarkil, which dominated that area. Sviatoslav returned to Kiev in 967. His remarkable eastern campaign, which led to the defeat of the Volga Bulgars and the Khazars, completed the unification of the East Slavs around Kiev, attaching to it both the Viatichi and other groups to the southeast, notable in the Don area. Also, it brought under Russian control the entire flow of the Volga, and thus the great Volga-Caspian Sea trade route-a more ancient and perhaps more important north-south communication artery than the Dnieper way itself-whereas formerly the Russians had held only the upper reaches of the Volga. Yet the victory over the Khazrs had its reverse side; it weakened their effectiveness as a buffer against other Asiatic peoples, in particular the Pechenegs.166

In 968 Sviatoslav became involved in another major undertaking. On the invitation of the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus Phocas, he led a large army into the Balkans to attack the Bulgarian state in the Danubian valley. Once more the Russians achieved military successes, capturing the capital of the Bulgarians and taking prisoner their ruler Boris, although they had to interrupt the campaign to defeat the Pechenegs, who in 969 in the absence of Sviatoslav and his troops had besieged Kiev. Sviatoslav, who thus came to control the territory from the Volga to the Danubian plain, apparently liked the Balkan lands especially well. According to the Primary Chronicle, he declared: "I do not care to remain in Kiev, but should prefer to live in Pereiaslavets on the Danube, since that is the center of my realm, there all riches are concentrated: gold, silk, wine, and various fruits from Greece, silver and horses from Hungary and Bohemia, and from Russia fur, wax, honey, and slaves."166

But the Byzantine state, ruled from 969 by the famous military leader Emperor John Tzinisces, had become aware of the new danger. As Sviatoslav would not leave the Balkans, a bitter war ensued. In his characteristic manner the Russian prince rapidly crossed the Balkan mountains and invaded the Byzantine Empire, capturing Philippopolis and threatening Adrianople and Constantinople itself. However, Emperor John managed to restore his position in Asia, and to shift his main effort to the Balkans. He counterattacked, crossing in his turn the Balkan range and capturing Great Preslav, the Bulgarian capital. The Russian army, its line of communication endangered, had to retreat to the fortress of Dorostolon on the Danube, which, after a hard-fought battle, Emperor John placed under siege. Following more desperate fighting, in July 971 Sviatoslav was finally reduced to making peace with Byzantium on condition of abandoning the Balkans, as well as the Crimea and promising not to challenge the Byzantine Empire in the future. On his way back to Russia with a small retinue, Sviatoslav was killed by the Pechenegs. Tradition has it that the Pecheneg khan had a drinking cup made out of Sviatoslav's skull. Byzantine sources indicated that Sviatoslav fought at the head of 60,000 troops, of whom 22,000 remained when peace was concluded.166

After the death of his mother Olga in 969, Sviatoslav, constantly away with the army, entrusted the administration of the Kiev area to his elder son Iaropolk, dispatched the second son Oleg to govern the territory of the Drevliane, and sent the third, the young Vladimir, with an older relative to manage Novgorod.166

In the tenth century the Russian prince and conqueror, Sviatoslav, built a vast empire spreading from the Volga to the Dnieper and Danube rivers, and from Kiev to Novgorod.167