Editing 997 (section)

==== Byzantine Empire ====
* [[July 16]] &ndash; [[Battle of Spercheios]]: [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] forces, under General [[Nikephoros Ouranos]], defeat the Bulgarians at the [[Spercheios|Spercheios River]] in [[Greece]]. During a night battle, the Bulgarian co-ruler [[Samuel of Bulgaria|Samuel]] is wounded; he and his son [[Gavril Radomir of Bulgaria|Gavril Radomir]] evade capture, by feigning death among the bodies of their slain soldiers. Samuel sets off to [[first Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]], and retreats with the remnants of his army, into the [[Pindus|Pindus Mountains]]. Ouranos returns to [[Constantinople]], with 1,000 heads of Bulgarian soldiers and 12,000 captives.<ref>Paul Stephenson (2003). ''The Legend of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer'', Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-81530-4}}.</ref>