A very interesting historical figure is the Russian Prince Oleg. His date of birth is not known for certain. The chronicle says that Rurik, on his deathbed, appointed Prince Oleg as the guardian of his son Igor and placed him over the Novgorod principality. It was the right decision. Oleg, in fact, replaced Igor's father and raised him as a fairly educated and strong person.
At that time, the main goal of the princes was to expand the territories of their principalities through peaceful subjugation or the conquest of new lands. This became one of the main goals of Prince Oleg. He decided to establish full control over the trade route to Byzantium by conquering the principality of Kyiv, which was the center of Russian trade. At that time, governors Askold and Dir reigned in Kyiv, who arbitrarily seized power. In 882, a diverse squad led by Prince Oleg set out on a campaign. He took Igor with him.
As the chronicle says, when the army led by Prince Oleg approached the city on boats, he asked Askold and Dir to meet with him. His squad allegedly stopped at the city, moving on a campaign to the south. When the Kyiv rulers went down to the boats,Oleg showed them Igor and said that they were not princes and not of a princely family, but he was the son of Rurik. After that, the Novgorod warriors treacherously killed the Kyiv rulers. The inhabitants of the city did not dare to oppose Prince Oleg. In addition, many coastal tribes voluntarily submitted to his authority.
At that time, the Slavs were subjected to raids by the Pechenegs and paid tribute to the rulers for protection. Soon, the campaigns and activities of Prince Oleg led to the fact that the southern borders of the state became more secure. At the same time, the prince continued to subjugate other Slavic tribes, which were more distant from the Dnieper, to his power. Often it was necessary to act by force, because not everyone wanted to pay tribute. However, as a result of many difficult campaigns, Oleg managed to politically unite the Eastern Slavs and, in fact, create the first Russian state. Already at the beginning of the 10th century, the names of tribes can rarely be found in the annals. They gave way to regions and cities.
According to the annals, in 907 the prince carried out a campaign against Constantinople. His army set off on boats, of which there were at least two thousand. The cavalry moved along the shore. Nestor the chronicler says that the Byzantines closed themselves in the city, leaving its surroundings to be plundered. He also talks about the cruelty of the prince's warriors, who tortured the local population and drowned people alive in the sea.
As a result, the Byzantines sued for peace and agreed to pay tribute, which amounted to 12 silver hryvnias per person. After that wasa fairly competent peace treaty, even by today's standards, was signed. According to him, Russian merchants received privileges and could trade duty-free. An interesting fact is that in the service of the Byzantine emperors then there were many Russians. Preachers and priests traveled from Byzantium to Russia, which led to an increase in Christians.
Oleg died in 912. According to legend, the prince was predicted that his beloved horse would bring death to him. Oleg was a superstitious person and did not sit on him anymore, although he loved him very much. However, after many years, remembering his horse, he went to look at his remains. As a result, the prince died from a snake bite that crawled out of the animal's skull.
