The imperial army retreats from the Sofia Valley towards Ihtiman, where it stops for the night.

The rumors that the Bulgarians have barred the nearby mountain routes stir commotion among the soldiers and on the following day the retreat continues in growing disorder.

When the Bulgarians under Samuel see this, they rush to the enemy camp and the retreat turns to flight.

The imperial advance guard manages to squeeze through slopes which have not yet been taken by the Bulgarian attackers.

The rest of the army is surrounded by the Bulgarians.

Only the elite Armenian unit from the infantry manages to break out with heavy casualties and to lead their Emperor to safety through secondary routes.

Enormous numbers of the Empire’s soldiers perish in the battle; the rest are captured along with the Imperial insignia.

The disaster of the campaign in Bulgaria in 986 is a blow to the consolidation of the monocracy of Basil II, who also loses his personal treasure to the victors.

Soon after the Battle of the Gates of Trajan, the nobility in Asia Minor, led by the general Bardas Phokas, rebels against Basil II for three years.