The words torna, torna fratre recorded in connection with a Roman campaign across the Balkan Mountains by Theophylact Simocatta and Theophanes the Confessor evidence the development of a Romance language in the late 6th century. The words were shouted in native parlance by a local soldier in 587 or 588. When narrating the rebellion of Bulgar noble Kuber and his people against the Avars, the 7th-century Miracles of St. Demetrius mentions that a close supporter of his, Mauros spoke four languages, including our language (Greek) and that of the Romans (Latin). Kuber led a population of mixed origin - including the descendants of Roman provincials who had been captured in the Balkans in the early 7th century - from the region of Sirmium to Thessaloniki around 681.