The First Arab Siege of Constantinople in 674–678 was a major conflict of the Arab–Byzantine Wars, and the first culmination of the Umayyad Caliphate's expansionist strategy towards the Byzantine Empire, led by Caliph Mu'awiya I. Mu'awiya, who had emerged in 661 as the ruler of the Muslim Arab empire following a civil war, renewed aggressive warfare against Byzantium after a lapse of some years and hoped to deliver a lethal blow by capturing the Byzantine capital, Constantinople.

As reported by the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes the Confessor, the Arab attack was methodical: in 672–673 Arab fleets secured bases along the coasts of Asia Minor, and then proceeded to install a loose blockade around Constantinople, they used the peninsula of Cyzicus near the city as a base to spend the winter, and returned every spring to launch attacks against the city's fortifications. Finally, the Byzantines, under Emperor Constantine IV, managed to destroy the Arab navy using a new invention, the liquid incendiary substance known as Greek fire, the Arab land army in Asia Minor was also defeated by the Byzantines, forcing the Arabs to lift the siege. The Byzantine victory was of major importance for the survival of the Byzantine state, as the Arab threat receded for a time. A peace treaty was signed soon after, and following the outbreak of another Muslim civil war, the Byzantines even experienced a period of ascendancy over the Caliphate.

The siege left several traces in the legends of the nascent Muslim world, although it is conflated with accounts of another expedition against the city a few years previously, led by the future Caliph Yazid I, as a result, the veracity of Theophanes's account has been questioned by recent scholarship, which places more emphasis on the Arabic and Syriac sources.

The peace lasted until the end of the Muslim civil war in 661, from which Mu'awiya and his clan emerged victorious, establishing the Umayyad Caliphate,[4] from the next year, Muslim attacks recommenced, with pressure mounting as Muslim armies began wintering on Byzantine soil west of the Taurus range, maximizing the disruption caused to the Byzantine economy. These land expeditions were sometimes coupled with naval raids against the coasts of southern Asia Minor;[5] in 668, the Arabs sent aid to Saborios, strategos of the Armeniac Theme, who had rebelled and proclaimed himself emperor. The Arab troops under Fadhala ibn 'Ubayd arrived too late to assist Saborios, who had died after falling from his horse, and they spent the winter in the Hexapolis around Melitene awaiting reinforcements.[6]

In spring 669, after receiving additional troops, Fadhala entered Asia Minor and advanced as far as Chalcedon, on the Asian shore of the Bosporus across from the Byzantine capital, Constantinople. The Arab attacks on Chalcedon were repelled, and the Arab army was decimated by famine and disease. Mu'awiya dispatched another army, led by his son (and future Caliph) Yazid, to Fadhala's aid. Accounts of what followed differ, the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes the Confessor reports that the Arabs remained before Chalcedon for a while before returning to Syria, and that on their way they captured and garrisoned Amorium. This was the first time the Arabs tried to hold a captured fortress in the interior of Asia Minor beyond the campaigning season, and probably meant that the Arabs intended to return next year and use the town as their base, but Amorium was retaken by the Byzantines during the subsequent winter, the Arab sources on the other hand report that the Muslims crossed over into Europe and launched an unsuccessful attack on Constantinople itself, before returning to Syria.[7] Given the lack of any mention of such an assault in Byzantine sources, it is most probable that the Arab chroniclers—taking account of Yazid's presence and the fact that Chalcedon is a suburb of Constantinople—"upgraded" the attack on Chalcedon to an attack on the Byzantine capital itself.[8]

The campaign of 669 clearly demonstrated to the Arabs the possibility of a direct strike at Constantinople, as well as the necessity of having a supply base in the region, this was found in the peninsula of Cyzicus on the southern shore of the Sea of Marmara, where a raiding fleet under Fadhala ibn 'Ubayd wintered in 670 or 671.[9] Mu'awiya now began preparing his final assault on the Byzantine capital; in contrast to Yazid's expedition, Mu'awiya intended to take a coastal route to Constantinople.[10] The undertaking was not haphazard, but followed a careful, phased approach: first the Muslims had to secure strongpoints and bases along the coast, and then, with Cyzicus as a base, Constantinople would be blockaded by land and sea and cut off from its agrarian hinterland, on which it depended for its food supply.[11]

Accordingly, in 672 three great Muslim fleets were dispatched to secure the sea lanes and establish bases between Syria and the Aegean. Muhammad ibn Abdallah's fleet wintered at Smyrna, a fleet under a certain Qays (perhaps Abdallah ibn Qays) wintered in Lycia and Cilicia, and a third fleet, under Khalid, joined them later. According to the report of Theophanes, the Emperor Constantine IV (r. 661–685), upon learning of the Arab fleets' approach, began equipping his own fleet for war. Constantine's armament included siphon-bearing ships intended for the deployment of a newly developed incendiary substance, Greek fire;[12] in 673, another Arab fleet, under Gunada ibn Abu Umayya, captured Tarsus in Cilicia, as well as Rhodes. The latter, located midway between Syria and Constantinople, was converted into a forward supply base and centre for Muslim naval raids, its garrison of 12,000 men was regularly rotated back to Syria, a small fleet was attached to it for defence and raiding, and the Arabs even sowed wheat and brought along animals to graze on the island. The Byzantines attempted to obstruct the Arab plans with a naval attack on Egypt, but it was unsuccessful.[13] Throughout this period, overland raids into Asia Minor continued, and the Arab troops wintered on Byzantine soil.[14]

In 674, the Arab fleet sailed from its bases in the eastern Aegean and entered the Sea of Marmara. According to the account of Theophanes, they landed on the Thracian shore near Hebdomon in April, and until September were engaged in constant clashes with the Byzantine troops, as the Byzantine chronicler reports, "Every day there was a military engagement from morning until evening, between the outworks of the Golden Gate and the Kyklobion, with thrust and counter-thrust". Then the Arabs departed and made for Cyzicus, which they captured and converted into a fortified camp to spend the winter in, this set the pattern that continued throughout the siege: each spring, the Arabs crossed the Marmara and assaulted Constantinople, withdrawing to Cyzicus for the winter.[15] In fact, the "siege" of Constantinople was a series of engagements around the city, which may even be stretched to include Yazid's 669 attack,[16] it should also be noted that both Byzantine and Arab chroniclers record the siege as lasting for seven years instead of five. This can be reconciled either by including the opening campaigns of 672–673, or by counting the years until the final withdrawal of the Arab troops from their forward bases, in 680.[17]

Depiction of the use of Greek fire, from the Madrid Skylitzes. It was used for the first time during the first Arab siege of Constantinople, in 677 or 678.[18]

The details of the clashes around Constantinople are unclear, as Theophanes condenses the siege in his account of the first year, and the Arab chroniclers do not mention the siege at all but merely provide the names of leaders of unspecified expeditions into Byzantine territory,[19] thus from the Arab sources it is only known that Abdallah ibn Qays and Fadhala ibn 'Ubayd raided Crete and wintered there in 675, while in the same year Malik ibn Abdallah led a raid into Asia Minor. The Arab historians Ibn Wadih and al-Tabari report that Yazid was dispatched by Mu'awiya with reinforcements to Constantinople in 676, and record that Abdallah ibn Qays led a campaign in 677, whose target is unknown.[20] At the same time, the Byzantines had to face a Slavic attack on Thessalonica and Lombard attacks in Italy.[21] Finally, in autumn 677 or early 678 Constantine IV resolved to confront the Arab besiegers in a head-on engagement, his fleet, equipped with Greek fire, routed the Arab fleet. It is probable that the death of admiral Yazid ibn Shagara, reported by Arab chroniclers for 677/678, is related to this defeat, at about the same time, the Muslim army in Asia Minor, under the command of Sufyan ibn 'Awf, was defeated by the Byzantine army under the generals Phloros, Petron and Cyprian, losing 30,000 men according to Theophanes. These defeats forced the Arabs to abandon the siege in 678, on its way back to Syria, the Arab fleet was almost annihilated in a storm off Syllaion.[22]

The essential outline of Theophanes' account may be corroborated by the only near-contemporary Byzantine reference to the siege, a celebratory poem by the otherwise unknown Theodosius Grammaticus, which was earlier believed to refer to the second Arab siege of 717–718. Theodosius' poem commemorates a decisive naval victory before the walls of the city—with the interesting detail that the Arab fleet too possessed fire-throwing ships—and makes a reference to "the fear of their returning shadows", which may be interpreted as confirming the recurring Arab attacks each spring from their base in Cyzicus.[23]

Constantinople was the nerve centre of the Byzantine state. Had it fallen, the Empire's remaining provinces would have been unlikely to hold together, and would have become easy prey for the Arabs,[24] at the same time, the failure of the Arab attack on Constantinople was a momentous event in itself. It marked the culmination of Mu'awiya's campaign of attrition, pursued steadily since 661. Immense resources were poured into the undertaking, including the creation of a huge fleet, its failure had similarly important repercussions, and represented a major blow to the Caliph's prestige.[25] Conversely, Byzantine prestige reached new heights, especially in the West: Constantine IV received envoys from the Avars and the Balkan Slavs, bearing gifts and congratulations and acknowledging Byzantine supremacy,[18] the subsequent peace also gave a much-needed respite from constant raiding to Asia Minor, and allowed the Byzantine state to recover its balance and consolidate itself following the cataclysmic changes of the previous decades.[26]

The failure of the Arabs before Constantinople coincided with the increased activity of the Mardaites, a Christian group living in the mountains of Syria that resisted Muslim control and raided the lowlands. Faced with this new threat, and after the immense losses suffered against the Byzantines, Mu'awiya began negotiations for a truce, with embassies exchanged between the two courts, these were drawn out until 679, giving the Arabs time for a last raid into Asia Minor under 'Amr ibn Murra, perhaps intended to put pressure on the Byzantines. The peace treaty, of a nominal 30-year duration, provided that the Caliph would pay an annual tribute of 3,000 nomismata, 50 horses and 50 slaves, the Arab garrisons were withdrawn from their bases on the Byzantine coastlands, including Rhodes, in 679–680.[27]

Constantine IV used the peace to proceed against the mounting Bulgar menace in the Balkans, but his huge army, comprising all the available forces of the Empire, was decisively beaten, opening the way for the establishment of a Bulgar state in the northeastern Balkans.[28] In the Muslim world, after the death of Mu'awiya in 680, the various forces of opposition within the Caliphate manifested themselves, the Caliphate's division during this Second Muslim Civil War allowed Byzantium to achieve not only peace, but also a position of predominance on its eastern frontier. Armenia and Iberia reverted for a time to Byzantine control, and Cyprus became a condominium between Byzantium and the Caliphate.[29] The peace lasted until Justinian II (r. 685–695 and 705–711) broke it in 693, with devastating consequences: the Byzantines were defeated, Justinian was deposed and a twenty-year period of anarchy followed. Muslim incursions intensified, leading to a second Arab attempt at conquering Constantinople in 717–718, which also proved unsuccessful.[30]

Later Arab sources dwell extensively on the events of Yazid's 669 expedition and supposed attack on Constantinople, including various mythical anecdotes, which are taken by modern scholarship to refer to the events of the 674–678 siege. Several important personalities of early Islam are mentioned as taking part, such as Ibn Abbas, Ibn Umar and Ibn al-Zubayr.[31] The most prominent among them in later tradition is Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, one of the early companions (Ansari) and standard-bearer of Muhammad, who died of illness before the city walls during the siege and was buried there. According to Muslim tradition, Constantine IV threatened to destroy his tomb, but the Caliph warned that if he did so, the Christians under his rule would suffer, thus the tomb was left in peace, and even became a site of veneration by the Byzantines, who prayed there in times of drought. The tomb was "rediscovered" after the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 by the dervish Sheikh Ak Shams al-Din, and Sultan Mehmed II (r. 1444–1446, 1451–1481) ordered the construction of a marble tomb and a mosque adjacent to it. It became a tradition that Ottoman sultans were girt with the Sword of Osman at the Eyüp mosque upon their accession. Today it remains one of the holiest Muslim shrines in Istanbul.[32]

The narrative on the siege accepted by modern historians relies largely on Theophanes' account, while the Arab and Syriac sources do not mention any siege, but rather individual campaigns, only a few of which reached as far as Constantinople, thus the capture of an island named Arwad "in the sea of Kustantiniyya" is recorded for 673/674, although it is unclear if this refers to the Sea of Marmara or the Aegean, and Yazid's 676 expedition is also said to have reached Constantinople. The Syriac chroniclers also disagree with Theophanes in placing the decisive battle and destruction of the Arab fleet by Greek fire in 674, during an Arab expedition against the coasts of Lycia and Cilicia, rather than Constantinople, this was followed by the landing of Byzantine forces in Syria in 677/678, which began the Mardaite uprising that threatened the Caliphate's grip on Syria enough to result in the peace agreement of 678/679.[37]

Based on a re-evaluation of the original sources used by the medieval historians, the Oxford scholar James Howard-Johnston, in his acclaimed[38] 2010 book Witnesses to a World Crisis: Historians and Histories of the Middle East in the Seventh Century, rejects the traditional interpretation of events, based on Theophanes, in favour of the Syriac chroniclers' version. Howard-Johnston asserts that no siege actually took place, based not only on its absence in the eastern sources, but also on the logistical impossibility of such an undertaking for the duration reported. Instead, he believes that the reference to a siege was a later interpolation, influenced by the events of the second Arab siege of 717–718, by an anonymous source that was then used by Theophanes. According to Howard-Johnston, "The blockade of Constantinople in the 670s is a myth which has been allowed to mask the very real success achieved by the Byzantines in the last decade of Mu'awiya’s caliphate, first by sea off Lycia and then on land, through an insurgency which, before long, aroused deep anxiety among the Arabs, conscious as they were that they had merely coated the Middle East with their power".[39]

^Jenkins, Philip (2008). The Lost History of Christianity: the Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia – and How It Died. New York: Harper Collins. pp. 64–68. ISBN978-0-06-147280-0.

^Foster, John (1939). The Church in T'ang Dynasty. Great Britain: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. p. 3.

Constantinople
–
Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. The firs

1.
Constantinople in the Byzantine era

2.
Map of Byzantine Constantinople

3.
Emperor Constantine I presents a representation of the city of Constantinople as tribute to an enthroned Mary and Christ Child in this church mosaic. Hagia Sophia, c. 1000

4.
Coin struck by Constantine I to commemorate the founding of Constantinople

Sea of Marmara
–
The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black Sea and the Dardanelles strait to the Aegean Sea. The former also separates Istanbul into its Asian and European sides, the sea has an area of 11,350 km² with the greatest depth reaching 1,370 m. The sea takes its name from the island of Marmara, which is rich in sources of marble, from the Greek μάρμαρ

1.
Photograph of the Sea of Marmara from space (STS-40, 1991). The sea is the light-colored body of water.

2.
Map of the Sea of Marmara

3.
This astronaut photograph highlights the metropolitan area of Izmit along the northern and eastern shores of the Sea of Marmara, at the end of the Gulf of Izmit.

4.
Sea of Marmara - From the dining room of the Rákóczi exile

Byzantine Empire
–
It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transit

Umayyad Caliphate
–
The Umayyad Caliphate, also spelled Omayyad, was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. This caliphate was centred on the Umayyad dynasty, hailing from Mecca, Syria remained the Umayyads main power base thereafter, and Damascus was their capital. The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests, incorporating th

Constantine IV
–
Constantine IV, sometimes incorrectly called Pogonatos, the Bearded, out of confusion with his father, was Byzantine Emperor from 668 to 685. The eldest son of Constans II, Constantine IV had been named a co-emperor with his father in 654 and he had been given the responsibility of managing the affairs at Constantinople during his father’s extended

3.
A solidus showing Constantine and his brothers, minted before 681 when the latter were mutilated.

Yazid I
–
Yazīd ibn Mu‘āwiya, commonly known as Yazid I, was the second Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. Yazid was the Caliph as appointed by his father Muawiyah I, according to some sources Muawiyah warned his son Yazid against mistreating Hussein ibn Ali, grandson of Muhammad. The appointment of Yazid was unpopular in Madina too, narrated by Yusuf bin Maha

1.
Yazid I

Battle of Firaz
–
The Battle of Firaz was the last battle of the Muslim Arab commander Khalid ibn al-Walid in Mesopotamia against the combined forces of the Byzantine Empire, Sassanid Empire, and Christian Arabs. The result of the battle was a victory for Khalid and the first Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia, the Muslim conquest of the Persian Empire was complete afte

1.
Battle of Firaz

Muslim conquest of the Levant
–
During the Roman period, beginning after the fall of Jerusalem in the year 70, the entire region was renamed Palaestina, subdivided into Diocese I and II. The Romans also renamed an area of land including the Negev, Sinai, part of the area was ruled by the Arab vassal state of the Ghassanids symmachos. Thus, on the eve of the Muslim conquests the R

Battle of Bosra
–
The Battle of Bosra was fought in 634 between the Rashidun Caliphate army and the Byzantine Empire for the possession of Bosra, in Syria. The city, then capital of the Ghassanid kingdom, a Byzantine vassal, was the first important one to be captured by the Islamic forces, the siege lasted between June and July 634. Caliph Abu Bakr sent his four cor

Siege of Damascus (634)
–
The Siege of Damascus lasted from 21 August to 19 September 634 AD before the city fell to the Rashidun Caliphate. Damascus was the first major city of the Byzantine empire to fall in the Muslim conquest of Syria, the last of the Roman-Persian Wars ended in 627, when Heraclius concluded a successful campaign against the Persians in Mesopotamia. At

1.
Kisan Gate, one of the six ancient gates of Damascus.

2.
Wall of Damascus at the Thomas gate. Although now only 7 m high, it was 11 m high at the time of the siege. Damascus has risen 4 meters since then. [clarification needed]

3.
Remains of the Eastern gate. Khalid's troops entered Damascus through this gate.

4.
The dome of Damascus' treasury in the Umayyad Mosque

Battle of Yarmouk
–
The Battle of Yarmouk was a major battle between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim Arab forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. The result of the battle was a complete Muslim victory which ended Byzantine rule in Syria, in order to check the Arab advance and to recover lost territory, Emperor Heraclius had sent a massive expedition to the L

1.
Across the ravines lies the battlefield of Yarmouk, this picture taken about 8 miles away, from Jordan.

Siege of Jerusalem (637)
–
The Siege of Jerusalem was part of a military conflict which took place in the year 637 between the Byzantine Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate. It began when the Rashidun army, under the command of Abu Ubaidah, after six months, the Patriarch Sophronius agreed to surrender, on condition that he submit only to the Rashidun caliph. In April 637, Cal

1.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem, is one of the most sacred sites for Muslims.

Battle of the Iron Bridge
–
The Battle of the Iron Bridge was fought between the Muslim Rashidun army and the Byzantine army in 637 AD. The battle took its name from a nearby stone bridge spanning the Orontes River which had gates trimmed with iron. It was one of the last battles fought between the Byzantines and Rashidun Caliphate in the province of Syria, the aftermath of t

Muslim conquest of Egypt
–
At the commencement of the Muslim conquest of Egypt, Egypt was part of the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire, which had its capital at Constantinople. Before the Muslim conquest of Egypt had begun, the Byzantines had already lost the Levant and its Arab ally, all of this left the Byzantine Empire dangerously exposed and vulnerable. In December 639, Am

1.
Muslim conquest of Egypt

2.
Pyramids of Giza.

3.
Ancient Roman theaters in Alexandria.

Muslim conquest of the Maghreb
–
The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb continued the century of rapid Arab Muslim military expansion following the death of Muhammad in 632 AD. It was at point that Arab military expeditions into North African regions west of Egypt were first launched, continuing for years. The Byzantine navy would be defeated in the eastern Mediterranean, beginning in

Battle of Carthage (698)
–
The Battle of Carthage was fought in 698 between a Byzantine expeditionary force and the armies of the fifth Umayyad Caliphate. Having lost Carthage to the Muslims, Emperor Leontius sent the navy under the command of John the Patrician and they entered the harbor and successfully recaptured it in a stunning surprise attack, which resulted in the ci

1.
Carthages close proximity to Rome was dangerous to the Empire

Umayyad
–
The Umayyad Caliphate, also spelled Omayyad, was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. This caliphate was centred on the Umayyad dynasty, hailing from Mecca, Syria remained the Umayyads main power base thereafter, and Damascus was their capital. The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests, incorporating th

Anatolia
–
Anatolia, in geography known as Asia Minor, Asian Turkey, Anatolian peninsula, or Anatolian plateau, is the westernmost protrusion of Asia, which makes up the majority of modern-day Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas

Siege of Tyana
–
The Siege of Tyana was carried out by the Umayyad Caliphate in 707–708 or 708–709 in retaliation for a heavy defeat of an Umayyad army under Maimun the Mardaite by the Byzantine Empire in c. The Arab army invaded Byzantine territory and laid siege to the city in summer 707 or 708, the date is uncertain, as virtually each of the extant Greek, Arabic

1.
Map of the Arab-Byzantine frontier zone

Siege of Nicaea (727)
–
The Siege of Nicaea of 727 was an unsuccessful attempt by the Umayyad Caliphate to capture the Byzantine city of Nicaea, the capital of the Opsician Theme. Ever since its failure to capture the Byzantine Empires capital, Constantinople, in 717–718, in 727, the Arab army, led by one of the Caliphs sons, penetrated deep into Asia Minor, sacked two By

1.
Map of Anatolia (Asia Minor) in 740 AD. Nicaea is located at the northwestern corner of the Anatolian peninsula

Battle of Akroinon
–
The Battle of Akroinon was fought at Akroinon or Akroinos in Phrygia, on the western edge of the Anatolian plateau, in 740 between an Umayyad Arab army and the Byzantine forces. The Arabs had been conducting raids into Anatolia for the past century. The battle resulted in a decisive Byzantine victory, since the beginning of the Muslim conquests, th

1.
Map of Anatolia (Asia Minor) in 740 AD. Akroinon is located at the center of the western edge of the central Anatolian plateau

Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (782)
–
The Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor in 782 was one of the largest operations launched by the Abbasid Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire. The invasion was launched as a display of Abbasid military might in the aftermath of a series of Byzantine successes, as Harun did not intend to assault Constantinople and lacked ships to do so, he turned back.

Battle of Kopidnadon
–
The Battle of Kopidnadon or Kopidnados took place in September 788 between the armies of the Abbasid Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire. The Abbasid army launched an invasion of Byzantine Asia Minor, and was confronted by a Byzantine force at Kopidnadon, the resulting battle was an Abbasid victory. Among the Byzantine losses was a certain Diogenes,

1.
Asia Minor and the Byzantine-Arab frontier ca. 780 AD

Battle of Krasos
–
The Battle of Krasos was a battle in the Arab–Byzantine Wars that took place in August 804, between the Byzantines under Emperor Nikephoros I and an Abbasid army under Ibrahim ibn Jibril. Nikephoros accession in 802 resulted in a resumption of warfare between Byzantium and the Abbasid Caliphate, in late summer 804, the Abbasids had invaded Byzantin

1.
Anatolia and the Byzantine-Arab frontier ca. 780 AD

Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (806)
–
The Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor in 806 was the largest operation ever launched by the Abbasid Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire. Following Haruns departure, however, Nikephoros violated the terms of the treaty, Haruns preoccupation with a rebellion in Khurasan, and his death three years later, prohibited a reprisal on a similar scale. Moreo

1.
Map of the Muslim expansion and the Muslim world under the Umayyad and early Abbasid caliphates, 7th–mid-10th centuries

Battle of Anzen
–
The Battle of Anzen or Dazimon was fought on 22 July 838 at Anzen or Dazimon between the Byzantine Empire and the forces of the Abbasid Caliphate. Theophilos with his army confronted the smaller Muslim army, under the Iranian vassal prince Afshin, coupled with a fierce counterattack by Afshins Turkish horse-archers, the Byzantine army broke and fle

1.
The Byzantine army and Theophilos retreat towards a mountain, miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes.

2.
Map of the Byzantine and Arab campaigns in the years 837–838

3.
The Emperor Theophilos and his court, miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes chronicle.

Sack of Amorium
–
The Sack of Amorium by the Abbasid Caliphate in mid-August 838 was one of the major events in the long history of the Arab–Byzantine Wars. Mutasim targeted Amorium, a Byzantine city in western Asia Minor, because it was the birthplace of the ruling Byzantine dynasty and, at the time, the caliph gathered an exceptionally large army, which he divided

1.
Follis of a new type, minted in large quantities in celebration of Theophilos's victories against the Arabs from ca. 835 on. On the obverse, he is represented in triumphal attire, wearing the toupha, and on the reverse the traditional acclamation "Theophilos Augustus, you conquer".

3.
Miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes depicting the Arab siege of Amorium

4.
Miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes depicting the embassy of the tourmarches Basil to al-Mu'tasim (seated) after the fall of Amorium.

Battle of Mauropotamos
–
The Battle of Mauropotamos was fought in 844, between the armies of the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate, at Mauropotamos. After a failed Byzantine attempt to recover the Emirate of Crete in the previous year, the Byzantine regent, Theoktistos, headed the army that went to meet the invasion but was heavily defeated, and many of his office

Capture of Faruriyyah
–
The Capture of Faruriyyah in 862 was a military campaign conducted by the Abbasid Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire. Planned during the caliphate of al-Muntasir, it was commanded by the Turkish general Wasif. Al-Muntasir became caliph on December 11,861, after his father al-Mutawakkil was assassinated by members of his Turkish guard, al-Muntas

1.
Map of Byzantine Asia Minor and the Byzantine-Arab frontier region in the middle of the 9th century

Battle of Lalakaon
–
The Battle of Lalakaon or the Battle of Poson was fought in 863 between the Byzantine Empire and an invading Arab army in Paphlagonia. Umar al-Aqta was able to overcome the initial Byzantine resistance against his invasion, the Byzantines then mobilized all their forces, and the Arab army was encircled near the River Lalakaon. The subsequent battle

2.
The success of the Battle of Lalakaon and its follow-up operations enabled the Empire to focus its might against Bulgaria, leading to its successful Christianization. Depiction of the baptism of the Bulgarians from the Manasses Chronicle.

Battle of Bathys Ryax
–
The Battle of Bathys Ryax was fought in 872 or 878 between the Byzantine Empire and the Paulicians. The battle was a decisive Byzantine victory, resulting in the rout of the Paulician army and this event destroyed the power of the Paulician state and removed a major threat to Byzantium, heralding the fall of Tephrike itself and the annexation of th

1.
Gold coin of the Emperor Basil I. The victory of Bathys Ryax and the subsequent dissolution of the Paulician state were among the major triumphs of his reign.

2.
Map of Byzantine Asia Minor and the Byzantine-Arab frontier region in the middle of the 9th century

Muslim conquest of Sicily
–
The Muslim conquest of Sicily began in June 827 and lasted until 902, when the last major Byzantine stronghold on the island, Taormina, fell. Isolated fortresses remained in Byzantine hands until 965, but the island was henceforth under Muslim rule until conquered in turn by the Normans in the 11th century. Although Sicily had been raided by the Mu

1.
Europe and the Mediterranean on the eve of the Muslim invasion of Sicily

History of Islam in southern Italy
–
The history of Islam in southern Italy began with the first Muslim settlement in Sicily, at Mazara, which was captured in 827. The subsequent rule of Sicily and Malta started in the 10th century, Islamic rule over all Sicily began in 902, and the Emirate of Sicily lasted from 965 until 1061. The Muslim raids were part of a struggle for power in Ita

1.
Arabic painting made for the Norman kings (c. 1150) in the Palazzo dei Normanni, originally the emir's palace at Palermo.

2.
The joint capture of Bari by Byzantine and Franco-Lombard troops led by the Emperor Louis II in 871.

Nikephoros Phokas the Elder
–
In ca.886 he led a major expedition in southern Italy, where his victories laid the foundation for the Byzantine resurgence in the peninsula. He died either in 895/6 or, less likely, sometime ca, contemporaries and later historians lauded him for his military ability and character. Both of his sons succeeded him as Domestics of the Schools. His gra

1.
Byzantine troops under Nikephoros Phokas capture the town of Amantia in Italy. Miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes

2.
The Magyars pursue Simeon to Dorystolon, miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes

Marianos Argyros
–
Marianos Argyros was a Byzantine aristocrat and member of the Argyros family. A monk, in 944 he supported the assumption of rule by Constantine VII. He held a succession of military commands, fighting in southern Italy against local rebels and the Fatimids. In 963, he tried to oppose the takeover of the throne by the general Nikephoros Phokas by as

George Maniakes
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George Maniakes was a prominent Byzantine Greek general during the 11th century, he was the catepan of Italy in 1042. He is known as Gyrgir in Scandinavian sagas and he is popularly said to have been extremely tall and well built, almost a giant. Maniakes first became prominent during a campaign in 1030–1031, when the Byzantine Empire was defeated

1.
Maniakes conquering Edessa

2.
The Byzantines under George Maniakes land at Sicily and defeat the Arabs

Emirate of Crete
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The Emirate of Crete was a Muslim state that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete from the late 820s to the Byzantine reconquest of the island in 961. Although the emirate recognized the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate and maintained ties with Tulunid Egypt. A group of Andalusian exiles conquered Crete in c.824 or in 827/828, the Byzant

3.
Ooryphas punishes the Cretan Saracens, as depicted in the Madrid Skylitzes

Battle of Thasos

1.
Map of the Arab–Byzantine naval conflict in the Mediterranean, 7th–11th centuries

Sack of Damietta (853)
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The Sack of Damietta was a successful raid on the port city of Damietta on the Nile Delta by the Byzantine navy on 22–24 May 853. The city, whose garrison was absent at the time, was sacked and plundered, yielding not only many captives but also large quantities of weapons and these losses ushered in an era where Saracen pirates raided the Christia

1.
Map of the Arab–Byzantine naval conflict in the Mediterranean, 7th–11th centuries

Sack of Thessalonica (904)
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The Sack of Thessalonica in 904 by Saracen pirates was one of the worst disasters to befall the Byzantine Empire in the 10th century. A Muslim fleet, led by the renegade Leo of Tripoli, the Muslims were deterred from attacking Constantinople, and instead turned to Thessalonica, totally surprising the Byzantines, whose navy was unable to react in ti

John Kourkouas
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John Kourkouas, also transliterated as Kurkuas or Curcuas, was one of the most important generals of the Byzantine Empire. His success in battles against the Muslim states in the East definitively reversed the course of the centuries-long Byzantine–Arab Wars, Kourkouas belonged to a family of Armenian descent that produced several notable Byzantine

1.
Gold coin (solidus) of Romanos I Lekapenos, depicting him and his eldest son (and co-emperor from 921 on), Christopher.

Sayf al-Dawla
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After the failure of these endeavours, the ambitious Sayf al-Dawla turned towards Syria, where he confronted the ambitions of the Ikhshidids of Egypt to control the province. After two wars with them, his authority over northern Syria, centred at Aleppo, and the western Jazira, centred at Mayyafariqin, was recognized by the Ikhshidids and the Calip

Battle of Marash (953)
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Despite being outnumbered, the Arabs defeated the Byzantines who broke and fled. This debacle, coupled with defeats in 954 and again in 955, led to Bardas Phokas dismissal as Domestic of the Schools, after his establishment of a large domain centred on Aleppo in 945, the Hamdanid prince began confronting the Byzantines on an annual basis. Sayf al-D

1.
Map of the Arab-Byzantine frontier zone

Battle of Raban
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The battle was a major victory for the Byzantines, and contributed to the demise of Hamdanid military power, which in the early 950s had proven a great challenge to Byzantium. His main enemy during the first decade of conflict with the Byzantines was the Domestic of the Schools Bardas Phokas. After a few initial failures, Sayf al-Dawla quickly esta

1.
Map of the Arab-Byzantine frontier zone

Battle of Andrassos
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Taking advantage of the absence of much of the Byzantine army on campaign against the Emirate of Crete, the Hamdanid prince invaded Asia Minor and raided widely. On his return, however, his army was ambushed by Leo Phokas at the pass of Andrassos, Sayf al-Dawla himself barely escaped, but his army was annihilated. Following a series of Byzantine de

Nikephoros II Phokas
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Nikephoros II Phokas was Byzantine Emperor from 963 to 969. His brilliant military exploits contributed to the resurgence of the Byzantine Empire during the 10th century and his mother, whose name is unknown, was a member of another powerful Anatolian Greek clan, the Maleinoi. Nikephoros joined the army at an early age and he was appointed the mili

1.
Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas

2.
Nikephoros' entry into Constantinople as Emperor through the Golden Gate in summer 963.

3.
Nikephoros II (at right) and his stepson Basil II.

John I Tzimiskes
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John I Tzimiskes was the senior Byzantine Emperor from 11 December 969 to 10 January 976. An intuitive and successful general, he strengthened the Empire and expanded its borders during his short reign, John I Tzimiskes was born into the Kourkouas clan, a family of Armenian origin. Scholars have speculated that his nickname Tzimiskes was derived ei

1.
Gold histamenon of John Tzimiskes, showing him crowned by the Virgin Mary.

2.
The Bamberger Gunthertuch, a Byzantine silk tapestry depicting the return of John Tzimiskes from a successful campaign.

Basil II
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Basil II was a Byzantine Emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025. He was known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his supposed ancestor, the early years of his long reign were dominated by civil war against powerful generals from the Anatolian aristocr

Battle of Azaz (1030)
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The Battle of Azaz was an engagement fought near the Syrian town of Azaz between the Byzantine army, led by Emperor Romanos III Argyros in person, and the forces of the Mirdasid Emirate of Aleppo. By the time the Mirdasid dynasty gained control of the city, Byzantine influence over Aleppo, after the Mirdasid emir Salih ibn Mirdas was killed by the

1.
The Arabs drive the Byzantines to flight at Azaz, miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes

1.
By the late 5th century, the Western Mediterranean had fallen into the hands of barbarian kingdoms. The conquests of Justinian I restored Roman control over the entire sea, which would last until the Muslim conquests in the latter half of the 7th century.

1.
Constantinople
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Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. The first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, Constantinople never truly recovered from the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and the decades of misrule by the Latins. The origins of the name of Byzantion, more known by the later Latin Byzantium, are not entirely clear. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas. The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was likely just a play on the word Byzantion. During this time, the city was also called Second Rome, Eastern Rome, and Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently, the medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr, and later Miklagard and Miklagarth. In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-kubra and in Persian as Takht-e Rum, in East and South Slavic languages, including in medieval Russia, Constantinople was referred to as Tsargrad or Carigrad, City of the Caesar, from the Slavonic words tsar and grad. This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις, the modern Turkish name for the city, İstanbul, derives from the Greek phrase eis tin polin, meaning into the city or to the city. In 1928, the Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script, in time the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpolis/Konstantinoúpoli or simply just the City, apart from this, little is known about this initial settlement, except that it was abandoned by the time the Megarian colonists settled the site anew. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbour. He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina, fortifying it with a new city wall in his name, Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330, Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis

Constantinople
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Constantinople in the Byzantine era
Constantinople
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Map of Byzantine Constantinople
Constantinople
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Emperor Constantine I presents a representation of the city of Constantinople as tribute to an enthroned Mary and Christ Child in this church mosaic. Hagia Sophia, c. 1000
Constantinople
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Coin struck by Constantine I to commemorate the founding of Constantinople

2.
Sea of Marmara
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The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black Sea and the Dardanelles strait to the Aegean Sea. The former also separates Istanbul into its Asian and European sides, the sea has an area of 11,350 km² with the greatest depth reaching 1,370 m. The sea takes its name from the island of Marmara, which is rich in sources of marble, from the Greek μάρμαρον, marble. The seas ancient Greek name Propontis derives from pro- and pontos, deriving from the fact that the Greeks sailed through it to reach the Black Sea, Pontos. The surface salinity of the sea averages about 22 parts per thousand, which is greater than that of the Black Sea. The water is more saline at the sea bottom, averaging salinities of around 38 parts per thousand. This high-density saline water, like that of the Black Sea, water from the Susurluk, Biga and Gonen Rivers also reduces the salinity of the sea, though with less influence than on the Black Sea. With little land in Thrace draining southward, almost all of these rivers flow from Anatolia, the sea contains the archipelago of the Prince Islands and Marmara Island, Avşa and Paşalimanı. The south coast of the sea is heavily indented, and includes the Gulf of İzmit, the Gulf of Gemlik Gulf of Bandırma and the Gulf of Erdek. During a storm on December 29,1999, the Russian oil tanker Volgoneft broke in two in the Sea of Marmara, and more than 1,500 tonnes of oil were spilled into the water. The North Anatolian Fault, which has triggered many major earthquakes in recent years, such as the August and November 1999 earthquakes in Izmit and Düzce, respectively, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Sea of Marmara as follows, On the West. The Dardanelles limit of the Aegean Sea, a line joining Cape Rumili with Cape Anatoli

Sea of Marmara
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Photograph of the Sea of Marmara from space (STS-40, 1991). The sea is the light-colored body of water.
Sea of Marmara
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Map of the Sea of Marmara
Sea of Marmara
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This astronaut photograph highlights the metropolitan area of Izmit along the northern and eastern shores of the Sea of Marmara, at the end of the Gulf of Izmit.
Sea of Marmara
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Sea of Marmara - From the dining room of the Rákóczi exile

3.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD

4.
Umayyad Caliphate
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The Umayyad Caliphate, also spelled Omayyad, was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. This caliphate was centred on the Umayyad dynasty, hailing from Mecca, Syria remained the Umayyads main power base thereafter, and Damascus was their capital. The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests, incorporating the Caucasus, Transoxiana, Sindh, the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula into the Muslim world. At its greatest extent, the Umayyad Caliphate covered 11,100,000 km2 and 62 million people, the Umayyad Caliphate was secular by nature. At the time, the Umayyad taxation and administrative practice were perceived as unjust by some Muslims, Muhammad had stated explicitly during his lifetime that Abrahamic religious groups, should be allowed to practice their own religion, provided that they paid the jizya taxation. The welfare state of both the Muslim and the poor started by Umar ibn al Khattab had also continued, financed by the zakat tax levied only on Muslims. Muawiyas wife Maysum was also a Christian, the relations between the Muslims and the Christians in the state were stable in this time. Prominent positions were held by Christians, some of whom belonged to families that had served in Byzantine governments, the employment of Christians was part of a broader policy of religious assimilation that was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, as in Syria. This policy also boosted Muawiyas popularity and solidified Syria as his power base, the rivalries between the Arab tribes had caused unrest in the provinces outside Syria, most notably in the Second Muslim Civil War of AD 680–692 and the Berber Revolt of 740–743. During the Second Civil War, leadership of the Umayyad clan shifted from the Sufyanid branch of the family to the Marwanid branch. A branch of the family fled across North Africa to Al-Andalus, where they established the Caliphate of Córdoba, according to tradition, the Umayyad family and Muhammad both descended from a common ancestor, Abd Manaf ibn Qusai, and they originally came from the city of Mecca. Muhammad descended from Abd Manāf via his son Hashim, while the Umayyads descended from Abd Manaf via a different son, Abd-Shams, the two families are therefore considered to be different clans of the same tribe. However Muslim Shia historians suspect that Umayya was a son of Abd Shams so he was not a blood relative of Abd Manaf ibn Qusai. Umayya was later discarded from the noble family, Sunni historians disagree with this and view Shia claims as nothing more than outright polemics due to their hostility to the Umayyad family in general. While the Umayyads and the Hashimites may have had bitterness between the two clans before Muhammad, the rivalry turned into a case of tribal animosity after the Battle of Badr. The battle saw three top leaders of the Umayyad clan killed by Hashimites in a three-on-three melee and this fueled the opposition of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, the grandson of Umayya, to Muhammad and to Islam. Abu Sufyan sought to exterminate the adherents of the new religion by waging another battle with Muslims based in Medina only a year after the Battle of Badr and he did this to avenge the defeat at Badr. The Battle of Uhud is generally believed by scholars to be the first defeat for the Muslims, as they had incurred greater losses than the Meccans

5.
Constantine IV
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Constantine IV, sometimes incorrectly called Pogonatos, the Bearded, out of confusion with his father, was Byzantine Emperor from 668 to 685. The eldest son of Constans II, Constantine IV had been named a co-emperor with his father in 654 and he had been given the responsibility of managing the affairs at Constantinople during his father’s extended absence in Italy and became senior Emperor when Constans was assassinated in 668. His mother was Fausta, daughter of patrician Valentinus, the first task before the new Emperor was the suppression of the military revolt in Sicily under Mezezius which had led to his fathers death. Within seven months of his accession, Constantine IV had dealt with the insurgency with the support of Pope Vitalian, but this success was overshadowed by troubles in the east. As early as 668 the Caliph Muawiyah I received an invitation from Saborios and he sent an army under his son Yazid against the Eastern Roman Empire. Yazid reached Chalcedon and took the important Byzantine center Amorion, while the city was quickly recovered, the Arabs next attacked Carthage and Sicily in 669. In 670 the Arabs captured Cyzicus and set up a base from which to further attacks into the heart of the Empire. Their fleet captured Smyrna and other cities in 672. Finally, in 672, the Arabs sent a fleet to attack Constantinople by sea. While Constantine was distracted by this, the Slavs unsuccessfully attacked Thessalonika, commencing in 674, the Arabs launched the long-awaited siege of Constantinople. Additional squadrons reinforced the forces of Abd ar-Rahman before they proceeded to the Hellespont, knowing that it was only a matter of time before Constantinople was under siege, Constantine had ensured that the city was well provisioned. He also constructed a number of fireships and fast-sailing boats provided with tubes or siphons for squirting fire. This is the first known use of Greek fire in combat, in September the Arabs, having failed in their attempts to take the city, sailed to Cyzicus, which they made their winter quarters. Over the following five years, the Arabs would return spring to continue the siege of Constantinople. The city survived, and finally in 678 the Arabs were forced to raise the siege, the Arabs withdrew and were almost simultaneously defeated on land in Lycia in Anatolia. This unexpected reverse forced Muawiyah I to seek a truce with Constantine, the raising of the siege allowed Constantine to go to the relief of Thessalonika, still under siege from the Slavs. With the temporary passing of the Arab threat, Constantine turned his attention to the Church, in November 680 Constantine convened the Sixth Ecumenical Council. Constantine presided in person during the formal aspects of the proceedings, surrounded by his court officials, the Council reaffirmed the Orthodox doctrines of the Council of Chalcedon in 451

Constantine IV
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Constantine IV and his retinue, mosaic in basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe (Ravenna)
Constantine IV
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Coin issued by Constantine
Constantine IV
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A solidus showing Constantine and his brothers, minted before 681 when the latter were mutilated.

6.
Yazid I
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Yazīd ibn Mu‘āwiya, commonly known as Yazid I, was the second Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. Yazid was the Caliph as appointed by his father Muawiyah I, according to some sources Muawiyah warned his son Yazid against mistreating Hussein ibn Ali, grandson of Muhammad. The appointment of Yazid was unpopular in Madina too, narrated by Yusuf bin Mahak, Marwan had been appointed as the governor of Hijaz by Muawiyah. He delivered a sermon and mentioned Yazid bin Muawiyah so that the people take the oath of allegiance to him as the successor of his father. Then Abdur Rahman bin Abu Bakr told him something whereupon Marwan ordered that he be arrested, but Abdur Rahman entered Aishas house and they could not arrest him. Marwan said, It is he about whom Allah revealed this Verse, And the one who says to his parents, do you hold out the promise to me. On that, Aisha said from behind a screen, Allah did not reveal anything from the Quran about us except what was connected with the declaration of my innocence, upon succession, Yazid asked Governors of all provinces to take an oath of allegiance to him. The necessary oath was secured from all parts of the country, hussain ibn Ali and Abdullah ibn Zubayr refused to declare allegiance. Yazid sent Marwan, a soldier in his army, to assist in this task, Muawiyah had summoned the people to give an oath of allegiance to him that Yazid would be his heir. Yazids concern was to bring their attitude to an end, Yazids paternal first cousin Waleed bin Utbah bin Abu Sufyan was the Governor of Madinah, where Husayn bin Ali and the Hashimite family resided as did Abdullah ibn Zubayr. Act so fiercely that they have no chance to do anything before giving the oath of allegiance, when summoned by the Governor of Madinah, Waleed bin Utbah, Husayn bin Ali answered the summons. However, Abdullah ibn Zubayr did not, when Husayn bin Ali met Waleed and Marwan in a semi-private meeting at night, he was informed of the late Caliph Muawiyahs passing and Yazids accession to the Caliphate. When asked for his pledge of allegiance to Yazid, Husayn responded that giving his allegiance in private would be insufficient, Waleed agreed to this, but Marwan interrupted demanding that Waleed imprison Husayn and not let him leave until he gives the pledge of allegiance to Yazid. At this interruption, Marwan was soundly upbraided by Husayn who then exited unharmed, Husayn bin Ali had his own retainer of armed supporters waiting nearby just in case a forcible attempt was made to apprehend him. As for Abdullah ibn Zubayr, he had left Medina at night heading for Mecca, in the morning Waleed sent men after him, a party of eighty horsemen under the command of a retainer of the Banu Umayyah. They pursued Ibn al-Zubayr but did not catch up with him, as for Husayn ibn Ali, Tabari records that he too left for Mecca shortly after, having not given an oath of allegiance to Yazid. Hussein-ibn-Ali, the grandson of Muhammad, along many other prominent Muslims, not only disapproved of Yazids nomination for caliph. However, before any significant work could be done, Muawiyah died, Kufa, a garrison town in Iraq, had been Alis capital, and many of his supporters lived there

Yazid I
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Yazid I

7.
Battle of Firaz
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The Battle of Firaz was the last battle of the Muslim Arab commander Khalid ibn al-Walid in Mesopotamia against the combined forces of the Byzantine Empire, Sassanid Empire, and Christian Arabs. The result of the battle was a victory for Khalid and the first Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia, the Muslim conquest of the Persian Empire was complete after their next victory at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah. By the end of 633, the Muslims were the masters of the Euphrates valley, in this valley, Firaz at the outermost edge of the Persian Empire still had a Persian garrison. Khalid decided to drive away the Persians from this outpost as well fearing that the Persians would execute a well planned re-invasion of lost territory and he marched to Firaz with a Muslim force and arrived there in the first week of December 633. Firaz was the frontier between the empires of Persia and Byzantium, and the garrisons of the Persians as well as the Byzantines were cantoned there, in the face of the Muslims, the Byzantine garrison decided to come to the aid of the Persian garrison. Khalid gave the enemy the option to cross the Euphrates, as soon as the enemy had crossed the Euphrates, Khalid commanded the Muslim force to go into action. The united forces of the Persians and the Byzantines had the river at their back, at Firaz, Khalid adopted the same tactics as he had adopted at Mazar. As the front ranks of both the forces committed themselves in the fighting, Khalid fixed his enemy on either flank with the help of his rear wings, making a swift lightning movement, the Muslims dashed for the bridge on the river, and succeeded in occupying it. The enemy was thus held in a pincer movement, in the beginning of the battle of Firaz when the odds appeared to be against the Muslims, Khalid undertook an oath that if he was victorious, he would undertake pilgrimage to Mecca, the House of God. After the victory of Firaz, Khalid stayed at Firaz for some days, in January 634, while a garrison was kept at Firaz, orders were issued to the main Muslim army to return to Al-Hirah. Khalid stayed behind with the rear of the army, as the army moved forward on the road to Al Hirah, Khalid separated himself from the army, and took an unfrequented route to Mecca with a small escort. Khalid reached Mecca in time to perform the Hajj, after performing the pilgrimage secretly and fulfilling his vow, Khalid and his party rode back to Al Hirah. Before the last contingent of the army from Firaz had entered Hirah, Khalid was also there. Tabari, Abu Jaafar, Mohammed bin Jarir, Tarikh ar Rusul wal Mulk, akram, The Sword of Allah, Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns Lahore,1969

Battle of Firaz
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Battle of Firaz

8.
Muslim conquest of the Levant
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During the Roman period, beginning after the fall of Jerusalem in the year 70, the entire region was renamed Palaestina, subdivided into Diocese I and II. The Romans also renamed an area of land including the Negev, Sinai, part of the area was ruled by the Arab vassal state of the Ghassanids symmachos. Thus, on the eve of the Muslim conquests the Romans were still in the process of rebuilding their authority in these territories, politically, the Syrian region consisted of two provinces, Syria proper stretched from Antioch and Aleppo in the north to the top of the Dead Sea. To the west and south of the Dead Sea lay the province of Palestine, Syria was mostly a Syriac and Hellenized land with some Jewish presence and with a partly Arab population, especially in its eastern and southern parts. The Ghassan Dynasty became one of the princely dynasties of the Empire, with the Ghassan king ruling over the Arabs in Jordan. The last of the Ghassan kings, who ruled at the time of the Muslim invasion, was Jabla bin Al Aiham, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, after re-capturing Syria from the Sassanians, set up new defense lines from Gaza to the south end of the Dead Sea. These lines were designed to protect communications from bandits, and the bulk of the Byzantine defenses were concentrated in Northern Syria facing the traditional foes. This defense line had as a drawback that it enabled the Muslims, the 7th century was a time of fast military changes in the Byzantine Empire. Muhammad died in June 632, and Abu Bakr was appointed Caliph, soon after Abu Bakrs succession, several Arab tribes revolted against him in the Ridda wars. The Campaign of the Apostasy was fought and completed during the year of the Hijri. The year 12 Hijri dawned, on 18 March 633, with Arabia united under the authority of the Caliph at Medina. After successful campaigns against the Sassanids and the ensuing conquest of Iraq Khalid established his stronghold in Iraq, while engaged with Sassanid forces, confrontation also ensued with the Byzantine Arab clients, the Ghassanids. Tribal contingents were recruited to the call from Medinah from all over the Arabian peninsula. The tradition of raising armies from tribal contingents remained in use until 636, Abu Bakr organised the army into four corps, each with its own commander and objective. Move on Elat route, then across Valley of Arabah, Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan, Objective Damascus. Move on Tabuk route after Yazid, Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Objective Emesa. Move on Tabuk route after Shurahbil, in case the corps had to concentrate for one major battle, Abu Ubaidah was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the entire army. In the first week of April 634, the Muslim forces began to move from their camps outside Medina, the first to leave was Yazids corps, followed by Shurahbil, Abu Ubaidah and Amr, each a days march from the other

Muslim conquest of the Levant
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The Scene of the Roman Theatre at Palmyra
Muslim conquest of the Levant
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Ruins of Ancient Petra, one of the first cities to fall to invading Muslim armies.
Muslim conquest of the Levant
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Byzantine temple in Idlib.
Muslim conquest of the Levant
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Temple of Jupiter, Lebanon.

9.
Battle of Bosra
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The Battle of Bosra was fought in 634 between the Rashidun Caliphate army and the Byzantine Empire for the possession of Bosra, in Syria. The city, then capital of the Ghassanid kingdom, a Byzantine vassal, was the first important one to be captured by the Islamic forces, the siege lasted between June and July 634. Caliph Abu Bakr sent his four corps under Amr ibn al-Aas, Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Shurahbil bin Hasana and Yazid bin Abu Sufyan and they were unable to get significant success in their goals and were in great pressure because of concentration of the Byzantine army at Ajnadayn. One place which worried him a deal was Bosra, a large town which was the capital of the Ghassanid Kingdom. It was garrisoned by a force of Byzantine and Christian Arabs under the command of Roman officers. While Khalid was clearing the region of Eastern Syria, Abu Ubaidah came to know that he would come under Khalids command upon the latters arrival and he decided to take Bosra quickly. He therefore sent Shurahbil with 4,000 men to capture Bosra, Shurahbil marched to Bosra, the garrison of which withdrew into the fortified town as soon as the Muslims appeared in sight. This garrison consisted of 4,000 soldiers, but expecting that more Muslim forces would soon arrive, Shurahbil camped on the western side of the town, and positioned groups of his men all round the fort. The following day, as Khalid ibn al-Walid set out on the last day of his march to Bosra, the garrison of the town came out to give battle to the Muslims outside the city. Both forces formed up for battle, but first there were talks between Shurahbil and the Roman commander, at which the Muslim offered the usual choices, Islam, tribute, the Byzantines vainly chose the sword, and in the middle of the morning the battle began. The Romans were able to move forces around both Muslim flanks, and the increased in intensity. The temper of the Muslims became suicidal as the danger of their position became evident and they fought ferociously to avoid encirclement. By early afternoon the Roman wings had moved forward. Then suddenly the combatants became aware of a force of cavalry galloping in mass towards the battlefield from the northwest. Khalid was about a mile from Bosra when the wind carried the sounds of battle to him and he immediately ordered the men to horse, and as soon as the cavalry was ready, led it a gallop towards the battlefield. But Khalid and the Romans never met, as soon as the Romans discovered the arrival of the Muslims Cavalry, they broke contact from Shurahbil and withdrew hastily into the fort. The Muslims under Shurahbil came to regard this occurrence as a miracle, the next morning, the Byzantine garrison again came out of the fort to give battle. The shock of Khalids arrival the previous day had now worn off, and seeing that the strength of the Muslims was about the same as their own

10.
Siege of Damascus (634)
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The Siege of Damascus lasted from 21 August to 19 September 634 AD before the city fell to the Rashidun Caliphate. Damascus was the first major city of the Byzantine empire to fall in the Muslim conquest of Syria, the last of the Roman-Persian Wars ended in 627, when Heraclius concluded a successful campaign against the Persians in Mesopotamia. At the same time, Mohammad united the Arabs under the banner of Islam, after his death in 632, Abu Bakr succeeded him as the first Rashidun Caliph. Suppressing several internal revolts, Abu Bakr sought to expand the empire beyond the confines of the Arabian Peninsula, in April 634, Abu Bakr invaded the Byzantine Empire in the Levant and decisively defeated a Byzantine army at the Battle of Ajnadayn. The Muslim armies marched north and laid siege to Damascus, after the surrender of the city, the commanders disputed the terms of the peace agreement. The commanders finally agreed that the terms given by Abu Ubaidah would be met. The peace terms included an assurance that no pursuit will be undertaken by Muslims against the departing Roman convoy for three days, in 610, during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, Heraclius became the emperor of the Byzantine Empire after overthrowing Phocas. While Heraclius focused his attention on the affairs of his empire, the Sassanid Persians conquered Mesopotamia, overran Syria in 611. In 612, Heraclius expelled the Persians from Anatolia, in 613, he launched a counter offensive against Syria, but was decisively defeated. Over the next decade, the Persians conquered Palestine and Egypt and Heraclius rebuilt his army, preparing for a new offensive and he achieved substantial victories over the Persians and their allies in the Caucasus and Armenia. In 627, he launched a winter offensive against Persia in Mesopotamia. This victory threatened the Persian capital city of Ctesiphon, Heraclius restored the True Cross to Jerusalem with an elaborate ceremony in 629. In Arabia, the Prophet Mohammad had united most of Arabia under a single religious, when Mohammed died in June 632, Abu Bakr was elected to the newly formed office of Caliph, becoming Mohammads political and religious successor. Several Arabic tribes revolted against Abu Bakr, in the Ridda wars, Abu Bakr quelled the revolt. By 633, Arabia was firmly united under the authority of the Caliph in Medina. In 633, Abu Bakr initiated a war of conquest against the neighboring Sassanian, after a successful conquest of the Persian province of Iraq, Abu Bakrs confidence grew and in April 634 his armies invaded the Byzantine Levant from four different routes. He attacked and overthrew the Byzantine defenses of Levant and quickly captured the Ghassanid capital city of Bosra, in July 634, the Muslim army under Khalids command defeated another Byzantine army in the Battle of Ajnadayn. After clearing their southern flank, the Muslims laid siege to Damascus, strategically located, Damascus attracted merchants from all over the world

Siege of Damascus (634)
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Kisan Gate, one of the six ancient gates of Damascus.
Siege of Damascus (634)
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Wall of Damascus at the Thomas gate. Although now only 7 m high, it was 11 m high at the time of the siege. Damascus has risen 4 meters since then. [clarification needed]
Siege of Damascus (634)
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Remains of the Eastern gate. Khalid's troops entered Damascus through this gate.
Siege of Damascus (634)
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The dome of Damascus' treasury in the Umayyad Mosque

11.
Battle of Yarmouk
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The Battle of Yarmouk was a major battle between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim Arab forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. The result of the battle was a complete Muslim victory which ended Byzantine rule in Syria, in order to check the Arab advance and to recover lost territory, Emperor Heraclius had sent a massive expedition to the Levant in May 636. The battle is considered to be one of Khalid ibn al-Walids greatest military victories and it cemented his reputation as one of the greatest tacticians and cavalry commanders in history. During the last Byzantine–Sassanid Wars in 610, Heraclius became the emperor of the Byzantine Empire, meanwhile, the Sassanid Persians conquered Mesopotamia and in 611 they overran Syria and entered Anatolia, occupying Caesarea Mazaca. Heraclius, in 612, managed to expel the Persians from Anatolia, over the following decade the Persians were able to conquer Palestine and Egypt. Meanwhile, Heraclius prepared for a counterattack and rebuilt his army, nine years later in 622, Heraclius finally launched his offensive. Heraclius restored the True Cross to Jerusalem with a ceremony in 629. Meanwhile, there had been rapid development in Arabia, where Muhammad had been preaching Islam and by 630. When Muhammad died in June 632, Abu Bakr was elected Caliph, troubles emerged soon after Abu Bakrs succession, when several Arab tribes openly revolted against Abu Bakr, who declared war against the rebels. In what became known as the Ridda wars, Abu Bakr managed to unite Arabia under the authority of the Caliph at Medina. Once the rebels had been subdued, Abu Bakr began a war of conquest, sending his most brilliant general, Khalid ibn al-Walid, Iraq was conquered in a series of successful campaigns against the Sassanid Persians. Abu Bakrs confidence grew, and once Khalid established his stronghold in Iraq, the Muslim invasion of Syria was a series of carefully planned and well coordinated military operations that employed strategy instead of pure strength to deal with Byzantine defensive measures. The Muslim armies, however proved to be too small to handle the Byzantine response. Khalid was sent by Abu Bakr from Iraq to Syria with reinforcements, in July 634, the Byzantines were decisively defeated at Ajnadayn. Damascus fell in September 634, followed by the Battle of Fahl where the last significant garrison of Palestine was defeated and routed, Caliph Abu Bakr died in 634. His successor, Umar, was determined to continue the Caliphate Empires expansion deeper into Syria, though previous campaigns led by Khalid were successful, he was replaced by Abu Ubaidah. Having secured southern Palestine, Muslim forces now advanced up the route, where Tiberias and Baalbek fell without much struggle. From thereon, the Muslims continued their conquest across the Levant, having seized Emesa, the Muslims were just a march away from Aleppo, a Byzantine stronghold, and Antioch, where Heraclius resided

Battle of Yarmouk
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Across the ravines lies the battlefield of Yarmouk, this picture taken about 8 miles away, from Jordan.

12.
Siege of Jerusalem (637)
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The Siege of Jerusalem was part of a military conflict which took place in the year 637 between the Byzantine Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate. It began when the Rashidun army, under the command of Abu Ubaidah, after six months, the Patriarch Sophronius agreed to surrender, on condition that he submit only to the Rashidun caliph. In April 637, Caliph Umar traveled to Jerusalem in person to receive the submission of the city, the Patriarch thus surrendered to him. The Muslim conquest of the city solidified the Arab control over Palestine, thus, it came to be regarded as a holy site by Islam, as well as by Christianity and Judaism. This stabilized control of Palestina Prima, in 613, the Jewish revolt against the Byzantine Heraclius culminated with the conquest of Jerusalem in 614 by Persian and Jewish forces and establishment of Jewish autonomy. The revolt ended with the departure of the Persians and a massacre of the Jews in 629 by the Byzantines ending 15 years of Jewish autonomy. He said, Count six signs that indicate the approach of the Hour, my death, the conquest of Jerusalem, a plague that will afflict you as the plague that afflicts sheep. It is agreed among Muslim scholars that the conquest referred to in the hadith happened during the reign of Umar in the earliest period of Islam as well as the Plague of Emmaus, the epidemic is famous in Muslim sources because of the death of many prominent companions of Muhammad. Jerusalem was an important city of the Byzantine province of Palestina Prima, just 23 years prior to the Muslim conquest, in 614, it fell to an invading Sassanid army under Shahrbaraz during the last of the Byzantine-Sassanid Wars. The Persians looted the city, and are said to have massacred its 90,000 Christian inhabitants, as part of the looting, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was destroyed and the True Cross captured and taken to Ctesiphon as a battle-captured holy relic. The Cross was later returned to Jerusalem by Emperor Heraclius after his victory against the Persians in 628. It was believed that the Jews, who were persecuted in their Roman-controlled homeland, had aided the Persians, after the death of Muhammad in 632, Muslim leadership passed to Caliph Abu Bakr following a series of campaigns known as the Ridda Wars. In 634, Abu Bakr died and was succeeded by Umar, in May 636, Emperor Heraclius launched a major expedition to regain the lost territory, but his army was defeated decisively at the Battle of Yarmouk in August 636. Thereafter, Abu Ubaidah, the Muslim commander-in-chief of the Rashidun army in Syria, opinions of objectives varied between the coastal city of Caesarea and Jerusalem. Abu Ubaidah could see the importance of both cities, which had resisted all Muslim attempts at capture. Unable to decide on the matter, he wrote to Caliph Umar for instructions, in his reply, the caliph ordered them to capture the latter. Accordingly, Abu Ubaidah marched towards Jerusalem from Jabiya, with Khalid ibn Walid, the Muslims arrived at Jerusalem around early November, and the Byzantine garrison withdrew into the fortified city. Jerusalem had been well-fortified after Heraclius recaptured it from the Persians, after the Byzantine defeat at Yarmouk, the Patriarch of Jerusalem Sophronius repaired its defenses

13.
Battle of the Iron Bridge
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The Battle of the Iron Bridge was fought between the Muslim Rashidun army and the Byzantine army in 637 AD. The battle took its name from a nearby stone bridge spanning the Orontes River which had gates trimmed with iron. It was one of the last battles fought between the Byzantines and Rashidun Caliphate in the province of Syria, the aftermath of the battle marked the nearly complete annexation of the province into the Rashidun Caliphate with the fall of its capital. The Rashidun army had achieved a victory at the Battle of Yarmouk. Following this victory, they managed to control of the Levant. Rashidun forces then marched north, conquering other portions of the Levant and they penetrated into northern Syria near its borders with Anatolia intending to capture Antioch, and to secure the conquered lands from any possible threat from the north. After the conquest of Aleppo, Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah sent a column under Malik al-Ashtar to capture Azaz in Northern Syria, as soon as Malik rejoined the army, Abu Ubaidah marched westwards to capture Antioch, with Khalid ibn Walid leading the advance guard with his Mobile guard. The army marched westward directly from Aleppo via Harim and approached Antioch from the east,20 km from the city, near modern-day Mahruba, a bridge of iron spanned the River Orontes. It was here that the battle was fought between the Rashidun army and the Byzantine garrison defending Antioch, a major battle was fought, the details of which are not recorded. Khalid ibn Walid played a prominent role with his Mobile guard, the Byzantine forces suffered heavy losses and were defeated. The Byzantine casualties in battle were the highest in the Muslim conquest of Syria, with the exceptions of the battles of Ajnadayn. The remnants of the Byzantine army fled to Antioch, the Rashidun army later moved up and laid siege to Antioch. The city surrendered on October 30,637 According to the pact, following the surrender of Antioch, Rashidun army columns moved south along the Mediterranean coast and captured Latakia, Jablah and Tartus, thus capturing most of north-western Syria. Other columns were sent to subdue the resistance in northern Syria. Khalid ibn Walid was sent with his cavalry on a raid eastwards, up to the Euphrates in the vicinity of Munbij, the campaign was ended in early January 638. These columns went northwards as far as the Ararat plain and west towards the Taurus Mountains, the Taurus Mountains in Turkey thus marked the westernmost frontier of the Rashidun Caliphate in Anatolia

Battle of the Iron Bridge
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The River Orontes, Antioch, the battle was fought near this river.

14.
Muslim conquest of Egypt
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At the commencement of the Muslim conquest of Egypt, Egypt was part of the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire, which had its capital at Constantinople. Before the Muslim conquest of Egypt had begun, the Byzantines had already lost the Levant and its Arab ally, all of this left the Byzantine Empire dangerously exposed and vulnerable. In December 639, Amr ibn al-As left for Egypt with a force of 4,000 troops, most of the soldiers belonged to the Arab tribe of Ak, although Al-Kindi mentions that one-third of the soldiers belonged to the Arab tribe of Ghafik. The Arab soldiers were joined by some Roman and Persian converts to Islam. However, Umar, the Muslim caliph, reconsidered his orders to Amr, accordingly, he wrote a letter to Amr commanding him to come back. The messenger, Uqbah ibn Amr, caught up with Amr at Rafah, guessing what might be in the letter, Amr ordered the army to quicken its pace. Turning to Uqbah, Amr said that he would receive the letter from him when the army had halted after the days journey. Uqbah, being unaware of the contents of the letter, agreed and marched along with the army, the army halted for the night at Shajratein, a little valley near the city of El Arish, which Amr knew to be beyond the Egyptian border. Amr then received and read Umars letter and went on to consult his companions as to the course of action to be adopted, the unanimous view was that as they had received the letter on Egyptian soil, they had permission to proceed. When Umar received the reply, he decided to further developments. On Eid al-Adha, the Muslim army marched from Shajratein to El Arish, the town put up no resistance, and the citizens offered allegiance on the usual terms. The Muslim soldiers celebrated the Eid festival there, in the later part of December 639 or in early January 640, the Muslim army reached Pelusium, an Eastern Roman garrison city that was considered Egypts eastern gate at the time. The Muslim siege of the town dragged on for two months, in February 640, an assault group led by a prominent field commander Huzaifah ibn Wala successfully assaulted and captured the fort and city. Armanousa, the daughter of Cyrus who fiercely resisted the Muslims in Pelusium, the losses incurred by the Arab Muslim army were ameliorated by the number of Sinai Bedouins who, taking the initiative, had joined them in conquering Egypt. After the fall of Pelusium, the Muslims marched to Bilbeis,40 miles from Memphis via desert roads, Belbeis was the first place in Egypt where the Byzantines showed some measure of resistance towards the Arab conquerors. Two Christian monks accompanied by Cyrus of Alexandria and the famous Roman general Aretion came out to negotiate with Amr ibn al-As, Aretion was previously the Byzantine governor of Jerusalem, and had fled to Egypt when the city fell to the Muslims. Amr gave them three options, to convert to Islam, to pay Jizya, or to fight the Muslims. They requested three days to reflect, then—as mentioned by al-Tabari—requested two extra days, at the end of the five days, the two monks and the general decided to reject Islam and Jizya and fight the Muslims

15.
Muslim conquest of the Maghreb
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The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb continued the century of rapid Arab Muslim military expansion following the death of Muhammad in 632 AD. It was at point that Arab military expeditions into North African regions west of Egypt were first launched, continuing for years. The Byzantine navy would be defeated in the eastern Mediterranean, beginning in the 12th century, scholars at Kairouan began to construct a new version of the history of the conquest, which was finalised by ar-Raqiq. This version was copied in its entirety, and sometimes interpolated, by authors, reaching its zenith in the 14th century with scholars such as Ibn Idhari, Ibn Khaldun. It differs from the earlier version not only in the greater detail and this, however, is the best-known version and is the one given below. There is ongoing regarding the relative merits of the two versions. For more information, refer to the works cited below by Brunschvig, Modéran and Benabbès, the first invasion of North Africa, ordered by Caliph Umar, commenced in 647. 20,000 Arabs marched from Medina in Arabia, another 20,000 joined them in Memphis, Egypt, Count Gregory, the local Byzantine governor, had declared his independence from the Byzantine Empire in North Africa. He gathered his allies, confronted the Islamic invasion force and suffered defeat at the Battle of Sufetula, with the death of Gregory his successor, probably Gennadius, secured the Arab withdrawal in exchange for tribute. The campaign lasted fifteen months and Abdallahs force returned to Egypt in 648, all further Muslim conquests were soon interrupted, however, by a civil war between rival Arab factions that resulted in the murder of Caliph Uthman in 656. He was replaced by Ali Ibn Abi Talib, who in turn was murdered in 661 and he put a governor in place in Egypt at al-Fustat, creating a subordinate seat of power that would continue for the next two centuries. He then continued the invasion of neighbouring states, attacking Sicily. In 664 Kabul, Afghanistan, fell to the invading Muslim armies, the years 665 to 689 saw a new Arab invasion of North Africa. It began, according to Will Durant, to protect Egypt from flank attack by Byzantine Cyrene. So an army of more than 40,000 Muslims advanced through the desert to Barca, took it, next came a force of 10,000 Arabs led by the Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi and enlarged by thousands of others. Departing from Damascus, the army marched into North Africa and took the vanguard, in 670 the city of Kairouan was established as a refuge and base for further operations. This would become the capital of the Islamic province of Ifriqiya, which would cover the regions of todays western Libya, Tunisia. In his conquest of the Maghreb he besieged the city of Bugia as well as Tingi or Tangier

16.
Battle of Carthage (698)
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The Battle of Carthage was fought in 698 between a Byzantine expeditionary force and the armies of the fifth Umayyad Caliphate. Having lost Carthage to the Muslims, Emperor Leontius sent the navy under the command of John the Patrician and they entered the harbor and successfully recaptured it in a stunning surprise attack, which resulted in the citys Arab forces fleeing to Kairouan. It is estimated that he headed a force of 40,000 men, the Romans sent out a call for help to their allies, the native Berbers, and to enemies the Visigoths and the Franks. Despite the king of the Visigoths, Wittiza, sending a force of 500 warriors in order to help defend Carthage, Hasan ibn al-Numan, enraged at having to retake a city that had not resisted the Roman take over, offered no terms except to surrender or die. The Emperor Leontius had also given his forces instructions of victory or death, the defenders were faced with Hasans overwhelming force deployed in ferocious attacks as his men made repeated attempts to scale the walls with ladders. They combined this land assault with an attack from the sea caused the Roman commanders to withdraw from the city and subsequently resulted in the second. The Romans retreated to the islands of Corsica, Sicily and Crete to further resist Muslim expansion, John the Patrician was later murdered after a conspiracy at the hands of his co-commander, Tiberius Apsimarus. Tiberius Apsimarus then, instead of taking the step of returning to Africa to fight the Muslims, after a successful rebellion he rose to the throne as Tiberius III, and was later deposed by former emperor Justinian II, now known as the Rhinotmetus. The conquest of North Africa by the forces of Islam was now nearly complete, Hasans forces met with trouble from the Zenata tribe of Berbers under al-Kahina. and they inflicted a serious defeat on him and drove him back to Barqa. However, in 702 Caliph Abd al-Malik strongly reinforced him, now with a large army and the support of the settled population of North Africa, Hasan pushed forward. He decisively defeated al-Kahina in the Battle of Tabarka,85 miles west of Carthage and he then developed the village of Tunis, ten miles from the destroyed Carthage

Battle of Carthage (698)
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Carthages close proximity to Rome was dangerous to the Empire

17.
Umayyad
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The Umayyad Caliphate, also spelled Omayyad, was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. This caliphate was centred on the Umayyad dynasty, hailing from Mecca, Syria remained the Umayyads main power base thereafter, and Damascus was their capital. The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests, incorporating the Caucasus, Transoxiana, Sindh, the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula into the Muslim world. At its greatest extent, the Umayyad Caliphate covered 11,100,000 km2 and 62 million people, the Umayyad Caliphate was secular by nature. At the time, the Umayyad taxation and administrative practice were perceived as unjust by some Muslims, Muhammad had stated explicitly during his lifetime that Abrahamic religious groups, should be allowed to practice their own religion, provided that they paid the jizya taxation. The welfare state of both the Muslim and the poor started by Umar ibn al Khattab had also continued, financed by the zakat tax levied only on Muslims. Muawiyas wife Maysum was also a Christian, the relations between the Muslims and the Christians in the state were stable in this time. Prominent positions were held by Christians, some of whom belonged to families that had served in Byzantine governments, the employment of Christians was part of a broader policy of religious assimilation that was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, as in Syria. This policy also boosted Muawiyas popularity and solidified Syria as his power base, the rivalries between the Arab tribes had caused unrest in the provinces outside Syria, most notably in the Second Muslim Civil War of AD 680–692 and the Berber Revolt of 740–743. During the Second Civil War, leadership of the Umayyad clan shifted from the Sufyanid branch of the family to the Marwanid branch. A branch of the family fled across North Africa to Al-Andalus, where they established the Caliphate of Córdoba, according to tradition, the Umayyad family and Muhammad both descended from a common ancestor, Abd Manaf ibn Qusai, and they originally came from the city of Mecca. Muhammad descended from Abd Manāf via his son Hashim, while the Umayyads descended from Abd Manaf via a different son, Abd-Shams, the two families are therefore considered to be different clans of the same tribe. However Muslim Shia historians suspect that Umayya was a son of Abd Shams so he was not a blood relative of Abd Manaf ibn Qusai. Umayya was later discarded from the noble family, Sunni historians disagree with this and view Shia claims as nothing more than outright polemics due to their hostility to the Umayyad family in general. While the Umayyads and the Hashimites may have had bitterness between the two clans before Muhammad, the rivalry turned into a case of tribal animosity after the Battle of Badr. The battle saw three top leaders of the Umayyad clan killed by Hashimites in a three-on-three melee and this fueled the opposition of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, the grandson of Umayya, to Muhammad and to Islam. Abu Sufyan sought to exterminate the adherents of the new religion by waging another battle with Muslims based in Medina only a year after the Battle of Badr and he did this to avenge the defeat at Badr. The Battle of Uhud is generally believed by scholars to be the first defeat for the Muslims, as they had incurred greater losses than the Meccans

18.
Anatolia
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Anatolia, in geography known as Asia Minor, Asian Turkey, Anatolian peninsula, or Anatolian plateau, is the westernmost protrusion of Asia, which makes up the majority of modern-day Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Black Sea to the Armenian Highlands, thus, traditionally Anatolia is the territory that comprises approximately the western two-thirds of the Asian part of Turkey. The Turkification of Anatolia began under the Seljuk Empire in the late 11th century, however, various non-Turkic languages continue to be spoken by minorities in Anatolia today, including Kurdish, Assyrian, Armenian, Arabic, Laz, Georgian, and Greek. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line running from the Gulf of Alexandretta to the Black Sea. This traditional geographical definition is used, for example, in the latest edition of Merriam-Websters Geographical Dictionary, under this definition, Anatolia is bounded to the east by the Armenian Highlands, and the Euphrates before that river bends to the southeast to enter Mesopotamia. To the southeast, it is bounded by the ranges that separate it from the Orontes valley in Syria, the first name the Greeks used for the Anatolian peninsula was Ἀσία, presumably after the name of the Assuwa league in western Anatolia. As the name of Asia came to be extended to areas east of the Mediterranean. The name Anatolia derives from the Greek ἀνατολή meaning “the East” or more literally “sunrise”, the precise reference of this term has varied over time, perhaps originally referring to the Aeolian, Ionian and Dorian colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor. In the Byzantine Empire, the Anatolic Theme was a theme covering the western, the modern Turkish form of Anatolia is Anadolu, which again derives from the Greek name Aνατολή. The Russian male name Anatoly and the French Anatole share the same linguistic origin, in English the name of Turkey for ancient Anatolia first appeared c. It is derived from the Medieval Latin Turchia, which was used by the Europeans to define the Seljuk controlled parts of Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert. Human habitation in Anatolia dates back to the Paleolithic, neolithic Anatolia has been proposed as the homeland of the Indo-European language family, although linguists tend to favour a later origin in the steppes north of the Black Sea. However, it is clear that the Anatolian languages, the oldest branch of Indo-European, have spoken in Anatolia since at least the 19th century BC. The earliest historical records of Anatolia stem from the southeast of the region and are from the Mesopotamian-based Akkadian Empire during the reign of Sargon of Akkad in the 24th century BC, scholars generally believe the earliest indigenous populations of Anatolia were the Hattians and Hurrians. The region was famous for exporting raw materials, and areas of Hattian-, one of the numerous cuneiform records dated circa 20th century BC, found in Anatolia at the Assyrian colony of Kanesh, uses an advanced system of trading computations and credit lines. They were speakers of an Indo-European language, the Hittite language, originating from Nesa, they conquered Hattusa in the 18th century BC, imposing themselves over Hattian- and Hurrian-speaking populations. According to the most widely accepted Kurgan theory on the Proto-Indo-European homeland, however, the Hittites adopted the cuneiform script, invented in Mesopotamia

Anatolia
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The traditional definition of Anatolia within modern Turkey
Anatolia
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The location of Turkey (within the rectangle) in reference to the European continent. Anatolia roughly corresponds to the Asian part of Turkey, except the eastern parts historically known as the Armenian Highlands
Anatolia
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1907 map of Asia Minor, showing the local ancient kingdoms
Anatolia
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Mural of aurochs, a deer, and humans in Çatalhöyük, which is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date. It was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012.

19.
Siege of Tyana
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The Siege of Tyana was carried out by the Umayyad Caliphate in 707–708 or 708–709 in retaliation for a heavy defeat of an Umayyad army under Maimun the Mardaite by the Byzantine Empire in c. The Arab army invaded Byzantine territory and laid siege to the city in summer 707 or 708, the date is uncertain, as virtually each of the extant Greek, Arabic and Syriac parallel sources has in this respect a different date. Quarrels among the Byzantine generals, as well as the inexperience of a part of their army. Thereupon the inhabitants of the city were forced to surrender, despite the agreement of terms, the city was plundered and largely destroyed, and according to Byzantine sources its people were made captive and deported, leaving the city deserted. The Byzantines secured great financial and territorial advantages from the truce, however, by 692 the Umayyads were clearly emerging as the victors in the conflict, and Abd al-Malik consciously began a series of provocations to bring about a resumption of warfare. Justinian, confident in his own based on his previous successes. Finally, the Umayyads claimed that the Byzantines had broken the treaty and invaded Byzantine territory, furthermore, Justinian was deposed in 695, beginning a twenty-year period of internal instability that almost brought the Byzantine state to its knees. As part of these Arab raids, an invasion under a certain Maimun al-Gurgunami took place, the dating of this expedition is unclear, although the primary account, by al-Baladhuri, places it under Abd al-Malik, it is commonly dated to 706 by modern scholars. According to Baladhuri, this Maimun had been a slave of Caliph Muawiyahs sister, who had fled to the Mardaites, a group of Christian rebels in northern Syria. After the Mardaites had been subdued, the general Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, who had heard of his valour, liberated him and entrusted him with a military command, as a result, Maslama launched another attack aimed at Tyana, with his nephew al-Abbas ibn al-Walid as co-commander. The chronology of the expedition is unclear, the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes the Confessor puts it in A. M. 6201, but Arab sources date it to A. H.88 and 89, as a result, the siege has been variously dated to 707–708 AD and 708–709 AD. The Arabs laid siege to the city, employing siege engines to bombard its fortifications and they managed to destroy part of the wall, but were unable to enter the city. Despite launching several assaults, the defenders drove them back. The siege continued into winter, and the Arabs began to suffer greatly from shortage of food, the Byzantine chroniclers record that the regular troops were complemented by armed peasants, numerous but lacking in any military experience. As the relief army approached Tyana, it was confronted by the Arabs, and in the ensuing battle, according to Theophanes, the two Byzantine generals quarrelled among themselves, and their attack was disorderly. The Byzantines lost many dead, and the captives also numbered in the thousands. The Arabs captured the Byzantine camp and took all the provisions they had brought along for the beleaguered city, the inhabitants of Tyana now despaired of any succour, and as their own supplies dwindled they began negotiations for a surrender

Siege of Tyana
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Map of the Arab-Byzantine frontier zone

20.
Siege of Nicaea (727)
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The Siege of Nicaea of 727 was an unsuccessful attempt by the Umayyad Caliphate to capture the Byzantine city of Nicaea, the capital of the Opsician Theme. Ever since its failure to capture the Byzantine Empires capital, Constantinople, in 717–718, in 727, the Arab army, led by one of the Caliphs sons, penetrated deep into Asia Minor, sacked two Byzantine fortresses and in late July arrived before Nicaea. Despite constant attacks for 40 days, the city held firm, when warfare on the Arab–Byzantine frontier recommenced in 720, the strategic focus of the Caliphate had shifted away from outright conquest. Byzantine reaction during these years was passive, as the Empire still nursed its strength against the superior resources of the Caliphate. The Byzantines did not obstruct or confront the raiding Arab armies, after the accession of Caliph Hisham, the scale and ambition of the Muslim raids grew. One of the most prominent Umayyad leaders in these campaigns was Hishams son Muawiya, who led expeditions in 725 and 726, in summer 727, another large-scale invasion was led by Muawiya, with Abdallah al-Battal heading the vanguard of the army. The Byzantine chronicler Theophanes the Confessor claims that the vanguard alone numbered 15,000 men, Theophanes also records a certain Amr as Muawiyas second-in-command, but Arab sources are unambiguous in this regard. Gangra was razed to the ground, but during the attack on Tabya the Arabs, from there, the Arabs turned west towards Nicaea, the chief city of Bithynia and capital of the powerful Opsician Theme. The Arabs arrived before the city in late July, with al-Battals vanguard preceding the main army, the Byzantines, probably under the command of the Count of the Opsicians, Artabasdos, did not meet them in the field, but instead retreated behind the citys walls. The Arabs assaulted the city for forty days, employing siege engines which destroyed a part of the walls, in late August, they raised the siege and departed, taking along many captives and much booty. The repulsion of the Arab assault on Nicaea was an important success for the Byzantines, emperor Leo III the Isaurian regarded the citys survival as a sign of divine favour towards his newly instituted iconoclastic policies, and was encouraged to drive them further. The soldier was killed the day by a catapult, a fact which Theophanes reports as evidence of divine vengeance. However, this passage shows strong signs of tampering by the fervently anti-iconoclast Theophanes, militarily, the siege of Nicaea was the high-water-mark of the post-718 Umayyad raids, never again would Umayyad armies penetrate as deeply into Asia Minor. Over the next few years, while Byzantine strength revived, the Muslim military situation on all fronts of the over-extended Caliphate deteriorated, consequently, in the 730s, Arab raids were mostly limited to the immediate frontier regions and their successes became fewer. By 740, when the Umayyads assembled the largest invasion force fielded after 718, the End of the Jihâd State, The Reign of Hishām ibn ʻAbd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads. Albany, New York, State University of New York Press, die byzantinische Reaktion auf die Ausbreitung der Araber. Studien zur Strukturwandlung des byzantinischen Staates im 7, munich, Institut für Byzantinistik und Neugriechische Philologie der Universität München. Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor, Byzantine and Near Eastern History, AD 284–813

Siege of Nicaea (727)
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Map of Anatolia (Asia Minor) in 740 AD. Nicaea is located at the northwestern corner of the Anatolian peninsula

21.
Battle of Akroinon
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The Battle of Akroinon was fought at Akroinon or Akroinos in Phrygia, on the western edge of the Anatolian plateau, in 740 between an Umayyad Arab army and the Byzantine forces. The Arabs had been conducting raids into Anatolia for the past century. The battle resulted in a decisive Byzantine victory, since the beginning of the Muslim conquests, the Byzantine Empire, as the largest, richest and militarily strongest state bordering the expanding Caliphate, had been the Muslims primary enemy. Following their failure to capture the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, in 717–718 and these were no longer aimed at permanent conquest but rather large-scale raids, plundering and devastating the countryside and only occasionally attacking forts or major settlements. The raids of this period were largely confined to the central Anatolian plateau. Gradually, however, the Muslim successes became fewer, especially as their resources were drawn into the conflict with the Khazars in the Caucasus. The raids continued, but the Arab and Byzantine chroniclers mention fewer successful captures of forts or towns, nevertheless, in 737 a major victory over the Khazars allowed the Arabs to shift their focus and intensify their campaigns against Byzantium. Thus in 738 and 739 Maslamah ibn Hisham led successful raids, for the year 740, Hisham assembled the largest expedition of his reign, placing it under his son Sulayman. According to the chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor, the invading Umayyad force totalled 90,000 men, the Emperor Leo confronted the second force at Akroinon. Details of the battle are not known, but the Emperor secured a crushing victory, the rest of the Arab troops managed to conduct an orderly retreat to Synnada, where they joined Sulayman. The other two Arab forces devastated the countryside unopposed, but failed to any towns or forts. Akroinon was a success for the Byzantines, as it was the first large-scale victory they had scored in a pitched battle against the Arabs. Seeing it as evidence of Gods renewed favour, the victory also served to strengthen Leos belief in the policy of iconoclasm that he had adopted some years before. In the immediate aftermath, this opened up the way for a more aggressive stance by the Byzantines. The Arab defeat at Akroinon has traditionally seen as a decisive battle. Other historians however, from the early 20th-century Syriac scholar E. W, as a result, the Arab attacks against the Byzantine Empire in the 740s were rather ineffectual and soon ceased completely. The End of the Jihâd State, The Reign of Hishām ibn ʻAbd al-Malik, albany, New York, State University of New York Press. New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, papers given at the Ninth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, University of Birmingham, March 1975

Battle of Akroinon
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Map of Anatolia (Asia Minor) in 740 AD. Akroinon is located at the center of the western edge of the central Anatolian plateau

22.
Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (782)
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The Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor in 782 was one of the largest operations launched by the Abbasid Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire. The invasion was launched as a display of Abbasid military might in the aftermath of a series of Byzantine successes, as Harun did not intend to assault Constantinople and lacked ships to do so, he turned back. The Byzantines, who in the meantime had neutralized the detachment left to secure the Abbasid armys rear in Phrygia, were able to trap Haruns army between their own converging forces, the defection of the Armenian general Tatzates, however, allowed Harun to regain the upper hand. The Abbasid prince sent for a truce and detained the high-ranking Byzantine envoys and this forced Irene to agree to a three-year truce and pay a heavy annual tribute. Irene then focused her attention to the Balkans, but warfare with the Arabs resumed in 786, until mounting Arab pressure led to another truce in 798, on terms similar to those of 782. In the next year, the Byzantines took and razed the city of Hadath. In response to these Byzantine successes, Caliph al-Mahdi now resolved to take the field in person, on 12 March 780, Mahdi departed Baghdad and via Aleppo marched to Hadath, which he refortified. He then advanced to Arabissus, where he left the army and his son and heir Harun—better known by his laqab, or regnal name, al-Rashid—was left in charge of one half of the army, which raided the Armeniac Theme and took the small fort of Semaluos. Thumama, who had entrusted with the other half, penetrated deeper into Asia Minor. He marched west as far as the Thracesian Theme, but was defeated there by Lachanodrakon. The Muslims crossed into Byzantine Cappadocia over the Pass of Hadath, the ensuing battle resulted in a costly Arab defeat, forcing Abd al-Kabir to abandon his campaign and retreat to Syria. This defeat infuriated the Caliph, who prepared a new expedition.6 million nomismata, Harun was the nominal leader, but the Caliph took care to send experienced officers to accompany him. On 9 February 782, Harun departed Baghdad, the Arabs crossed the Taurus Mountains by the Cilician Gates and they then advanced along the military roads across the plateau into Phrygia. Harun himself, with the army, advanced to the Opsician Theme. The accounts of subsequent events in the sources differ on the details. The Thracesians under Lachanodrakon confronted al-Barmaki at a place called Darenos, al-Tabari reports that part of the main army under Yazid ibn Mazyad al-Shaybani met a Byzantine force led by a certain Niketas who was count of counts, probably somewhere near Nicaea. Harun did not bother them, and advanced to the town of Chrysopolis. Lacking ships to cross the Bosporus, and with no intention of assaulting Constantinople in the first place, furthermore, despite his success so far, Haruns position was precarious, as the defeat of al-Rabi threatened his lines of communication with the Caliphate

23.
Battle of Kopidnadon
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The Battle of Kopidnadon or Kopidnados took place in September 788 between the armies of the Abbasid Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire. The Abbasid army launched an invasion of Byzantine Asia Minor, and was confronted by a Byzantine force at Kopidnadon, the resulting battle was an Abbasid victory. Among the Byzantine losses was a certain Diogenes, who is identified by scholars with the probable original source for the literary hero Digenes Akritas. Ever since the failure of the last Arab attempt to conquer the Byzantine capital Constantinople, regular, in 785, Empress-regent Irene of Athens resolved to cease the payment of the tribute, and warfare recommenced. The site of the battle is called Kopidnadon in Theophanes, an otherwise unattested. Modern scholars, beginning with Henri Grégoire in 1932, have identified it with the town of Podandos, Theophanes also singles out the loss of the capable officer Diogenes, a tourmarches of the Anatolics. The immediate impact of the Byzantine defeat seems to have been negligible, losses were heavy but not unbearable, in material terms, there is therefore little to distinguish the defeat at Kopidnadon from the typical Arab raid. It marks, however, a recommencement of large-scale border warfare after the relative lull since 782, which continued unabated until Haruns death in 809 and the subsequent Abbasid civil war

24.
Battle of Krasos
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The Battle of Krasos was a battle in the Arab–Byzantine Wars that took place in August 804, between the Byzantines under Emperor Nikephoros I and an Abbasid army under Ibrahim ibn Jibril. Nikephoros accession in 802 resulted in a resumption of warfare between Byzantium and the Abbasid Caliphate, in late summer 804, the Abbasids had invaded Byzantine Asia Minor for one of their customary raids, and Nikephoros set out to meet them. He was surprised, however, at Krasos and heavily defeated, a truce and prisoner exchange were afterwards arranged. Despite his defeat, and a massive Abbasid invasion the next year, the deposition of Empress Irene of Athens, in October 802, and subsequent accession of Nikephoros I signalled a more violent phase in the long history of the Arab–Byzantine Wars. Nikephoros, on the hand, was more warlike and determined to refill the imperial treasury by, among other measures. Harun retaliated at once, launching a raid under his son al-Qasim, Nikephoros could not respond to this, as he faced an ultimately unsuccessful revolt of the Asian army under its commander-in-chief, Bardanes Tourkos. After disposing of Bardanes, Nikephoros assembled his army and marched out himself to meet a second, in August 804, Harun dispatched another raid under his general Ibrahim ibn Jibril. The Arabs crossed into Asia Minor through the Cilician Gates and raided freely, Nikephoros set out to meet them, but was forced to return before he could do so, due to some unspecified event at his back. On his march home, however, the Arabs launched an attack at Krasos in Phrygia. According to al-Tabari, the Byzantines lost 40,700 men and 4,000 pack animals, the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes the Confessor confirms that the imperial army lost many men and that Nikephoros was almost killed himself, saved only by the bravery of his officers. Preoccupied with trouble in Khurasan, Harun now accepted tribute and made peace, during Haruns absence in Khurasan, however, Nikephoros used the opportunity to rebuild the destroyed walls of the towns of Safsaf, Thebasa, and Ancyra. The following summer he launched the first Byzantine raid for two decades, into the Arab frontier district in Cilicia, the Byzantine army raided and took prisoners as it went, even capturing the major Abbasid stronghold of Tarsus. Following renewed trouble in Khurasan, a treaty was signed in 808 which left the Byzantine frontier zone intact

25.
Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (806)
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The Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor in 806 was the largest operation ever launched by the Abbasid Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire. Following Haruns departure, however, Nikephoros violated the terms of the treaty, Haruns preoccupation with a rebellion in Khurasan, and his death three years later, prohibited a reprisal on a similar scale. Moreover, the Abbasid civil war began after 809 and the Byzantine preoccupation with the Bulgars contributed to a cessation of large-scale Arab–Byzantine conflict for two decades. Following the deposition of Byzantine empress Irene of Athens in October 802 and the accession of Nikephoros I in her place, in addition, he was determined to refill the imperial treasury by, among other measures, ceasing the tribute. Harun retaliated at once, launching a raid under his son al-Qasim in spring 803, Nikephoros could not respond to this, as he faced a large-scale revolt of the Byzantine army of Asia Minor under its commander-in-chief, Bardanes Tourkos. After disposing of Bardanes, Nikephoros assembled his army and marched out to meet a second, in the next year,804, an Abbasid force under Ibrahim ibn Jibril crossed the Taurus Mountains into Asia Minor. Nikephoros set out to confront the Arabs, but was surprised and heavily defeated at the Battle of Krasos, preoccupied with trouble in Khurasan, Harun once more accepted tribute and made peace. Harun then departed for Khurasan, leaving al-Qasim to watch over the Byzantine frontier, the Byzantine army raided the territory surrounding the fortresses of Mopsuestia and Anazarbus and took prisoners as it went. The city fell and the garrison was taken captive. This sudden resumption of Byzantine offensive activity greatly alarmed Harun, in addition, he received reports that Nikephoros was planning similar attacks for the next year, which this time would aim at the full reoccupation of these frontier territories. Having settled matters in Khurasan, Harun returned to the west in November 805 and prepared a huge retaliatory expedition for 806, drawing men from Syria, Palestine, Persia, according to al-Tabari, his army numbered 135,000 regular troops and additional volunteers and freebooters. Although they are exaggerated, they are nevertheless indicative of the size of the Abbasid force. At the same time, a force under his admiral Humayd ibn Mayuf al-Hajuri was prepared to raid Cyprus. The Abbasids crossed Cilicia, where Harun ordered Tarsus to be rebuilt, Harun marched to Tyana, which at the time seems to have been abandoned. There, he began to establish his base of operations, ordering Uqbah ibn Jafar al-Khuzai to refortify the town, andrasos was captured and Kyzistra was placed under siege, while raiders reached as far as Ancyra, which they did not capture. Harun himself with the half of his forces went west. The city was plundered and razed, and its inhabitants enslaved and deported to the Caliphate, at the same time, on Cyprus, Humayd ravaged the island and took some 16,000 Cypriots, including the archbishop, captive to Syria, where they were sold as slaves. Nikephoros, outnumbered and threatened by the Bulgars in his rear and he campaigned himself at the head of his army and seemingly won a few minor engagements against isolated detachments, but stayed well clear of the main Abbasid forces

Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (806)
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Map of the Muslim expansion and the Muslim world under the Umayyad and early Abbasid caliphates, 7th–mid-10th centuries
Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (806)
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Map of Byzantine Asia Minor and the Byzantine–Arab frontier region ca. 780

26.
Battle of Anzen
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The Battle of Anzen or Dazimon was fought on 22 July 838 at Anzen or Dazimon between the Byzantine Empire and the forces of the Abbasid Caliphate. Theophilos with his army confronted the smaller Muslim army, under the Iranian vassal prince Afshin, coupled with a fierce counterattack by Afshins Turkish horse-archers, the Byzantine army broke and fled. Theophilos and his guard were besieged for a while in a hill, the defeat opened the way for the brutal sack of Amorion a few weeks later, one of the most serious blows Byzantium suffered in the centuries-long Arab–Byzantine Wars. In 829, as the young Theophilos ascended the Byzantine throne, throughout the 830s, Theophilos launched a series of campaigns against the Caliphate. These were only successful, but sufficient for the imperial propaganda to portray Theophilos in the traditional Roman manner as a victorious emperor. In response, al-Mutasim decided to launch a punitive expedition against Byzantium. A vast army was gathered at Tarsus, which was divided into two main forces. The northern force, under the Iranian vassal prince of Usrushana Afshin, would invade the Armeniac theme from the region of Melitene, joining up with the forces of the citys emir, Omar al-Aqta. The southern, main force, under the Caliph himself, would pass the Cilician Gates into Cappadocia, after the city was taken, the Arab armies would join and march to Amorion. Afshins force included, according to John Skylitzes, the army of the vassal Armenian princes. On the Byzantine side, Theophilos became soon aware of the Caliphs intentions and his army included the men from the Anatolian and possibly also the European themes, the elite tagmata regiments, as well as a contingent of Persian and Kurdish Khurramites. Under their leader Nasr, these people had fled persecution in the Caliphate, deserted to the Empire in the previous years. A few days later, on 19 June, the vanguard of the main Abbasid army also invaded Byzantine territory, Theophilos was informed of these movements in mid-July. Afshins force was smaller, but also threatened to cut off his supply lines, consequently, the Emperor left a small covering force against the Caliphs army and marched east to confront Afshin. On 21 July, the army came into view of the Arab force. The Byzantine army attacked at dawn, and initially made progress, they drove back one wing of the opposite army. Near noon, Theophilos resolved to reinforce the other wing, and detached 2,000 Byzantines, at this point, however, Afshin launched his Turkish horse-archers in a ferocious counter-attack which stymied the Byzantine advance and allowed the Arab forces to regroup. The Byzantine troops then noticed the absence, and, thinking he had been killed

Battle of Anzen
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The Byzantine army and Theophilos retreat towards a mountain, miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes.
Battle of Anzen
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Map of the Byzantine and Arab campaigns in the years 837–838
Battle of Anzen
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The Emperor Theophilos and his court, miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes chronicle.

27.
Sack of Amorium
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The Sack of Amorium by the Abbasid Caliphate in mid-August 838 was one of the major events in the long history of the Arab–Byzantine Wars. Mutasim targeted Amorium, a Byzantine city in western Asia Minor, because it was the birthplace of the ruling Byzantine dynasty and, at the time, the caliph gathered an exceptionally large army, which he divided in two parts, which invaded from the northeast and the south. After sacking the city, they turned south to Amorium, where arrived on 1 August. Faced with intrigues at Constantinople and the rebellion of the large Khurramite contingent of his army, Amorium was strongly fortified and garrisoned, but a traitor revealed a weak spot in the wall, where the Abbasids concentrated their attack, effecting a breach. Unable to break through the army, Boiditzes, the commander of the breached section privately attempted to negotiate with the Caliph without notifying his superiors. He concluded a truce and left his post, which allowed the Arabs to take advantage, enter the city. Amorium was systematically destroyed, never to recover its former prosperity, many of its inhabitants were slaughtered, and the remainder driven off as slaves. The conquest of Amorium was not only a military disaster and a heavy personal blow for Theophilos. As Iconoclasm relied heavily on military success for its legitimization, the fall of Amorium contributed decisively to its abandonment shortly after Theophiloss death in 842. By 829, when the young emperor Theophilos ascended the Byzantine throne, Theophilos was an ambitious man and also a convinced adherent of Byzantine Iconoclasm, which prohibited the depiction of divine figures and the veneration of icons. He sought to bolster his regime and support his religious policies by military success against the Abbasid Caliphate, the Empires major antagonist. He assembled a large army, some 70,000 fighting men and 100,000 in total according to al-Tabari. Theophiloss campaign was unable, however, to save Babak and his followers, Babak fled to Armenia, but was betrayed to the Abbasids and died of torture. With the Khurramite threat over, the caliph began marshalling his forces for a campaign against Byzantium. A huge Arab army gathered at Tarsus, according to the most reliable account, other writers give far larger numbers, ranging from 200,000 to 500,000 according to al-Masudi. Unlike earlier campaigns, which did not go far beyond attacking the forts of the frontier zone, the great city of Amorium in particular was the intended prize. It is the eye and foundation of Christendom, among the Byzantines, according to Byzantine sources, the caliph had the citys name written on the shields and banners of his soldiers. The capital of the powerful Anatolic Theme, the city was located at the western edge of the Anatolian plateau

Sack of Amorium
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Follis of a new type, minted in large quantities in celebration of Theophilos's victories against the Arabs from ca. 835 on. On the obverse, he is represented in triumphal attire, wearing the toupha, and on the reverse the traditional acclamation "Theophilos Augustus, you conquer".
Sack of Amorium
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Emperor Theophilos flees after the Battle of Anzen, miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes manuscript
Sack of Amorium
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Miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes depicting the Arab siege of Amorium
Sack of Amorium
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Miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes depicting the embassy of the tourmarches Basil to al-Mu'tasim (seated) after the fall of Amorium.

28.
Battle of Mauropotamos
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The Battle of Mauropotamos was fought in 844, between the armies of the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate, at Mauropotamos. After a failed Byzantine attempt to recover the Emirate of Crete in the previous year, the Byzantine regent, Theoktistos, headed the army that went to meet the invasion but was heavily defeated, and many of his officers defected to the Arabs. Internal unrest prevented the Abbasids from exploiting their victory, however, a truce and a prisoner exchange were consequently agreed in 845, followed by a six-year cessation of hostilities, as both powers focused their attention elsewhere. The first such campaign, an attempted reconquest of the Emirate of Crete led by Theoktistos in person, made initial gains, after scoring a victory over the Arabs in Crete, Theoktistos learned of a rumour that Theodora intended to name a new emperor, possibly her brother Bardas. Theoktistos hurried back to Constantinople, where he discovered that the rumour was false, but in his absence, the Byzantine army in Crete was routed by the Arabs. In 844, according to Byzantine sources, Theoktistos learned of an Arab invasion of Byzantine Asia Minor, led by a certain Amr, probably the semi-autonomous emir of Malatya, the Arab sources do not make explicit mention of this campaign. Umar al-Aqtas participation is likely, as he aided the Abbasids in their raids against the Byzantines. According to Arab accounts, the led by Abu Said comprised men from the border emirates of Qaliqala. The Arab forces united at Ardandun before raiding through the Byzantine themes of Cappadocia, Anatolikon, Boukellarion, saids troops sacked Dorylaion and even reached the shore of the Bosporus. Theoktistos led the Byzantine army in against the invaders, but was defeated at Mauropotamos. The location of the latter, if indeed it is a river and not a simple toponym, is disputed, not only did the Byzantines suffer heavy casualties, but many senior Byzantine officials defected to the Arabs. Theoktistos returned to Constantinople, where he blamed Bardas for the recent defeats and had him exiled from the capital, the Abbasids were unable to exploit their success due to the internal instability of the Caliphate. Likewise, the Byzantines preferred to focus their strength against the ongoing conquest of Sicily by the Aghlabids, thus, a Byzantine embassy was sent to Baghdad in 845, which was warmly received. The Abbasids reciprocated with an embassy to Constantinople, where the two agreed on a truce and a prisoner exchange, which was held at the river Lamos on 16 September 845. A winter raid by the Arab governor of Tarsus shortly after failed disastrously, after which the Arab-Byzantine frontier remained quiet for six years

29.
Capture of Faruriyyah
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The Capture of Faruriyyah in 862 was a military campaign conducted by the Abbasid Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire. Planned during the caliphate of al-Muntasir, it was commanded by the Turkish general Wasif. Al-Muntasir became caliph on December 11,861, after his father al-Mutawakkil was assassinated by members of his Turkish guard, al-Muntasirs sudden elevation to the caliphate served to benefit several of his close associates, who gained senior positions in the government after his ascension. Included among these were his secretary, Ahmad ibn al-Khasib, who became vizier, and Wasif, shortly after securing his position as caliph, al-Muntasir decided to send an army against the Byzantines. Ahmad ultimately decided that the best way to accomplish this was to put him at the head of a military campaign and he was eventually able to convince the caliph to go along with the plan, and al-Muntasir ordered Wasif to head to the Byzantine frontier. Regardless of the motivations for the expedition, Wasif seems to have had no objection to his assignment, the campaign was planned to be a major affair. Wasif was to command upwards of ten troops, consisting of the regular army, the mawlās. In addition, a recruitment drive to gain volunteers for the campaign was ordered by al-Muntasir. On March 13,862 a proclamation announcing the campaign was issued, it characterized the upcoming expedition as a war and extolled Wasif as a fine leader. Abu al-Walid al-Jariri al-Bajali was appointed to handle the armys expenditures, a timetable for the expedition was drafted, Wasif and the army were scheduled to arrive at the frontier outpost of Malatya on June 15,862, and were to invade Byzantine territory on July 1. Having completed their preparations for the campaign, Wasif and the departed for the Byzantine frontier in early 862. Upon arriving at the Syrian side of the zone, they set up camp there in preparation for their incursions into Byzantine territory. Before Wasif had a chance to make any progress against the Byzantines, however. After a reign of six months, al-Muntasir died around the beginning of June. Following his death, the vizier Ahmad ibn al-Khasib and a group of senior Turkish commanders met. They presented their decision to the Samarran military regiments, and were able to force the soldiers to swear allegiance to their candidate. The death of al-Muntasir did not immediately result in the termination of the military campaign, Wasif, upon learning of the passing of the caliph, decided that he should still persist with the operation, and led his forces into Byzantine territory. The army advanced against a Byzantine fortress called Faruriyyah in the region of Tarsus, the defenders of the fortress were defeated and the stronghold was conquered by the Muslims

Capture of Faruriyyah
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Map of Byzantine Asia Minor and the Byzantine-Arab frontier region in the middle of the 9th century

30.
Battle of Lalakaon
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The Battle of Lalakaon or the Battle of Poson was fought in 863 between the Byzantine Empire and an invading Arab army in Paphlagonia. Umar al-Aqta was able to overcome the initial Byzantine resistance against his invasion, the Byzantines then mobilized all their forces, and the Arab army was encircled near the River Lalakaon. The subsequent battle ended in a complete Byzantine victory and the death of the Emir on the field, the Bulgarians were pressured into accepting the Byzantine form of Christianity, thus beginning this nations absorption into the Byzantine cultural sphere. Following the rapid Muslim conquests of the 7th century, the Byzantine Empire found itself confined to Asia Minor, the coasts of the Balkans. As Byzantium remained the Caliphates major infidel enemy, Arab raids into Asia Minor continued throughout the 8th and 9th centuries. Over time, these expeditions, launched from bases in the Arab frontier zone on an almost annual basis, acquired a quasi-ritualized character as part of the Muslim jihad. During that period, the Byzantines were generally on the defensive, and suffered some catastrophic defeats such as the razing of Amorium, the home city of the reigning Byzantine dynasty, in 838. Melitene, in particular, was a threat to Byzantium as its location on the western side of the Anti-Taurus range allowed direct access to the Anatolian plateau. In the summer of 863, Umar struck again, joining forces with the Abbasid general Jafar ibn Dinar al-Khayyat for a raid into Cappadocia. The Arabs crossed the Cilician Gates into Byzantine territory, plundering as they went, there, the Tarsian army returned home, but Umar obtained Jafars leave to press on into Asia Minor. The Byzantinist John Haldon considers the number to be closer to reality. It is likely that a Paulician contingent under Karbeas was present as well, the battle was bloody with many casualties on both sides, according to the Persian historian al-Tabari, only a thousand of Umars army survived. Nevertheless, the Arabs managed to escape the Byzantines and continue their raid north into the Armeniac Theme, eventually reaching the Black Sea and sacking the port city of Amisos. The Byzantine historians report that Umar, enraged at the sea blocking his advance, ordered it to be lashed, but this is most likely inspired by the similar account of Xerxes during the Persian Wars. As soon as Michael learned of the fall of Amisos, he ordered a force to be assembled under his uncle Petronas, the Domestic of the Schools, and Nasar. Al-Tabari records that the Emperor himself assumed command of these forces, given the bias against Michael by the historians writing during the Macedonian dynasty, this may be a deliberate omission. The forces assembled came from all over the Byzantine Empire, the exact location of the river and the battle site have not been identified, but most scholars agree that they lay near the river Halys, some 130 kilometres southeast of Amisos. With the approach of the Byzantine armies, the only escape route left to the Emir

Battle of Lalakaon
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The Battle of Lalakaon, as depicted in the Madrid Skylitzes
Battle of Lalakaon
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The success of the Battle of Lalakaon and its follow-up operations enabled the Empire to focus its might against Bulgaria, leading to its successful Christianization. Depiction of the baptism of the Bulgarians from the Manasses Chronicle.

31.
Battle of Bathys Ryax
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The Battle of Bathys Ryax was fought in 872 or 878 between the Byzantine Empire and the Paulicians. The battle was a decisive Byzantine victory, resulting in the rout of the Paulician army and this event destroyed the power of the Paulician state and removed a major threat to Byzantium, heralding the fall of Tephrike itself and the annexation of the Paulician principality shortly after. The Paulicians were fiercely iconoclastic, adhered to a very distinct Christology and rejected the authority and practices of the official Byzantine Church, consequently, they were persecuted by the Byzantine state as early as 813, despite the emperors official support for iconoclasm. The new Byzantine emperor, Basil I the Macedonian, sent an embassy for negotiations to Tephrike, after the talks failed, Basil led a campaign against the Paulician state in the spring of 871, but was defeated and only narrowly managed to escape himself. Encouraged by this success, Chrysocheir then staged another deep raid into Anatolia, reaching Ancyra, Basil reacted by sending his relative, the Domestic of the Schools Christopher, against them. The Paulicians managed to avoid a clash, and as the season drew to a close. They encamped at Agranai in the theme of Charsianon, with the shadowing Byzantine army making their camp at nearby Siboron to the west. e. Whether it intended to double back westwards to resume raiding Byzantine territory or whether it headed back to Tephrike, in which case they would have to rejoin the Domestics forces. When the two generals with their men reached the pass, night had fallen, and the Paulicians, the Byzantines took up position in a wooded hill called Zogoloenos that overlooked the Paulician encampment, which further concealed them from their enemy. The ruse worked perfectly, the Paulicians, taken by surprise, the Paulician rout was completed as they fell upon the main Byzantine army while fleeing. Their remnants were pursued by the victorious Byzantines up to a distance of 50 km, Chrysocheir himself managed to escape with a small detachment of bodyguards, but he was brought at bay at Konstantinou Bounos. In the ensuing engagement, he was wounded by Poulades, a Byzantine soldier who had formerly a captive of the Paulicians. He was then captured and beheaded by the advancing Byzantines, the defeat at Bathys Ryax signalled the end of the Paulicians as a military power and a threat to Byzantium. Basil followed this success by a series of campaigns in the East against the Paulician strongholds, Tephrike itself was taken in 878 and razed to the ground. The remaining Paulicians were resettled in the Balkans, while a contingent was shipped off to Southern Italy to fight for the Empire under Nikephoros Phokas the Elder. Thus Alexander Vasiliev proposed a first victorious battle for the Byzantines, followed by the sack of Tephrike, most recent historians place the battle before the sack of the city, but disagree in the dates of the two events

Battle of Bathys Ryax
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Gold coin of the Emperor Basil I. The victory of Bathys Ryax and the subsequent dissolution of the Paulician state were among the major triumphs of his reign.
Battle of Bathys Ryax
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Map of Byzantine Asia Minor and the Byzantine-Arab frontier region in the middle of the 9th century

32.
Muslim conquest of Sicily
–
The Muslim conquest of Sicily began in June 827 and lasted until 902, when the last major Byzantine stronghold on the island, Taormina, fell. Isolated fortresses remained in Byzantine hands until 965, but the island was henceforth under Muslim rule until conquered in turn by the Normans in the 11th century. Although Sicily had been raided by the Muslims since the century, these raids did not threaten Byzantine control over the island. The opportunity for the Aghlabid emirs of Ifriqiya came in 827, defeated by loyalist forces and driven from the island, Euphemius sought the aid of the Aghlabids. Following the Arab landing on the island, Euphemius was quickly sidelined, an initial assault on the islands capital, Syracuse, failed, but the Muslims were able to weather the subsequent Byzantine counter-attack and hold on to a few fortresses. With the aid of reinforcements from Ifriqiya and al-Andalus, in 831 they took Palermo, the strong fortress of Enna in the centre of the island was the main Byzantine bulwark against Muslim expansion, until its capture in 859. Following its fall, the Muslims increased their pressure against the eastern parts of the island, the fall of the last major Byzantine fortress, Taormina, in 902, is held to mark the completion of the Muslim conquest of Sicily. Under Muslim rule, Sicily prospered and eventually detached itself from Ifriqiya to form a semi-independent emirate, throughout the imperial Roman period, Sicily was a quiet, prosperous backwater. Only in the 5th century did it suffer from raids by the Vandals operating from the coasts of North Africa, in 535, the island came under Byzantine control and was raided by the Ostrogoths in the Gothic War, but calm returned thereafter. It was only the threat of the Muslim expansion that thrust it into the limelight. Consequently, the island was early on targeted by the Muslims, following the onset of Muslim attacks against North Africa, it became a crucial strategic base, and for a while, in 661–668, it was the residence of the imperial court under Constans II. Constituted as a theme around 690, its governing strategos also came to control over the scattered imperial possessions in the southern Italian mainland. In 805, Ibrahim concluded a truce with the Byzantine governor of Sicily. During this time, the Aghlabids were too preoccupied with their rivalry with the Idrisids to the west to plan any serious assault on Sicily, instead, there are testimonies of commercial traffic between Sicily and Ifriqiya, and of the presence of Arab traders on the island. The occasion for the invasion of Sicily was provided by the rebellion of the tourmarches Euphemius, according to later and possibly fictional accounts, driven by lust for a nun, he had forced her to marry him. Thus it came that Euphemius, returning from a raid against the African coast. Instead, he sailed for Syracuse, occupying the city, while the governor sought refuge in Catana, Euphemius soon managed to gain the support of a large part of the islands military leadership. Euphemius not only repulsed an attempt by Constantine to recover Syracuse, but pursued him and drove him out of Catana, and eventually captured and executed him

Muslim conquest of Sicily
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Europe and the Mediterranean on the eve of the Muslim invasion of Sicily
Muslim conquest of Sicily
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Topographic map of Sicily
Muslim conquest of Sicily
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View of Enna (Castrogiovanni)
Muslim conquest of Sicily
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Emperor Theophilos and his court, from the Madrid Skylitzes

33.
History of Islam in southern Italy
–
The history of Islam in southern Italy began with the first Muslim settlement in Sicily, at Mazara, which was captured in 827. The subsequent rule of Sicily and Malta started in the 10th century, Islamic rule over all Sicily began in 902, and the Emirate of Sicily lasted from 965 until 1061. The Muslim raids were part of a struggle for power in Italy and Europe, with Christian Byzantine, Frankish, Norman. Muslims were sometimes sought as allies by various Christian factions against other factions, the first permanent Arab settlement on Sicily occurred in 827, but it was not until Taormina fell in 902 that the entire island fell under their sway, though Rometta held out until 965. In that year the Kalbids established the independence of their emirate from the Fatimid caliphate, in 1061 the first Norman conquerors took Messina, and by 1071 Palermo and its citadel were captured. In 1091 Noto fell to the Normans, and the conquest was complete, Malta fell later that year, though the Arab administration was kept in place, marking the final chapter of this period. Widespread conversion ensued, leading to the disappearance of Islam in Sicily by the 1280s, in 1245, Muslim Sicilians were deported to the settlement of Lucera, by order of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. In 1300, Giovanni Pipino di Barletta, count of Altamura, seized Lucera and exiled or sold into slavery its population, the first attacks by Islamic ships on Sicily, then part of the Byzantine Empire, occurred in 652 under the Rashidun Caliphate of Uthman. These were Arab warriors directed by the Governor of Syria, Muawiyah I, and led by Muawiya ibn Hudayj of the Kindah tribe, olympius, the Byzantine exarch of Ravenna, came to Sicily to oust the invaders but failed. Soon after, the Arabs returned to Syria after collecting a large amount of booty. A second Arab expedition to Sicily occurred in 669 and this time, a strong, ravaging force consisting of 200 ships from Alexandria attacked the island. They sacked Syracuse, Sicily and returned to Egypt after a month of pillaging, after the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, attacks from Muslim fleets repeated in 703,728,729,730,731,733, and 734. The last two Arab assaults were met with substantial Byzantine resistance, the first true conquest expedition was launched in 740. In that year, Habib ibn Abi Obeida al-Fihri, who had participated in the 728 attack, though ready to conquer the whole island, the expedition was forced to return to Tunisia by a Berber revolt. A second attack in 752 aimed only to sack Syracuse again, in 812, Ibrahims son, Abdallah I, sent an invasion force to conquer Sicily. His ships were first harassed by the intervention of Gaeta and Amalfi and were destroyed in great number by a tempest. However, they managed to conquer the island of Lampedusa and to ravage Ponza, a further agreement between the new patrician Gregorius and the emir established the freedom of commerce between southern Italy and Ifriqiya. After a further attack in 819 by Mohammed ibn-Adballad, cousin of Amir Ziyadat Allah I of Ifriqiya, the Muslim conquest of Sicily and parts of southern Italy lasted 75 years

History of Islam in southern Italy
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Arabic painting made for the Norman kings (c. 1150) in the Palazzo dei Normanni, originally the emir's palace at Palermo.
History of Islam in southern Italy
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The joint capture of Bari by Byzantine and Franco-Lombard troops led by the Emperor Louis II in 871.

34.
Nikephoros Phokas the Elder
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In ca.886 he led a major expedition in southern Italy, where his victories laid the foundation for the Byzantine resurgence in the peninsula. He died either in 895/6 or, less likely, sometime ca, contemporaries and later historians lauded him for his military ability and character. Both of his sons succeeded him as Domestics of the Schools. His grandsons Nikephoros and Leo were likewise distinguished generals, while the former emperor in 963–969. Nikephoros was the son of the founder of the Phokas family, a man called Phokas, during one of the campaigns of Emperor Basil I the Macedonian sometime in the 870s, Nikephoros father caught the emperors attention and was raised to the rank of tourmarches. At the same time Nikephoros, still in his youth, was taken into the imperial retinue and he possibly participated in Basils 873 campaign against Samosata. Shortly after, at any rate before 878, Nikephoros was promoted to the rank of protostrator and received from the emperor his own palace in the vicinity of the Church of St. Thecla. Eventually he rose to the post of governor of the theme of Charsianon. This took place in 885, according to traditional dating, Nikephoros command in Italy lasted until his recall to Constantinople following the accession of Leo VI the Wise, in late 886. Shaun Tougher however posits that Nikephoros was sent to Italy only after the accession of Leo VI, as Leo in his writings takes credit for his dispatch there, otranto was taken from the Saracens in 873, and Bari in 876. According to Skylitzes, the grateful Italians dedicated a church in his honour, by the time of his departure, he had extended Byzantine control over most of Apulia and Calabria. These victories were followed up by his successors and laid the foundation of a resurgence of Byzantine power in southern Italy, the regions of Apulia, Calabria and Basilicata would remain firmly under Byzantine control until the 11th century. In 895, he was sent against the Bulgarians at the head of a large army and this is the last campaign associated with Nikephoros Phokas, and Symeon Logothetes reports that he died in 895/6. His death reportedly encouraged Tsar Simeon to reopen hostilities, with devastating success against Nikephoros successor as Domestic and this undated raid probably took place either in the years before or directly after the Bulgarian war. No definite conclusion as to the date of Nikephoros death can be reached today, by all accounts, Nikephoros Phokas was a capable soldier. Skylitzes assesses him as a brave and prudent man, pious towards God, Nikephoros was the father of Bardas Phokas the Elder and Leo Phokas the Elder, both of whom became Domestics of the Schools. So did his grandsons through Bardas, Nikephoros and Leo Phokas the Younger, both Leo and Nikephoros II scored major successes against the Arabs, with Nikephoros in particular leading the recovery of Crete, Cyprus, Cilicia and Antioch. Recherches sur les institutions byzantines, Tome I, before the Normans, Southern Italy in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries

Nikephoros Phokas the Elder
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Byzantine troops under Nikephoros Phokas capture the town of Amantia in Italy. Miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes
Nikephoros Phokas the Elder
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The Magyars pursue Simeon to Dorystolon, miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes
Nikephoros Phokas the Elder
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Nikephoros II Phokas enters Constantinople as emperor through the Golden Gate in 963

35.
Marianos Argyros
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Marianos Argyros was a Byzantine aristocrat and member of the Argyros family. A monk, in 944 he supported the assumption of rule by Constantine VII. He held a succession of military commands, fighting in southern Italy against local rebels and the Fatimids. In 963, he tried to oppose the takeover of the throne by the general Nikephoros Phokas by assuming control over Constantinople and arresting his father. During the ensuing clashes, he was hit on the head by a platter, Marianos was the eldest son of the general Leo Argyros, active in the first decades of the 10th century. He had a brother, Romanos Argyros, who in 921 married Agathe, the Argyroi therefore were counted among the firmest supporters of the Lekapenos regime. Romanos Lekapenos had risen to power in 919 as regent over the young Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, by December 920, his position had become so unassailable that he was crowned senior emperor. However, in 943, the elderly Romanos drafted a will which would leave Constantine VII as the emperor following his death. This greatly upset his two sons, who started planning to seize power through a coup détat, with Stephen apparently the ringleader and it is in this context that Marianos Argyros is first mentioned in December 944. At the time, he was a monk, and a confidant of Stephen Lekapenos, a few weeks later, however, with the support of the populace, Constantine VII managed to sideline the Lekapenoi, who joined their father in exile. It appears that Marianos had changed sides in time, for he participated in the arrest of the Lekapenoi. As a reward, Constantine VII, now sole ruler, freed him of his vows and raised him to the rank of patrikios. His abandonment of the monastic habit earned him the nickname Apambas or Apabbas, Marianos then disappears from the scene until he was sent at the head of troops from the themes of Macedonia and Thrace in an expedition to southern Italy, dated by modern scholars to 955. A rebellion that had broken out in the local Byzantine themes of Langobardia and Calabria, the Byzantine expeditionary force encircled and besieged Naples, until the city surrendered. At about the time, following a Fatimid raid on Almeria. Fatimid sources report that the Umayyads proposed joint action with Byzantium, Byzantine envoys even went to the Fatimid caliph, al-Muizz, and offered to renew and extend the existing truce. Al-Muizz however, determined to expose the Umayyads collaboration with the enemy and emulate the achievements of his father. The Caliph dispatched new forces to Sicily under Ammar ibn Ali al-Kalbi, in spring/summer 956, the Fatimid fleet clashed with and defeated the Byzantine fleet in two battles in the Straits of Messina, followed by Fatimid raids on the Calabrian coast

36.
George Maniakes
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George Maniakes was a prominent Byzantine Greek general during the 11th century, he was the catepan of Italy in 1042. He is known as Gyrgir in Scandinavian sagas and he is popularly said to have been extremely tall and well built, almost a giant. Maniakes first became prominent during a campaign in 1030–1031, when the Byzantine Empire was defeated at Aleppo and his greatest achievement was the partial reconquest of Sicily from the Arabs beginning in 1038. Here, he was assisted by the Varangian Guard, which was at that time led by Harald Hardrada, there were also Norman mercenaries with him, under William de Hauteville, who won his nickname Iron Arm by defeating the emir of Syracuse in single combat. In response, he was recalled by the emperor Michael IV, although the Arabs soon took the island back, Maniakes successes there later inspired the Normans to invade Sicily themselves. Maniakes accomplishments in Sicily were largely ignored by the Emperor, and he revolted against Constantine IX in 1042, the individual particularly responsible for antagonizing Maniakes into revolt was one Romanus Sclerus. Sclerus owed his influence over the emperor to his famously charming sister Sclerina, finding himself in a position of power, Sclerus used it to poison Constantine against Maniakes - ransacking the latters house and even seducing his wife, using the charm his family were famed for. Maniakes was then proclaimed emperor by his troops and marched towards Constantinople, in 1043 his army clashed with troops loyal to Constantine near Thessalonika, and though initially successful, Maniakes was killed during the melee after receiving a fatal wound. Constantines extravagant punishment of the rebels was to parade them in the Hippodrome. With his death, the rebellion ceased, in Sicily, the town of Maniace and the Syracusan fortress of Castello Maniace are both named after him

George Maniakes
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Maniakes conquering Edessa
George Maniakes
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The Byzantines under George Maniakes land at Sicily and defeat the Arabs

37.
Emirate of Crete
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The Emirate of Crete was a Muslim state that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete from the late 820s to the Byzantine reconquest of the island in 961. Although the emirate recognized the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate and maintained ties with Tulunid Egypt. A group of Andalusian exiles conquered Crete in c.824 or in 827/828, the Byzantines launched a campaign that took most of the island back in 842 and 843 under Theoktistos, but the reconquest was not completed and was soon reversed. Later attempts by the Byzantine Empire to recover the island failed, and for the approximately 135 years of its existence, the emirate was one of the major foes of Byzantium. Crete commanded the sea lanes of the Eastern Mediterranean and functioned as a forward base, the emirates internal history is less well-known, but all accounts point to considerable prosperity deriving not only from piracy but also from extensive trade and agriculture. The emirate was brought to an end by Nikephoros Phokas, who launched a campaign against it in 960–961. Crete had been the target of Muslim attacks since the first wave of the Muslim conquests in the mid-7th century and it had suffered a first raid in 654 and again in 674/675, and parts of the island were temporarily occupied during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph al-Walid I. At some point in the half of the reign of Byzantine Emperor Michael II. These exiles had a history of wanderings behind them. Traditionally they have described as the survivors of a failed revolt against the emir al-Hakam I of Córdoba in 818. In the aftermath of its suppression, the citizens of the Córdoban suburb of al-Rabad were exiled en masse, the exact chronology of the Andalusians landing in Crete is uncertain. Following the Muslim sources, it is dated to 827 or 828. Byzantine sources however seem to contradict this, placing their landing soon after the suppression of the revolt of Thomas the Slav. Under the terms of their agreement with Ibn Tahir, the Andalusians, historian Warren Treadgold estimates them at some 12,000 people, of whom about 3,000 would be fighting men. According to Byzantine historians, the Andalusians were already familiar with Crete and they also claim that the Muslim landing was initially intended as a raid, and was transformed into a bid for conquest when Abu Hafs himself set fire to their ships. However, as the Andalusian exiles had brought their families along, the first expedition, under Photeinos, strategos of the Anatolic Theme, and Damian, Count of the Stable, was defeated in open battle, where Damian was killed. The next expedition was sent a year later and comprised 70 ships under the strategos of the Cibyrrhaeots Krateros and it was initially victorious, but the overconfident Byzantines were then routed in a night attack. Krateros managed to flee to Kos, but there he was captured by the Arabs, makrypoulias suggests that these campaigns must have taken place before the Andalusians completed their construction of Chandax, where they transferred the capital from the inland site of Gortyn

Emirate of Crete
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The Saracen fleet sails towards Crete. Miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes manuscript.
Emirate of Crete
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Map of the Aegean Sea, with Crete in the bottom
Emirate of Crete
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Ooryphas punishes the Cretan Saracens, as depicted in the Madrid Skylitzes

38.
Sack of Damietta (853)
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The Sack of Damietta was a successful raid on the port city of Damietta on the Nile Delta by the Byzantine navy on 22–24 May 853. The city, whose garrison was absent at the time, was sacked and plundered, yielding not only many captives but also large quantities of weapons and these losses ushered in an era where Saracen pirates raided the Christian northern shores of the Mediterranean almost at will. Several Byzantine attempts to retake Crete in the aftermath of the Andalusian conquest, as well as a large-scale invasion in 842/43. The Arab historian al-Tabari reports that three fleets, totalling almost 300 ships, were prepared and sent on simultaneous raids of Muslim naval bases in the Eastern Mediterranean. The precise targets of two fleets are unknown, but the third, comprising 85 ships and 5,000 men under a commander known from Arab sources only as Ibn Qaṭūnā, various identifications have been proposed by modern scholars for Ibn Qaṭūnā, but without any firm evidence. Based on the similarity of consonants in their names, Henri Grégoire variously suggested an identification with Sergios Niketiates, who probably died in 843. In a later work in 1952 he suggested that he might be identified with the parakoimomenos Damian, previously, in 1913, the Syriac scholar E. W. Brooks had suggested an identification with the strategos Photeinos. The Egyptian fleet had declined from its Umayyad-era peak and was employed in the Nile rather than in the Mediterranean. Fortifications along the marshes, which had been manned by volunteer garrisons, had been abandoned in the later 8th century. The Byzantines had exploited this in 811/12 and again in ca.815 launching raids against the coasts of Egypt, the Byzantine fleet arrived at Damietta on 22 May 853. The city garrison were absent at a feast for the Day of Arafah organized by the governor Anbasah ibn Ishaq al-Dabbi in Fustat, damiettas inhabitants fled the undefended city, which was plundered for two days and then torched by the Byzantines. The Byzantines carried off some six hundred Arab and Coptic women as well as quantities of arms. The fleet then sailed east and attacked the fortress of Ushtun. Upon taking it, they burned the many artillery and siege engines found there before returning home, as a result, the raid is referred to only through two Arab accounts, by al-Tabari and Yaqubi. The Byzantines returned and raided Damietta again in 854, another raid possibly took place in 855, as the Arabic sources indicate that the arrival of a Byzantine fleet in Egypt was anticipated by the Abbasid authorities. In 859, the Byzantine fleet attacked Farama and it would not be until 961 that the Byzantines reconquered Crete, and secured control of the Aegean. Within nine months of the raid, Damietta was refortified along with Tinnis, various works were undertaken at Rosetta, Borollos, Ashmun, at-Tina, and Nastarawwa. Ships were constructed and new crews were raised, most seamen were forcibly conscripted from among the Copts and the Arabs of the interior, earning Anbasah a bad reputation in contemporary sources

Sack of Damietta (853)
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Map of the Arab–Byzantine naval conflict in the Mediterranean, 7th–11th centuries

39.
Sack of Thessalonica (904)
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The Sack of Thessalonica in 904 by Saracen pirates was one of the worst disasters to befall the Byzantine Empire in the 10th century. A Muslim fleet, led by the renegade Leo of Tripoli, the Muslims were deterred from attacking Constantinople, and instead turned to Thessalonica, totally surprising the Byzantines, whose navy was unable to react in time. The city walls, especially towards the sea, were in disrepair, after a short siege, the Saracens were able to storm the seaward walls, overcome the Thessalonians resistance and take the city on 29 July. In the event, most of the captives, including John Kaminiates, a History of the Byzantine State and Society, Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press, p.467, ISBN 0-8047-2630-2 Vasiliev, A. A

Sack of Thessalonica (904)
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The sack of Thessalonica, from the Madrid Skylitzes

40.
John Kourkouas
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John Kourkouas, also transliterated as Kurkuas or Curcuas, was one of the most important generals of the Byzantine Empire. His success in battles against the Muslim states in the East definitively reversed the course of the centuries-long Byzantine–Arab Wars, Kourkouas belonged to a family of Armenian descent that produced several notable Byzantine generals. As commander of a bodyguard regiment, Kourkouas was among the chief supporters of Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos. In 923, Kourkouas was appointed commander-in-chief of the Byzantine armies along the frontier, facing the Abbasid Caliphate. He kept this post for more than twenty years, overseeing decisive Byzantine military successes that altered the balance in the region. During the 9th century, Byzantium had gradually recovered its strength and internal stability while the Caliphate had become increasingly impotent, under Kourkouass leadership, the Byzantine armies advanced deep into Muslim territory for the first time in almost 200 years, expanding the imperial border. The emirates of Melitene and Qaliqala were conquered, extending Byzantine control to the upper Euphrates, the remaining Iberian and Armenian princes became Byzantine vassals. Kourkouas also played a role in the defeat of a major Rus raid in 941 and recovered the Mandylion of Edessa, an important and holy relic believed to depict the face of Jesus Christ. He was dismissed in 944 as a result of the machinations of Romanos Lekapenoss sons but restored to favour by Emperor Constantine VII, little is known about Johns early life. His father was an official in the imperial palace. John himself was born at Dokeia, in the region of Darbidos in the Armeniac Theme, and was educated by one of his relatives, the bishop of Gangra Christopher. In this capacity, he arrested several high officials who opposed Lekapenoss rise to power, Lekapenos gradually assumed more powers until he was crowned senior emperor in December 920. As a reward for his support, in ca,923, Romanos Lekapenos promoted Kourkouas to the post of Domestic of the Schools, in effect commander-in-chief of all the imperial armies in Anatolia. According to the chronicle of Theophanes Continuatus, Kourkouas held this post for an unparalleled continuous term of 22 years, at this time, and following the disastrous Battle of Acheloos in 917, the Byzantines were mostly occupied in the Balkans in a protracted conflict against Bulgaria. This was quickly achieved and his brother, Theophilos Kourkouas, replaced Boilas as governor of Chaldia, as commander of this northernmost sector of the eastern frontier, Theophilos proved a competent soldier and gave valuable assistance to his brothers campaigns. Until the 860s, superior Muslim armies had placed the Byzantines on the defensive, the revival of Byzantine power was further facilitated by the progressive decline of the Abbasid Caliphate itself, particularly under al-Muqtadir, when the central government faced several revolts. In the periphery of the Caliphate, the weakening of central control allowed the emergence of local dynasties. In addition, after the death of the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon in 927, by 925, Romanos Lekapenos felt himself strong enough to demand the payment of tribute from the Muslim cities on the western side of the Euphrates

John Kourkouas
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Gold coin (solidus) of Romanos I Lekapenos, depicting him and his eldest son (and co-emperor from 921 on), Christopher.
John Kourkouas
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The fall of Melitene, miniature from the Skylitzes Chronicle.
John Kourkouas
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The surrender of the Mandylion to the Byzantine parakoimomenos Theophanes by the Edessenes, from the Madrid Skylitzes.

41.
Sayf al-Dawla
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After the failure of these endeavours, the ambitious Sayf al-Dawla turned towards Syria, where he confronted the ambitions of the Ikhshidids of Egypt to control the province. After two wars with them, his authority over northern Syria, centred at Aleppo, and the western Jazira, centred at Mayyafariqin, was recognized by the Ikhshidids and the Caliph. A series of tribal rebellions plagued his realm until 955, but he was successful in overcoming them and maintaining the allegiance of the most important Arab tribes. Sayf al-Dawlas court at Aleppo became the centre of a vibrant cultural life, Sayf al-Dawla was widely celebrated for his role in the Arab–Byzantine Wars, facing a resurgent Byzantine Empire that in the early 10th century had begun to reconquer Muslim territories. In this struggle against a superior enemy, he launched raids deep into Byzantine territory and managed to score a few successes. After that, the new Byzantine commander, Nikephoros Phokas, the Byzantines annexed Cilicia, and even occupied Aleppo itself briefly in 962. Sayf al-Dawlas final years were marked by military defeats, his own growing disability as a result of disease, and he died in early 967, leaving a much weakened realm, which by 969 had lost Antioch and the Syrian littoral to the Byzantines and become a Byzantine tributary. Sayf al-Dawla was born Ali ibn Abdallah, the son of Abdallah Abul-Hayja ibn Hamdan, son of Hamdan ibn Hamdun ibn al-Harith. The Hamdanids were a branch of the Banu Taghlib, an Arab tribe resident in the area of the Jazira since pre-Islamic times, the Taghlibs had traditionally controlled Mosul and its region until the late 9th century, when the Abbasid government tried to impose firmer control over the province. Hamdan ibn Hamdun was one of the most determined Taghlibi leaders in opposing this move, family members intermarried with Kurds, who were also prominent in the Hamdanid military. Hamdan was defeated in 895 and imprisoned with his relatives, and it was this strong local base which allowed the family to survive its often strained relationship with the central Abbasid government in Baghdad during the early 10th century. Husayn was a general, distinguishing himself against the Kharijites and the Tulunids. His younger brother Ibrahim was governor of Diyar Rabia in 919 and after his death in the year he was succeeded by another brother. Sayf al-Dawlas father Abdallah served as emir of Mosul in 905/6–913/4, was disgraced and rehabilitated. Despite the coups failure and his death, Abdallah had been able to consolidate his control over Mosul, during his long absences in Baghdad in his final years, Abdallah relegated authority over Mosul to his eldest son, al-Hasan, the future Nasir al-Dawla. The young Ali ibn Abdallah began his career under his brother, in 936, Hasan invited his younger brother to his service, promising him the governorship of Diyar Bakr in exchange for his help against Ali ibn Jafar, the rebellious governor of Mayyafariqin. In the meantime, Hasan became involved in the intrigues of the Abbasid court, the Caliph al-Radi was reduced to a figurehead role, while the extensive old civil bureaucracy was drastically reduced both in size and power. Hasan initially supported Ibn Raiq, but in 942 he had him assassinated and secured for himself the post of amir al-umara, receiving the honorific laqab of Nasir al-Dawla

42.
Battle of Marash (953)
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Despite being outnumbered, the Arabs defeated the Byzantines who broke and fled. This debacle, coupled with defeats in 954 and again in 955, led to Bardas Phokas dismissal as Domestic of the Schools, after his establishment of a large domain centred on Aleppo in 945, the Hamdanid prince began confronting the Byzantines on an annual basis. Sayf al-Dawlas main opponent during the first decade of conflict with the Byzantines was the Domestic of the Schools Bardas Phokas. Phokas was the choice of Emperor Constantine VII, who needed a reliable ally in this critical post. In early 953, Sayf al-Dawla launched what was perhaps his most memorable campaign, from Aleppo he marched to Harran and Duluk, crossed the Anti-Taurus Mountains over the pass of Darb al-Qulla and marched north into Byzantine territory. He captured the fortress of Arqa, and ravaged the surroundings of Malatya, from there he essayed to cross the mountains and return to Syria, but found the pass in front of him blocked by Bardas youngest son, Constantine Phokas. The Muslims tried to break through the Byzantine position, but their attacks were repulsed with casualties on both sides. Unable to return to Syria over the mountains, Sayf al-Dawla resolved to bypass the Byzantine forces holding the passes, there, he was informed that in the meantime, the Byzantines under Bardas Phokas had invaded northern Syria and raided as far as Antioch. At once he turned his army south and west, riding at great speed, he re-crossed the Euphrates at Samosata and arrived once more at Duluk, where he received news that the Byzantines were already on their march home. According to the reports of his panegyrists, Sayf al-Dawla only had 600 riders to face the much larger Byzantine army, the Arabs caught up with the Byzantines at Gayhan near Marash, and scored a great victory. No details are known on the fight, but the Byzantines suffered many casualties, Bardas Phokas himself was wounded and was forced to hide in a basement to escape capture, while Constantine Phokas was taken captive with several other unnamed Byzantine leaders to Aleppo. Sayf al-Dawla also recovered the booty taken by the Byzantines and liberated their Muslim prisoners. Constantine was held captive at Aleppo for some time, but died in captivity as a result of an illness, although various authors, in retaliation, Bardas Phokas is said to have ordered the execution of many Muslim prisoners, including some of Sayf al-Dawlas relatives. The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates, The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century, a History of the Byzantine State and Society. Byzance et les Arabes, Tome II, 1ére partie, Les relations politiques de Byzance et des Arabes à Lépoque de la dynastie macédonienne, french ed. Henri Grégoire, Marius Canard. Brussels, Éditions de lInstitut de Philologie et dHistoire Orientales

Battle of Marash (953)
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Map of the Arab-Byzantine frontier zone

43.
Battle of Raban
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The battle was a major victory for the Byzantines, and contributed to the demise of Hamdanid military power, which in the early 950s had proven a great challenge to Byzantium. His main enemy during the first decade of conflict with the Byzantines was the Domestic of the Schools Bardas Phokas. After a few initial failures, Sayf al-Dawla quickly established his supremacy, in 953, expeditions led by Bardas in the next two years were also defeated, allowing Sayf al-Dawla to refortify his frontier zone and strengthen it against further Byzantine attacks. The new Byzantine leadership, which included Nikephoross brother Leo and his nephew John Tzimiskes, resolved on a forward strategy, in spring 956, Sayf al-Dawla pre-empted Tzimiskes from a planned assault on Amida in the Jazira, and invaded Byzantine territory first. Tzimiskes then seized a pass in Sayf al-Dawlas rear, and attacked him during his return, the hard-fought battle, fought amidst torrential rainfall, resulted in a Muslim victory as Tzimiskes lost 4,000 men. At the same time, however, Leo Phokas invaded Syria and defeated and captured Sayf al-Dawlas cousin, in 957, Nikephoros took and razed the fortress of Hadath, and in the next spring, Tzimiskes invaded the Jazira. There, he captured the fortress of Dara, and scored a victory near Amida over an army led by one of Sayf al-Dawlas favourite lieutenants. Of Nadjas 10,000 troops, Tzimiskes reportedly killed half, reinforced with more troops under the parakoimomenos Basil Lekapenos, in June, Tzimiskes then stormed Samosata and the fortress of Raban south of Hadath. It was there that Sayf al-Dawla himself came to confront him, many of Sayf al-Dawlas court companions and ghilman fell in the pursuit, while over 1,700 of his cavalry were captured and paraded in the streets of Constantinople. The victory at Raban made clear that the Byzantines were gaining the upper hand over the Hamdanids and their success also enabled them to retain control of Samosata, meaning that they had broken through the fortified frontier zone protecting northern Syria. Thereafter, Hamdanid military power was broken, Cilicia was annexed by the Byzantines in 964–965, and even Aleppo itself was captured briefly by the Byzantines in 962

Battle of Raban
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Map of the Arab-Byzantine frontier zone

44.
Battle of Andrassos
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Taking advantage of the absence of much of the Byzantine army on campaign against the Emirate of Crete, the Hamdanid prince invaded Asia Minor and raided widely. On his return, however, his army was ambushed by Leo Phokas at the pass of Andrassos, Sayf al-Dawla himself barely escaped, but his army was annihilated. Following a series of Byzantine defeats in the years, this battle finally broke the power of the Hamdanid emirate. In 945, Sayf al-Dawla made Aleppo his capital and soon established his authority across northern Syria, much of the Jazira, after his establishment in Aleppo, in winter 945–946, Sayf al-Dawla resumed the old Muslim custom of launching annual raids into Byzantine territory. This first operation was of limited scope and was followed by a prisoner exchange, warfare on Byzantiums eastern frontiers then subsided for a couple of years, and recommenced only in 948. In 948–950 the Byzantines scored a few successes, sacking the border fortresses of Hadath, Sayf al-Dawla nevertheless rejected offers of peace from the Byzantines, and continued his raids. More importantly, he set about restoring his frontier fortresses in Cilicia and northern Syria, including at Marash, Bardas Phokas repeatedly tried to hinder him, but was defeated each time, even losing his youngest son, Constantine, to Hamdanid captivity. In 955, Bardas failures led to his replacement by his eldest son, under the capable leadership of Nikephoros, Leo, and their nephew John Tzimiskes, the tide began to turn against the Hamdanid. The city of Hadath was sacked again in 957, and Samosata in 958, in 959, Leo Phokas raided through Cilicia to Diyar Bakr and back to Syria, leaving a trail of destruction behind him. There he and his army sacked the fortress and massacred the garrison, they pillaged and torched surrounding region and its settlements, towards the end of autumn, Sayf al-Dawla finally began the journey home, taking his booty and prisoners. In the meantime Leo Phokas, heavily outnumbered by the Arab army, decided to once more on his proven ambuscade tactics. The Byzantine troops occupied the fort, and hid themselves along the steep sides of the pass. Once the entire Arab force, including their train and their captives, was in the pass, with the vanguard already nearing the southern exit, Leo Phokas gave the signal for the attack. With the trumpets blaring, the Byzantine soldiers raised cries and charged the Arab columns, or threw rocks, the ensuing battle was a complete rout. All Christian captives were liberated and the booty recovered, while the treasure, according to the 13th-century Syriac chronicler Bar Hebraeus, of the great expedition he had mustered, Sayf al-Dawla returned to Aleppo with only 300 horsemen. Several of the most distinguished Hamdanid leaders fell or became captive at this battle, some Arab sources mention the capture of Sayf al-Dawlas cousins Abul-Ashair and Abu Firas al-Hamdani, but most chroniclers and modern scholars place these events on different occasions. Leo Phokas released the Byzantine prisoners after providing them provisions, and took the booty and Arab prisoners back to Constantinople. Following this disaster, Sayf al-Dawla needed time to recover his strength, the Byzantines captured Anazarbus in Cilicia, and followed a deliberate policy of devastation and massacre to drive the Muslim population away

45.
Nikephoros II Phokas
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Nikephoros II Phokas was Byzantine Emperor from 963 to 969. His brilliant military exploits contributed to the resurgence of the Byzantine Empire during the 10th century and his mother, whose name is unknown, was a member of another powerful Anatolian Greek clan, the Maleinoi. Nikephoros joined the army at an early age and he was appointed the military governor of the Anatolikon Theme in 945 under Emperor Constantine VII. When his father was wounded in battle in 953, Nikephoros was promoted to commander on the eastern frontier. In the war with the Abbasid Caliphate under Al-Muti, Nikephoros began with a defeat in 954, from which he recovered in the following years with victories in Syria. From the accession of Emperor Romanos II in 959, Nikephoros and his younger brother Leo were placed in charge of the eastern and western field armies, in 960,27,000 oarsmen and marines were assembled to man a fleet of 308 ships carrying 50,000 troops. At the recommendation of the influential minister Joseph Bringas, Nikephoros was entrusted to lead this expedition against the Saracen Emirate of Crete, after a nine-month siege, Nikephoros stormed Chandax and wrested control of the entire island from the Muslims in 961. Upon returning to Constantinople, he was denied the honor of a triumph. He soon returned to the east with a large and well-equipped army, in the campaigns of 962–963, he employed a brilliant strategy to conquer the cities of Cilicia and to advance into Syria. There he captured Aleppo, in collusion with his nephew, John Tzimiskes and it was on these campaigns that he earned the sobriquet, The Pale Death of the Saracens. During the capture of Aleppo, the Byzantine army took possession of 390,000 silver dinars,2,000 camels, early in his life Nikephoros had married Stephano. She had died before he rose to fame, and after her death he took an oath of chastity and this would create problems later on. On 15 March 963, Emperor Romanos II died unexpectedly at the age of twenty-six of uncertain cause, Theophano had already gained a reputation as an intelligent and ambitious woman. She would later gain a reputation for ruthlessness in achieving her goals, Romanos had already crowned as co-emperors his two sons Basil II and Constantine VIII. At the time that Romanos died, however, Basil was five years old, Theophano was not allowed to rule alone. Joseph Bringas, the eunuch palace official who had become Romanos chief councilor, according to contemporary sources he intended to keep authority in his own hands. He also tried to reduce the power of Nikephoros Phokas, the victorious general had been accepted as the actual commander of the army and maintained his strong connections to the aristocracy. Joseph was afraid that Nikephoros could claim the throne with the support of both the army and the aristocracy, josephs intrigues during the following months turned both Theophano and Nikephoros against him

46.
John I Tzimiskes
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John I Tzimiskes was the senior Byzantine Emperor from 11 December 969 to 10 January 976. An intuitive and successful general, he strengthened the Empire and expanded its borders during his short reign, John I Tzimiskes was born into the Kourkouas clan, a family of Armenian origin. Scholars have speculated that his nickname Tzimiskes was derived either from the Armenian Chmushkik, meaning red boot, or from an Armenian word for short stature. A more favorable explanation is offered by the medieval Armenian historian Matthew of Edessa, Khozan was located in the region of Paghnatun, in the Byzantine province of Fourth Armenia. Tzimiskes was born sometime in 925 to a member of the Kourkouas family. Both the Kourkouai and the Phokadai were distinguished Cappadocian families, several of their members had served as prominent army generals, most notably the great John Kourkouas, who conquered Melitene and much of Armenia. Contemporary sources describe Tzimiskes as a short but well-built man, with reddish blonde hair and beard. He seems to have joined the army at an early age, the latter is also considered his instructor in the art of war. Partly because of his connections and partly because of his personal abilities, Tzimiskes quickly rose through the ranks. He was given the political and military command of the theme of Armenia before he turned twenty-five years old and his marriage to Maria Skleraina, daughter of Pantherios Skleros and sister of Bardas Skleros, linked him to the influential family of the Skleroi. Little is known about her, she died before his rise to the throne, the contemporary historian Leo the Deacon remarks that she excelled in both beauty and wisdom. The Byzantine Empire was at war with its neighbors, the various autonomous and semi-autonomous emirates emerging from the break-up of the Abbasid Caliphate. The most prominent among them was the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo, Armenia served as the borderland between the two Empires, and Tzimiskes successfully defended his province. He and his troops joined the part of the army. Nikephoros justified his name with a series of victories, moving the borders further east with the capture of about 60 border cities including Aleppo, by 962 the Hamdanids had sued for peace with favorable terms for the Byzantines, securing the eastern border of the Empire for some years. Tzimiskes distinguished himself during the war both at the side of his uncle and at leading parts of the army to battle under his personal command and he was rather popular with his troops and gained a reputation for taking the initiative during battles, turning their course. On the death of Emperor Romanos II in 963, Tzimiskes urged his uncle to seize the throne, to solidify his position, Tzimiskes married Theodora, a daughter of Emperor Constantine VII. He proceeded to justify his usurpation by repelling the invaders of the Empire

John I Tzimiskes
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Gold histamenon of John Tzimiskes, showing him crowned by the Virgin Mary.
John I Tzimiskes
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The Bamberger Gunthertuch, a Byzantine silk tapestry depicting the return of John Tzimiskes from a successful campaign.
John I Tzimiskes
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The coronation of John Tzimiskes, from the Madrid Skylitzes
John I Tzimiskes
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Meeting of Svyatoslav I with Emperor John Tzimiskes

47.
Basil II
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Basil II was a Byzantine Emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025. He was known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his supposed ancestor, the early years of his long reign were dominated by civil war against powerful generals from the Anatolian aristocracy. For this he was nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer, by which he is popularly known and his reign is therefore often seen as the medieval apogee of the Empire. She originated from the Peloponnese, possibly from the city of Sparta, Basils paternal ancestry is of uncertain origins, his putative ancestor Basil I, the founder of the dynasty, being variously ascribed Armenian, Slavic, or Greek origins. Indeed the biological father of Leo VI the Wise was possibly not Basil I, the family of Michael III were Anatolian Greeks from Phrygia, though originally of the Melchisedechian heretical faith. In 960, Basil was associated on the throne by his father, who died in 963. Nikephoros was murdered in 969 by his nephew John I Tzimisces, when Tzimisces died on 10 January 976, Basil II finally took the throne as senior emperor. Basil was a soldier and a superb horseman, and he would prove himself as an able general. Basil waited and watched without interfering, devoting himself to learning the details of administrative business, even though Nikephoros II Phokas and John I Tzimiskes were brilliant military commanders, both had proven to be lax administrators. Skleros was allowed to live, but he ended his days blind, perhaps through disease and these rebellions had a profound effect on Basils outlook and methods of governance. The historian Psellus describes the defeated Bardas Skleros giving Basil the following advice, let no generals on campaign have too many resources. Exhaust them with unjust exactions, to keep them busied with their own affairs, admit no woman to the imperial councils. Share with few your most intimate plans, Basil, it would appear, took this advice to heart. In order to defeat these dangerous revolts, Basil formed an alliance with Prince Vladimir I of Kiev, who in 988 had captured Chersonesos, Vladimir offered to evacuate Chersonesos and to supply 6,000 of his soldiers as reinforcements to Basil. In exchange he demanded to be married to Basils younger sister Anna, the Byzantines viewed all the nations of Northern Europe, be they Franks or Slavs, as barbarians. Anna herself objected to marrying a barbarian ruler, as such a marriage would have no precedence in imperial annals, Vladimir had conducted long-running research into different religions, including sending delegates to various countries. Marriage was not his primary reason for choosing the Orthodox religion, when Vladimir promised to baptize himself and to convert his people to Christianity, Basil finally agreed. Vladimir and Anna were married in the Crimea in 989, the Rus recruitments were instrumental in ending the rebellion, and they were later organized into the Varangian Guard

48.
Battle of Azaz (1030)
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The Battle of Azaz was an engagement fought near the Syrian town of Azaz between the Byzantine army, led by Emperor Romanos III Argyros in person, and the forces of the Mirdasid Emirate of Aleppo. By the time the Mirdasid dynasty gained control of the city, Byzantine influence over Aleppo, after the Mirdasid emir Salih ibn Mirdas was killed by the Fatimids at the battle of al-Uqhuwanah in Palestine in 1029, he was succeeded by his young sons Nasr and Thimal. The katepano of Antioch, Michael Spondyles, used the inexperience of Salihs successors as an opportunity to establish a protectorate over the Mirdasid domains. Moreover, Spondyles was provoked by the construction of fortresses by Muslim families in the coastal mountains, there are varying accounts regarding Romanos IIIs motivation for attacking the Mirdasids. According to medieval Arabic chroniclers Yahya of Antioch and Ibn al-Adim, Romanos resolved to avenge the defeat of his governor in Antioch, however, the contemporary Byzantine historians John Skylitzes and Michael Psellos hold that the impending campaign was motivated by Romanoss quest for glory. This is indicated by the presence in Romanoss entourage of Mansur ibn Lulu, the ruler of Aleppo. Moreover, in a letter he sent to Nasr and Thimal, might wrest the city from them due to their youthfulness and requested they hand over Aleppo to him in exchange for a payment. In March 1030, Romanos departed Constantinople, leading in person the campaign against Aleppo. According to Psellos, so confident was Romanos of his success that he prepared special crowns for his triumph to come, and staged an entry into Antioch. Nasr, learning of the Byzantines approach, sent envoys, led by his cousin Muqallid ibn Kamil, nonetheless, Romanos rejected his generals advice, detained Muqallid, and led his army towards Azaz on 27 July. As Psellos acidly commented, Romanos thought war was decided by the big battalions, the Byzantine army encamped in a barren plain in the vicinity of Azaz and dug a deep, defensive trench around their position. The Byzantine army is estimated at some 20,000 men, in contrast to their precise counts of Nasrs forces, the Arabic chroniclers recorded the fantastical figure of 600,000 Byzantine troops. The Byzantines set up a camp near Azaz, and the Emperor dispatched the Excubitors, under their commander. Choirosphaktes was ambushed, however, and taken captive, while most of his men were killed or captured and this success encouraged the Arabs, who began to harass the imperial camp and prevent the Byzantines from foraging. As a result, the Byzantine army began to suffer from hunger, the patrikios Constantine Dalassenos then led an attack against the Arabs, but was defeated, and fled back to the camp. The Byzantines became demoralized, and an imperial council resolved to abandon the campaign, Romanos also ordered his siege engines to be burned. On the following morning,10 August 1030, the army departed its camp, discipline broke down in the Byzantine army, with Armenian mercenaries using the withdrawal as an opportunity to pillage the camps market stores. This caused further chaos among Romanos troops, with guarding the trenches fleeing the camp for their personal safety

Battle of Azaz (1030)
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The Arabs drive the Byzantines to flight at Azaz, miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes