So , I have decided that what this forum needs is a weekly series on Byzantynology

Each week I will present a figure or topic from Byzantium to improve the education of all forum members in this fascinating field

Nikephoros II Phokas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




Nikephoros II Phokas
Emperor of the Byzantine Empire

Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas
Reign 16 August 963 1011 December 969
Full name Nikephoros Phokas (Nicephorus Phocas)
Born circa 912
Died 1011 December 969 (aged 57)
Place of death Constantinople
Buried Church of the Holy Apostles
Predecessor Romanos II
Successor John I Tzimiskes
Wife Theophano
Offspring Basil II, Constantine VIII (Stepsons)
Dynasty Macedonian dynasty
Father Bardas Phokas
Mother ?
Nikephoros II Phokas (Latinized: Nicephorus II Phocas) ( , Nikphoros II Phkas) (c. 912 1011 December 969) was a Byzantine Emperor (963969) whose brilliant military exploits contributed to the resurgence of Byzantine Empire in the tenth century.

Nikephoros Phokas was born in about 912 and belonged to a Cappadocian family which had produced several distinguished generals, including Nikephoros' father (Bardas Phokas), brother (Leo Phokas), and grandfather (Nikephoros Phokas the Elder), who had all served as commanders of the field army (domestikos tn scholn). His mother, whose name is unknown, was a member of another powerful Anatolian clan, the Maleinoi.

Nikephoros joined the army at an early age. He was appointed the military governor of the Anatolikon Theme in 945 under Emperor Constantine VII. When his father, Bardas was wounded in battle in 953, Nikephoros was promoted to supreme commander on the eastern frontier. In the war with the Abbasid Caliphate under Al-Muti, Nikephoros began with a severe defeat in 954, from which he recovered in the following years by victories in Syria, starting in 957.


Depiction of the siege of Chandax by Phokas, in the winter of 960-961

The capture of Aleppo by Phokas' troops
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, respectively. In 960, 27,000 oarsmen and marines were assembled to man a fleet of 308 ships carrying 50,000 troops.[1][2] At the recommendation of the influential minister Joseph Bringas, Nikephoros was entrusted in leading this expedition against the Saracen Emirate of Crete, and, storming Chandax after a 9-month siege, he wrested the whole island from the Muslims in 961. He was denied the usual honor of a triumph, only permitted a mere ovation in the Hippodrome. (Norwich, p. 961) he returned to the east with a large and well-equipped army. In the campaigns of 962963 by brilliant strategy he conquered the cities of Cilicia and advanced into Syria where he captured Aleppo in collusion with his nephew John Tzimiskes, but made no permanent conquests. It was on these campaigns 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, and 1,400 mules.

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. This would create problems later on.

[edit]Accession to the throne

On 15 March 963, Emperor Romanos II unexpectedly died at the age of twenty-six. The cause of his death is uncertain. Both contemporary sources and later historians seem to either believe that the young Emperor had exhausted his health with the excesses of his sexual life and his heavy drinking, or suspect Empress Theophano (c. 941after 976), his wife, of poisoning him. Theophano had already at the time gained a reputation as an intelligent and ambitious woman. She would later gain a reputation for ruthlessness in achieving her goals. Romanos had, before his death, already crowned as co-emperors his two sons Basil II and Constantine VIII. At the time, however, Basil was five years old and Constantine only three years old, and they were not able to assume the duties that came with their title. Theophano was named regent.

But Theophano was not allowed to rule alone. Joseph Bringas, the eunuch palace official who had become Romanos' chief councilor, maintained his position. According to contemporary sources he intended to keep authority in his own hands, rather than those of the young Empress. 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. Joseph's intrigues during the following months turned both Theophano and Nikephoros against him. Unknown to Joseph, Nikephoros was urged to seize the throne by his nephew John Tzimiskes and entered into negotiations with Theophano.



Nikephoros' entry into Constantinople as Emperor through the Golden Gate in summer 963.
With the help of Theophano and the patriarch, Nikephoros Phokas received supreme command of the eastern forces and, after being proclaimed Emperor by them on 2 July 963, he marched upon the capital, where meanwhile his partisans had overthrown his enemy Bringas. Thanks to his popularity with the army, Nikephoros II Phokas was crowned emperor by the side of Romanos's young sons on 16 August 963, and in spite of the patriarch's opposition married their mother, the regent Theophano.

[edit]Later campaigns

During his reign Nikephoros II Phokas continued to wage numerous wars. From 964966 he led an army of 40,000 men which conquered Cilicia and again overran Mesopotamia and Syria, while the patrician Niketas Chalkoutzes recovered Cyprus.[3] In 968 he reduced most of the fortresses in Syria, and after the fall of Antioch and Aleppo in 969, which were recaptured by his lieutenants, he secured his conquests by a peace treaty. On his northern frontier he began a war against Bulgaria in 967, to which the Byzantines had been paying tribute. Nikephoros revoked the tribute and instigated (with 15,000 pounds of gold) King Sviatoslav I of Kiev to attack Bulgaria, which he did so effectively, that Nikephoros ended up renewing the alliance with Bulgaria and turning against his own Kievan ally.



At right, Nikephoros II and his stepson Basil II.
Nikephoros II was less successful in his western wars. After renouncing his payments of tribute to the Fatimid caliphs, he sent an expedition to Sicily under Niketas (964965), but was forced by defeats on land and sea to evacuate that island completely. In 967 he made peace with the Fatimids of Kairawan and turned to defend himself against their common enemy, Otto I, who had proclaimed himself Western emperor and attacked the Byzantine possessions in Italy; but after some initial successes his generals were defeated and driven back to the southern

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikephoros_II_Phokas

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Nikephoros II Phokas was a great Emperor who smashed the threat from the saracens in syria, cyprus etc, he contributed to the apogee of the Byzantine Empire in the 10th Century and the so-called "golden age"

unfortunately he fell foul of his generals , most notably John Tzimiskes who was supposedly the lover of his wife Theophano, he was assassinated in 969 and succeeded by Tzimiskes

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Queen Theophano conspired to kill 2 husbands-emperors, Romanos II and Nkephoros Focas. Fvcking witch!

Nikephoros was a harsh military man, crude, old and ugly, so she hired General Tsimiskis as her lover!

She and her lover John Tsimiskis killed poor Emperor Nikephoros.

When John Tsimiskis became Emperor he feared he would suffer the same fate, and he feared rightly. So he locked her up into a monastery, and forced her to become a nun!





As for |Emperor Nikephoros Fokas:

"Nikephoros Phocas, the White Death of the Saracens, hero of Syria and Crete, saintly and hideous, magnificent and insufferable, had deserved a better end"

John Julius Norwich


..



"The Turkish Cypriots looted, robbed and ravaged Greek Cypriot properties. They must start producing instead of being mere consumers. The Turkish Cypriots wanted to live without working!"

Major-General Bedrettin Demirel (1917-1988)
Commander of the Turkish Invasion Forces in 1974

LOL sounds like tzimiskis was a pragmatic and cautious fellow!

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Weekly Byzantynology... Nice! It would be cool if you presented each week important figures of Byzantine history in historical order, starting with Constantine I (330 AD) and ending the series with Constantine XI (1453 AD)

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A very accurate post on Nikephoros Phocas, and a weekly Byzantynology topic would be great, though i suggest you start from Constantine the great then move on to the following emperor, then the following, then the following.

thing is though Constantine the Great belongs more to the ancient world, like Plotinus as you pointed out

to talk about Byzantium we need to start from the 6th-7th century AD, the period of Justinian and Heraclius etc

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Great post!
The Byzantine period is so intriguing, it's a shame it's so overlooked by most historians...

Well done Romulus.. about time we had someone that posted quality topic's..

it is overlooked because most historian are franco-centric, so they try to make it seem as if the West, the Catholics etc are the centre of the universe

thing is Byzantium already had its renaissance before the west, and all these figures we have spoken of such as Plethon, Laskaris, Notaras etc carried the light of the Greek Renaissance to Venice and from there to Europe...

in particular the re-introduction of Plato to Western thought was critical (As opposed to the prevailing Aristotelianism)

I have a quote from pop pius II about the fall of Constantinople:

"nemo Latinorum satis videri doctus poterat, nisis Constantinopoli per tempus studuisset.
Quodque florente Roma doctrinarum nomen habuerunt Athenae, id nostra tempestate videbatur
Constantinopolis obtinere. Inde nobis Plato redditus, inde Arstotelis, Demosthenis, Xenophontis,
Thuchididis, Basilii, Dionisii, Origenis et aliorum multa Latinis opera diebus nostris manifestata
sunt, multa quoque in futurum manifestanda sperabamus.... Nunc ergo et Homero er Pindaro et
Menandro et omnibus illustribus poetis secunda morst erit. Nunc Graecorum philosophorum ultimus patebit
interitus

Pope Pius II"

translation

"No one could learned Latin enough, except for the period studied at Constantinople.
Each flower had a doctrine of Rome, Athens, it seemed that our time
Constantinople to obtain. From there he was restored to us, Plato, and from there Arstotelis, Demosthenes, Xenophon,
Thuchididis, Basil the Great, Denis, many Latin works of Origen and of other public, it was the days of our
are too much for the future, hoping to be manifested .... Now, therefore, have never stopped and Homer and Pindar
Menander and of all the famous poets will be the second death. Now the last of the Greek philosophers will
The destruction

Pope Pius 2



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I've always said talking about the Middle Ages and barely mentioning the Byzantine Empire is like talking about the 20th/21st Centuries and barely mentioning the United States.

The Byzantine Empire was the richest, largest, most powerful, and most developed state in Europe for most of the Middle Ages, and it's influence was everywhere. Where Byzantine armies weren't, there were Byzantine diplomats and agents convincing other kingdoms to serve Byzantine interests. Where there weren't Byzantine diplomats, there were Viking warriors looking east and seeking employment in Constantinople. The Crusades were instigated by the Byzantines. It is utterly ridiculous how little the topic is covered in American schools. I don't know if it's the same in Western Europe, but considering the anti-Byzantine sentiment started there, I wouldn't be surprised.