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Peter (stratopedarches)
Peter ( el, Πέτρος, died 977) was a Byzantine eunuch general. Originally a servant of the powerful Cappadocian Phokas family, he was raised to high military office (''stratopedarches'' of the East) under Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, leading the capture of Antioch and the subjugation of Aleppo in 969. Under John I Tzimiskes, he fought as a senior commander against the Rus' in 970–971, while after Tzimiskes' death he led the loyalist forces against the revolt of the general Bardas Skleros in Asia Minor, falling in battle in autumn 977. Biography According to several Byzantine sources, Peter was originally a servant or member of the personal retinue of Nikephoros II Phokas. The exact relationship is unclear; although he is termed a slave, it is more likely that he was simply a manservant... Due to a mistranslation of a passage by Zonaras, he has been sometimes erroneously identified as a member of the Phokas clan and is known in some modern works as "Peter Phokas". Although ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. 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 the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. The terms "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" were coined after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the Roman Empire, and to themselves as Romans—a term which Greeks continued to use for themselves into Ottoman times. Although the Roman state continued and its traditions were maintained, modern historians prefer to differentiate the Byzantine Empire from Ancient Rome ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epi Tes Trapezes
The ( gr, ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης, , the one in charge of the table) was a Byzantine court post, responsible for the imperial banquets. History The office, more fully known as the (, 'Domestic of the imperial table'), () or (, 'the one in charge of the lord's table'), is first mentioned as extant in the mid-7th century, but the source, a hagiography of Maximus the Confessor, is of much later date. It is, however, amply attested in seals from the 8th century on, often holding the offices of or as well.. The was responsible for introducing guests to the imperial banquets, waiting to the Byzantine emperor along with the , and carrying dishes from the imperial table to the guests. Historical sources, however, show that some holders of the post were entrusted with leading troops or various other special assignments. Like many palace posts involving close access to the Byzantine emperor, it was restricted to eunuchs. There was also the (, 'in charge of the table of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bakjur
Bakjur was a Circassian military slave (''mamluk'' or ''ghulam'') who served the Hamdanids of Aleppo and later the Fatimids of Egypt. He seized control of Aleppo in 975 and governed it until 977, when the rightful Hamdanid ruler, Sa'd al-Dawla, regained it. Given the governorship of Homs, in 983 he went over to the Fatimids and launched an attack on Aleppo, which was defeated through the intervention of Byzantine troops. Bakjur then became governor of Damascus for the Fatimids until 988. He made a last attempt to capture Aleppo in 991, which again was defeated thanks to Byzantine assistance. Bakjur was captured by Sa'd al-Dawla and executed. Life Bakjur was a Circassian military slave (''mamluk'' or ''ghulam''), originally recruited by the Hamdanids. By 969, he had risen to be the deputy of Qarquya, the powerful chamberlain (''hajib'') of the emir Sayf al-Dawla. After the latter's death in 967 Qarquya took over rule of Aleppo, effectively dispossessing Sayf al-Dawla's son Sa'd al- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sa'd Al-Dawla
Abu 'l-Ma'ali Sharif, more commonly known by his laqab, honorific title, Sa'd al-Dawla ( ar, سعد الدولة), was the second ruler of the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo, encompassing most of northern Bilad al-Sham, Syria. The son of the emirate's founder, Sayf al-Dawla, he inherited the throne at a young age and in the midst of a major offensive by the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phokas that within two years conquered the western portions of his realm and turned Aleppo into a tributary state. Facing a multitude of rebellions and desertions until 977, Sa'd was unable even to enter his own capital, which was in the hands of his father's chief minister, Qarquya. By maintaining close relations with the Buyids, he managed to re-establish his authority in parts of the Upper Mesopotamia, Jazira, but his rule was soon challenged by the rebellion of his governor Bakjur, who was supported by the Fatimids of Egypt. In turn, Sa'd came to rely increasingly on Byzantine assistance, although ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qarghuyah
Qarghuyah or Qarquya was an important Arab administrator in the Hamdanid Dynasty under Sayf al-Dawla, who would go on to control Aleppo himself and even sign the Treaty of Safar with the Byzantine Empire as the ruling emir of Aleppo. On January 7, 965, Qarghuyah was appointed governor of Aleppo by Sayf al-Dawla, who had by that point retreated to Martyropolis, moving against an advancing Byzantine army led by Nikephoros II Phokas. On October 29, 965, a rebel force led by the former secretary of Tarsus, Rashiq al-Nasimi, approached Aleppo while Sayf al-dawla was away from the city. After three months, he managed to capture a lower part of the town, but was killed in an attack on the citadel on January 8, 966. Sayf al-Dawla died on 8 February of 967 in Aleppo. He was succeeded by his son, Sa'd al-Dawla, who reached Aleppo on June/July 967. Around April 968, the same month the rebellion of Abu Firas failed, Qarghuyah convinced Sa'd al-Dawla to leave Aleppo. Following this, Qarghuyah ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coup De Main
A ''coup de main'' (; plural: ''coups de main'', French for blow with the hand) is a swift attack that relies on speed and surprise to accomplish its objectives in a single blow. Definition The United States Department of Defense defines it as "An offensive operation that capitalizes on surprise and simultaneous execution of supporting operations to achieve success in one swift stroke." The term ''coup de main'' originally meant "by direct assault rather than by artillery". The first Allied airborne assault in World War II, during the invasion of Normandy, on Pegasus Bridge, is an example of a ''coup de main'' operation and is sometimes referred to as ''Operation Coup de Main'' though the actual code name for the British airborne attack was Operation Tonga. Examples Emory Upton used the tactic for the Union Army during the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse. During the Second Battle of Porto, Arthur Wellesley crossed the Douro in a ''coup de main'' attack upon the Frenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Bourtzes
Michael Bourtzes ( el, Μιχαήλ Βούρτζης, Arabic: ''Miḥā’īl al-Burdjī''; ca. 930/35 – after 996) was a leading Byzantine general of the latter 10th century. He became notable for his capture of Antioch from the Arabs in 969, but fell into disgrace by the Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas. Resentful at the slight, Bourtzes joined forces with the conspirators who assassinated Phokas a few weeks later. Bourtzes re-appears in a prominent role in the civil war between Emperor Basil II and the rebel Bardas Skleros, switching his allegiance from the emperor to the rebel and back again. Nevertheless, he was re-appointed as '' doux'' of Antioch by Basil II, a post he held until 995, when he was relieved because of his failures in the war against the Fatimids. Biography Career under Nikephoros II and John Tzimiskes Michael Bourtzes was the first prominent member of the Bourtzes family, originating in the upper Euphrates region, which went on to become one of the major cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strategos
''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek language, Greek to mean military General officer, general. In the Hellenistic world and the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire the term was also used to describe a military governor. In the modern Hellenic Army, it is the highest officer rank. Etymology ''Strategos'' is a compound of two Greek words: ''stratos'' and ''agos''. ''Stratos'' (στρατός) means "army", literally "that which is spread out", coming from the proto-Indo-European root *stere- "to spread". ''Agos'' (ἀγός) means "leader", from ''agein'' (ἄγειν) "to lead", from the proto-Ιndo-Εuropean root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move”. Classical Greece Athens In its most famous attestation, in Classical Athens, the office of ''strategos'' existed already in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Antioch (968–969)
The siege of Antioch (968–969) was a successful military offensive undertaken by leading commanders of the Byzantine Empire in order to reconquer the strategically important city of Antioch from the Hamdanid Dynasty. Following a year of plunder in Syria, the Byzantine Emperor, Nikephoros II Phokas, decided to return to Constantinople for the winter. Before leaving, however, he constructed the Bagras Fort near Antioch and installed Michael Bourtzes as its commander, instructing him and Petros to lay siege to Antioch. Nikephoros explicitly forbade Bourtzes from taking Antioch by force in order to maintain the structural integrity of the city. Bourtzes, however, did not want to wait until winter to take the fortress. He also wanted to impress Nikephoros and earn himself glory, and so he entered into negotiations with the defenders seeking terms for surrender. At this point, Petros was engaged in a raid on the surrounding countryside with the Syrian commander 'Ayšalš, where he p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bilad Al-Sham
Bilad al-Sham ( ar, بِلَاد الشَّام, Bilād al-Shām), often referred to as Islamic Syria or simply Syria in English-language sources, was a province of the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid caliphates. It roughly corresponded with the Byzantine Diocese of the East, conquered by the Muslims in 634–647. Under the Umayyads (661–750) Bilad al-Sham was the metropolitan province of the Caliphate and different localities throughout the province served as the seats of the Umayyad caliphs and princes. Bilad al-Sham was first organized into the four '' ajnad'' (military districts; singular ''jund'') of Filastin (Palestine), al-Urdunn (Jordan), Dimashq (Damascus), and Hims (Homs), between 637 and 640 by Caliph Umar following the Muslim conquest. The ''jund'' of Qinnasrin was created out of the northern part of Hims by caliphs Mu'awiya I () or Yazid I (). The Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) was made an independent province from the Mesopotamian part of Qinnasrin by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamdanid
The Hamdanid dynasty ( ar, الحمدانيون, al-Ḥamdāniyyūn) was a Twelver Shia Arab dynasty of Northern Mesopotamia and Syria (890–1004). They descended from the ancient Banu Taghlib Christian tribe of Mesopotamia and Eastern Arabia. History The Hamdanid dynasty was founded by Hamdan ibn Hamdun. By 892–893, he was in possession of Mardin, after fighting the Kharijites of the Jazira. In 895, Caliph al-Mutadid invaded and Hamdan fled Mardin. Hamdan's son, Husayn, who was at Ardumusht, joined the caliph's forces. Hamdan later surrendered to the caliph and was imprisoned. In December 908, Husayn conspired to establish Ibn al-Mu'tazz as Caliph. Having failed, Husayn fled until he asked for mediation through his brother Ibrahim. Upon his return, he was made governor of Diyar Rabi'a. In 916, Husayn, due to a disagreement with vizier Ali b. Isa, revolted, was captured, imprisoned, and executed in 918. Hamdan's other son, Abdallah, was made governor of Mosul in 905 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
