Kesta Styppiotes or Stypeiotes ( el, Κεστά Στυππιώτης/Στυπειώτης; died 11 September 883) was briefly the

Domestic of the Schools The office of the Domestic of the Schools ( gr, δομέστικος τῶν σχολῶν, domestikos tōn scholōn) was a senior military post of the Byzantine Empire, extant from the 8th century until at least the early 14th century. Originally ...

of the

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 Constantinopl ...

in ca. 883. His surname points to an origin in the town of Stypion (modern

Štip Štip ( mk, Штип ) is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of North Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2002 census, the city ...

), while his first name is evidence of a Slavic or

Bulgar Bulgar may refer to: *Bulgars, extinct people of Central Asia *Bulgar language, the extinct language of the Bulgars * Oghur languages Bulgar may also refer to: *Bolghar, the capital city of Volga Bulgaria *Bulgur, a wheat product * Bulgar, an Ash ...

ethnic origin. In 883, he succeeded the disgraced

Andrew the Scythian Andrew the Scythian (Greek: Άνδρέας, died after 887) was a senior Byzantine military officer who distinguished himself in the Arab–Byzantine wars. He eventually held the post of Domestic of the Schools during the last years of the reign o ...

(commander-in-chief of the Byzantine army). Andrew's disgrace has been variously attributed to the falling out between Emperor

Basil I the Macedonian Basil I, called the Macedonian ( el, Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, ''Basíleios ō Makedṓn'', 811 – 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a lowly peasant in the theme of Macedonia, he rose in the ...

and his heir

Leo VI the Wise Leo VI, called the Wise ( gr, Λέων ὁ Σοφός, Léōn ho Sophós, 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well r ...

at the time, with Andrew being accused as a partisan of Leo, or to accusations of timidity against the Arabs of Tarsus and failing to exploit a victory he had won against them. Kesta took to the field against the Arabs himself, but his negligent leadership allowed the Tarsians, under

Yazaman al-Khadim Yazaman or Yazman, surnamed al-Khadim ("the eunuch") (died 23 October 891) was governor of Tarsus, Mersin, Tarsus for the Abbasids and chief military leader in the Islam, Muslim borderlands with the Byzantine Empire in Cilicia (the ) from 882 to his ...

, to surprise and overwhelm the Byzantine camp in a night attack. According to

al-Tabari ( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...

(who erroneously mentions Andrew as commander of the Byzantines) this took place on 11 September 883, and the Byzantine army was decimated: Arab chroniclers, with considerable exaggeration, report that 70,000 out of 100,000 Byzantine troops were killed, and that Kesta, along with the ''

strategoi ''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek to mean military general. In the Hellenist ...

'' of the Anatolic Theme and of

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...

fell in the field, with the commander of Koron fortress barely being able to escape, despite his heavy injuries. Following this debacle, Andrew the Scythian was re-appointed as Domestic of the Schools. It is probable that captives from this disaster were among the Byzantines ransomed in the

prisoner exchange A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoners of war, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, dead bodies are involved in an exchange. Geneva Conventions Under the Geneva Convent ...

of February 884, while eighty years later, when Tarsus fell to the Byzantines, Emperor

Nikephoros II Phokas Nikephoros II Phokas (; – 11 December 969), Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless included brilliant military exploits whi ...

recovered the seven gold and silver crosses taken by Yazaman.

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Styppiotes, Kesta Date of birth unknown 883 deaths 9th-century Byzantine military personnel Domestics of the Schools Byzantine people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Byzantines killed in battle Byzantine people of Slavic descent People from Štip