Krateros defeats the Cretan Saracens Cretan Saracens pursue Krateros and capture and hang him at Kos Krateros ( el, Κρατερός) was a Byzantine naval commander in the 820s. Very little is known about him. Even his name is unclear, as "Krateros" may be his family name rather than his first name. In the early 820s, he held the post of ''

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 ...

'' (military governor) of the

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

Cibyrrhaeot Theme The Cibyrrhaeot Theme, more properly the Theme of the Cibyrrhaeots ( gr, θέμα Κιβυρραιωτῶν, thema Kibyrrhaiōtōn), was a Byzantine theme encompassing the southern coast of Asia Minor from the early 8th to the late 12th centuries ...

. Following the failure of an expedition under the ''

'' of the Anatolic Theme Photeinos to recover the island of Crete from the

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

, Emperor

Michael II the Amorian Michael II ( gr, Μιχαὴλ, , translit=Michaēl; 770–829), called the Amorian ( gr, ὁ ἐξ Ἀμορίου, ho ex Amoríou) and the Stammerer (, ''ho Travlós'' or , ''ho Psellós''), reigned as Byzantine Emperor from 25 December 820 to ...

entrusted Krateros with leading another expedition. The new expedition, launched and numbering seventy ships, 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 and crucified. He may be identical to another Krateros, who was ''strategos'' of the Anatolic Theme in the 810s, but this would represent a demotion.

References

Sources

* * {{cite journal , last=Makrypoulias , first=Christos G. , title=Byzantine Expeditions against the Emirate of Crete c. 825–949 , journal= Graeco-Arabica , volume=7–8 , year= 2000 , pages=347–362 820s deaths 9th-century Byzantine military personnel Byzantine admirals Governors of the Cibyrrhaeot Theme Byzantine people of the Arab–Byzantine wars People executed by crucifixion Emirate of Crete Executed Byzantine people