The ''

patrikios The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after ...

'' Niketas Chalkoutzes ( el, Νικήτας Χαλκούτζης, ) was a

Byzantine 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 ...

general, the first attested member of the Chalkoutzes family, and most notable for his recovery of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

from the

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

in 965. He is the first attested member of the Chalkoutzes or Chalkoutses family, whose members are mentioned sporadically until the 13th century. He is first mentioned by

Skylitzes John Skylitzes, commonly List of Latinised names, Latinized as Ioannes, la, Johannes, label=none, la, Iōannēs, label=none Scylitzes ( el, Ἰωάννης Σκυλίτζης, ''Iōánnēs Skylítzēs'', or el, Σκυλίτση, ''Skylíts� ...

and

Kedrenos George Kedrenos, Cedrenus or Cedrinos ( el, Γεώργιος Κεδρηνός, fl. 11th century) was a Byzantine Greek historian. In the 1050s he compiled ''Synopsis historion'' (also known as ''A concise history of the world''), which spanned the ...

in 956, when he led an embassy to the court of the Hamdanid Emir of Aleppo, Sayf al-Dawla, who at the time was engaged in bitter fighting with the Byzantines. According to the Byzantine chroniclers, Sayf took Chalkoutzes along with him in a raid into Byzantine territory, but Chalkoutzes bribed his guards and managed to escape with his servants during an ambush upon Sayf's forces by Leo Phokas the Younger in a ravine. Chalkoutzes is then credited by Kedrenos with the recovery of

—the island had been a neutralized Byzantine–Arab

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

since the late 7th century—and its full annexation into the Byzantine Empire. The event is only briefly covered, and no details are given in the sources, while its date is commonly placed in the second half of 965, but may be slightly earlier, perhaps even in mid-964. Chalkoutzes was likely the first Byzantine governor (''

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 ...

'') of the island after that.

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chalkoutzes, Niketas 10th-century Byzantine people Byzantine generals Byzantine diplomats Byzantine governors of Cyprus Byzantine people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Patricii 10th-century diplomats