Niketas of Mistheia 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 ...

official, originally from Mistheia, and '' doux'' of

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

(1030–1032). He was an

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millenni ...

who held the titles of ''

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 aft ...

'' and ''

rhaiktor The ( grc-x-byzantine, ῥαίκτωρ, the Hellenized form of la, rector) was a high-ranking court position of the middle Byzantine Empire. History and functions J. B. Bury assumed that the post was created either under Leo VI the Wise () or ...

''.

Career

In 1030, Byzantine Emperor

Romanos III Argyros Romanos III Argyros ( el, Ρωμανός Αργυρός; Latinized Romanus III Argyrus; 968 – 11 April 1034), or Argyropoulos was Byzantine Emperor from 1028 until his death. He was a Byzantine noble and senior official in Constantinople whe ...

appointed Niketas as ''

katepano The ''katepánō'' ( el, κατεπάνω, lit. " he oneplaced at the top", or " the topmost") was a senior Byzantine military rank and office. The word was Latinized as ''capetanus/catepan'', and its meaning seems to have merged with that of th ...

'' of Antioch, following the Battle of Azaz against the

Mirdasid dynasty The Mirdasid dynasty ( ar, المرداسيون, al-Mirdāsiyyīn), also called the Banu Mirdas, was an Arab dynasty which ruled an Aleppo-based emirate in northern Syria and the western Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) more or less continuously f ...

. Later on, he managed to force a coalition of Arab tribes led by Nasr ibn Musharraf al-Rawadifi to withdraw from besieging Maraclea. He then sacked 'Irqa and destroyed the village of Kurin. In December of the same year, the Byzantine generals Niketas of Mistheia and Symeon the ''

protovestiarios ''Protovestiarios'' ( el, πρωτοβεστιάριος, "first ''vestiarios''") was a high Byzantine court position, originally reserved for eunuchs. In the late Byzantine period (12th–15th centuries), it denoted the Empire's senior-most fina ...

'' besieged and captured

Azaz Azaz ( ar, أَعْزَاز, ʾAʿzāz) is a city in northwest Syria, roughly north-northwest of Aleppo. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Azaz had a population of 31,623 in the 2004 census.

, and burned Tubbal. In 1031, he took Balatunus from Banu al-Ahmar, some forts from Banu Ghannaj and Ibn al-Kashih, but failed to seize the fortress of Maniqa, as al-Rawadifi managed to burn their siege equipment. However, he re-sacked 'Irqa, taking many prisoners and cattle. He later organized another campaign to recapture Maniqa from al-Rawadifi. Prior to that, he captured Rafaniyya and destroyed its towers, then managed to free a captured Byzantine ''

Taxiarch Taxiarch, the anglicised form of ''taxiarchos'' or ''taxiarchēs'' ( el, ταξίαρχος or ταξιάρχης) is used in the Greek language to mean "brigadier". The term derives from ''táxis'', "order", in military context "an ordered forma ...

es'' in

Safita Safita ( ar, صَافِيتَا '; phn, 𐤎‬𐤐𐤕‬𐤄, ''Sōpūte'') is a city in the Tartous Governorate, northwestern Syria, located to the southeast of Tartous and to the northwest of Krak des Chevaliers. It is situated on the tops ...

. Afterwards, he controlled Maniqa after a 13-day, in which he also captured Nasr's wife and four daughters, who were abandoned to their fate. On his way back to Antioch, he burned Jaririn. In 1032, then he secured the region by suppressing a Druze revolt in Mount Summaq, and capturing Bikisrail, despite attempts from the Fatimid commander

Anushtakin al-Dizbari Sharaf al-Maʿālī Abu Manṣūr Anūshtakīn al-Dizbarī (died January 1042) was a Fatimid statesman and general who became the most powerful Fatimid governor of Syria. Under his Damascus-based administration, all of Syria was united under a si ...

to divert the attackers. Eventually, he returned to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

References

Sources

* * * * {{end 11th-century Byzantine people Byzantine generals Byzantine governors of Antioch Byzantine eunuchs