Eustathios Daphnomeles
Eustathios Daphnomeles ( el, , early 11th century) was a Byzantine and patrician who distinguished himself in the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria. He ranks as one of the most prominent and successful generals in the thirty-year war between Emperor Basil II () and Samuel of Bulgaria (), helping to end the long conflict by blinding and capturing the last Bulgarian leader, Ibatzes, in 1018. Biography The main source describing Daphnomeles's life, and indeed the Bulgarian campaigns (986–1018) of Emperor Basil II, is the late 11th-century ''Synopsis Historion'' of John Skylitzes, whose chronology is often problematic to reconstruct. Daphnomeles came from the landed aristocracy of Asia Minor, which for centuries provided the Byzantine military elite. Traditional historiography places his first appearance in circa 1005, when the Adriatic port city of Dyrrhachium is said to have been surrendered by John Chryselios, a local magnate, to the Byzantines. Daphnomeles, at ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Deabolis
Devol ( bg, Девол) also Deabolis or Diabolis, ( el, Δεάβολις) was a medieval fortress and bishopric in western Macedonia, located south of Lake Ohrid in what is today the south-eastern corner of Albania ( Devoll District). Its precise location is unknown today, but it is thought to have been located by the river of the same name (today Devoll River), and on the Roman Via Egnatia road. It is first mentioned in historical sources in John Skylitzes' account of the Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars under Emperor Basil II, whose general Eustathios Daphnomeles is said to have subdued some of the last Bulgarian resisting forces concentrated in Deabolis in 1018. The place is also mentioned in a 1019 charter granted by Basil to the Bulgarian church, as a ''kastron'' (castle) under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Kastoria. It is not precisely known when Deabolis became a bishopric. Saint Clement of Ohrid (ca. 840–916), an eminent early Macedonian writer, is supposed to have been i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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11th-century Deaths
The 11th century is the period from 1001 ( MI) through 1100 ( MC) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the 1st century of the 2nd millennium. In the history of Europe, this period is considered the early part of the High Middle Ages. There was, after a brief ascendancy, a sudden decline of Byzantine power and a rise of Norman domination over much of Europe, along with the prominent role in Europe of notably influential popes. Christendom experienced a formal schism in this century which had been developing over previous centuries between the Latin West and Byzantine East, causing a split in its two largest denominations to this day: Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. In Song dynasty China and the classical Islamic world, this century marked the high point for both classical Chinese civilization, science and technology, and classical Islamic science, philosophy, technology and literature. Rival political factions at the Song dynasty court created strife among ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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10th-century Births
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. In conventions of sign where zero is considered neither positive nor negative, 1 is the first and smallest positive integer. It is also sometimes considered the first of the infinite sequence of natural numbers, followed by 2, although by other definitions 1 is the second natural number, following 0. The fundamental mathematical property of 1 is to be a multiplicative identity, meaning that any number multiplied by 1 equals the same number. Most if not all properties of 1 can be deduced from this. In advanced mathematics, a multiplicative identity is often denoted 1, even if it is not a number. 1 is by convention not considered a prime number; this was not universally accepted until the mid-20th century. Additionally, 1 i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mese (Constantinople)
The ''Mese'' ( el, ''i Mése dós', lit. "Middle treet) was the main thoroughfare of ancient Constantinople and the scene of many Byzantine imperial processions. Its ancient course is largely followed by the modern ''Divan Yolu'' ("Road to the Divan"). Route of the Mese The ''Mese'' started at the Milion monument, close to the Hagia Sophia, and led straight westwards. It passed the Hippodrome and the palaces of Lausos and Antiochus, and after ca. 600 meters reached the oval-shaped Forum of Constantine where one of the city's two Senate houses stood. This stretch of the street was also known as the ''Regia'' (, "Imperial Road"), as it formed the original ceremonial route from the Great Palace and the Augustaion square to the forum of the city's founder. From there, the street continued to the square Forum of Theodosius or Forum of the Bull (''Forum Tauri''), as it was also known. In about the middle of this stretch, the great mall known as ''Makros Embolos'' joined ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 ("the Great City"), Πόλις ("the City"), Kostantiniyye or Konstantinopolis (Turkish) , image = Byzantine Constantinople-en.png , alt = , caption = Map of Constantinople in the Byzantine period, corresponding to the modern-day Fatih district of Istanbul , map_type = Istanbul#Turkey Marmara#Turkey , map_alt = A map of Byzantine Istanbul. , map_size = 275 , map_caption = Constantinople was founded on the former site of the Greek colony of Byzantion, which today is known as Istanbul in Turkey. , coordinates = , location = Fatih, İstanbul, Turkey , region = Marmara Region , type = Imperial city , part_of = , length = , width ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Constantine Diogenes
Constantine Diogenes ( gr, Κωνσταντῖνος Διογένης; died 1032) was a prominent Byzantine Empire, Byzantine general of the early 11th century, active in the Balkans. He served with distinction in the final stages of the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria under Emperor Basil II, and occupied high commands in the Balkans until his arrest in 1029, as the result of his participation in a conspiracy against Emperor Romanos III Argyros. Imprisoned and forced to enter a monastery, he committed suicide in 1032 during an inquest on a further conspiracy. He was the father of Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes. Biography Constantine Diogenes is the first notable member of the noble Diogenes family with origins from Cappadocia, which played an important role in 11th-century Byzantium.. Diogenes began his career as a commander of one of the western ''tagma (military), tagmata'' during the reign of Basil II (r. 976–1025), in the latter's Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria, campaigns again ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 when the dying Constantine VIII forced him to divorce his wife and marry the emperor's daughter Zoë. Upon Constantine's death three days later, Romanos took the throne. Romanos has been recorded as a well-meaning but ineffective emperor. He disorganised the tax system and undermined the military, personally leading a disastrous military expedition against Aleppo. He fell out with his wife and foiled several attempts on his throne, including two which revolved around his sister-in-law Theodora. He spent large amounts on the construction and repair of churches and monasteries. He died after six years on the throne, allegedly murdered, and was succeeded by his wife's young lover, Michael IV. Life Family and early career Romanos Argyros, bo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whole of Bulgaria. The Balkan Peninsula is bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the northwest, the Ionian Sea in the southwest, the Aegean Sea in the south, the Turkish Straits in the east, and the Black Sea in the northeast. The northern border of the peninsula is variously defined. The highest point of the Balkans is Mount Musala, , in the Rila mountain range, Bulgaria. The concept of the Balkan Peninsula was created by the German geographer August Zeune in 1808, who mistakenly considered the Balkan Mountains the dominant mountain system of Southeast Europe spanning from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea. The term ''Balkan Peninsula'' was a synonym for Rumelia in the 19th century, the European provinces of the Ottoman Empire. It had a geop ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dyrrhachium (theme)
The Theme of Dyrrhachium or Dyrrhachion ( el, θέμα Δυρραχίου) was a Byzantine military-civilian province (theme), covering the Adriatic coast of modern Albania, and some coastal regions of modern Montenegro. It was established in the early 9th century and named after its capital, Dyrrhachium (modern Durrës). History The exact date of the theme's establishment is unclear; a ''strategos'' of Dyrrhachium is attested in the ''Taktikon Uspensky'' of , but several seals of ''strategoi'' dating from the previous decades survive. J.B. Bury proposed its creation alongside the themes of the Peloponnese and Cephallenia in the early 9th century, with the historian Jadran Ferluga putting the date of its establishment in the reign of Emperor Nikephoros I ()... Its boundaries are not very clear. To the north, it abutted the Theme of Dalmatia and the Serbian principality of Duklja, and the Theme of Nicopolis to the south. The theme covered the coast in between, but how far inland ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Theme (Byzantine District)
The themes or ( el, θέματα, , singular: , ) were the main military/administrative divisions of the middle Byzantine Empire. They were established in the mid-7th century in the aftermath of the Slavic invasion of the Balkans and Muslim conquests of parts of Byzantine territory, and replaced the earlier provincial system established by Diocletian and Constantine the Great. In their origin, the first themes were created from the areas of encampment of the field armies of the East Roman army, and their names corresponded to the military units that had existed in those areas. The theme system reached its apogee in the 9th and 10th centuries, as older themes were split up and the conquest of territory resulted in the creation of new ones. The original theme system underwent significant changes in the 11th and 12th centuries, but the term remained in use as a provincial and financial circumscription until the very end of the Empire. History Background During the late 6th an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nikephoros Xiphias
Nikephoros Xiphias ( el, Νικηφόρος Ξιφίας, ) was a Byzantine military commander during the reign of Emperor Basil II. He played a distinguished role in the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria, and was instrumental in the decisive Byzantine victory at the Battle of Kleidion in 1014. In 1022 he led an unsuccessful rebellion against Basil II, and was disgraced, tonsured and exiled. He is last mentioned in 1028, when he was recalled from exile and retired to a monastery. Origin Nikephoros Xiphias was born probably some time around or before 980, and was most likely the son of Alexios Xiphias, who served as the Catepan of Italy in 1006–08. Few members of the Xiphiai are otherwise known and the family's origin is unclear, but they most likely hailed from Asia Minor, like many other prestigious families of the military aristocracy of the period. Wars against Bulgaria Nikephoros appears for the first time in Emperor Basil II's Bulgarian wars, in 999/1000, 1000/1 or ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |