2008/12/01 by William T. Garrood · 8 citations
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Byzantine Studies and History #Archaeology and Historical Studies #Eurasian Exchange Networks #CONQUEST #Byzantine architecture #Ancient history #History #Empire #Classics #Political science
paper · doi:10.1017/s006615460000870x
published in Anatolian Studies 58, 127-140 (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 2008/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract Between 959 and 965, Byzantine forces, directed and most often led by Nikephoros Phokas, launched a series of successful campaigns of conquest, particularly in the east. Although little studied, these conquests are significant. The subject of this article, the conquest of the Cilician plain in 965, represents the culmination of a century of Byzantine pressure on the Arab border states, of which Tarsos was the last. Simultaneously, the elimination of the Hamdanid emirate of Aleppo as a threat to the Empire helped to lay the groundwork for further successes in Syria after 965. It is the contention of this article that these objectives were intertwined and that Nikephoros Phokas followed a concerted and structured strategy through this period, aimed primarily at the conquest of Cilicia. Other objectives, though dramatic, should thus be seen as subordinate to this underlying objective.