The Byzantine conquest of Cilicia and the Hamdanids of Aleppo, 959–965

Bibliographic Data

ID10960693
AuthorsWilliam Garrood (King's College London, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume58
Pages127-140
Publication date2008-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnatolian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0066-1546 • E-ISSN: 2048-0849
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s006615460000870x
OpenAlexW2215400587
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited10

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

Ancient history · Byzantine architecture · CONQUEST · Empire · Political science · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Byzantine Studies and History · Classics · Eurasian Exchange Networks · History

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