The Byzantine conquest of Cilicia and the Hamdanids of Aleppo, 959–965 | Anatolian Studies | Cambridge Core (original) (raw)

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.

Özet

959–965 yılları arasında Nikephoros Phokas tarafından yönetilen ve çoğu kez de onun önderliğindeki Bizans orduları, özellikle doğuda bir dizi başarılı fetih kampanyası gerçekleştirmiştir. Çok az çalışılmışsa da bu fetihler önemlidir. Bu makalenin konusu, sonuncusu Tarsos olan Arab sınır devletleri üzerindeki yüzyılllık Bizans baskısının en parlak noktasını temsil eden 965 yılındaki Kilikya fethidir. Aynı dönemde, imparatorluk için bir tehdit oluşturan Halep Hamdani Emirliği'nin yıkılması da 965 yılından sonra Suriye'de kazanılan başarılara zemin hazırlanmasına yardımcı olmuştur. Bu makalede bu gelişmelerin birbiri ile bağlantılı oldukları ve Nikephoros Phokas'ın öncelikle Kilikya'nın fethi için tasarlanmış, ve yapılandırılmış, olan bir stratejiyi izlemiş olduğu tartışılmaktadır. Bu nedenle diğer önemli gelişmeler bu temel gelişmenin ikincil sonucu olarak değerlendirilmelidir.

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