Bardas Phokas the Elder
Bardas Phokas | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 878 |
| Died | c. 968 |
| Allegiance | Rus' attack of 941 |
| Relations |
|
Bardas Phokas (
emperor Nikephoros II Phokas and the kouropalates Leo Phokas the Younger, and was also the maternal grandfather of the emperor John I Tzimiskes
.
Bardas was the scion of the
Battle of Acheloos
.
In 941, he was governor of the
attacked the Empire. Driven off from Constantinople, the Rus' landed in Bithynia and ravaged it. Bardas kept the attackers from doing too much damage with his local militia levies until the larger Byzantine army under John Kourkouas
came and drove the Rus' out.
In 945 he was appointed supreme commander of the Byzantine armies of the East by Emperor
emir of Aleppo. In 953, he was defeated and severely wounded
by Sayf and after further defeats, he was replaced by his son Nikephoros in 954/955.
When Nikephoros came to the throne he made his father Caesar, only a step below the imperial title. He died about 968 at the age of 90.
References
- Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium: The Apogee. (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1992)
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