Battle of Apamea

Coordinates: 35°24′54″N 36°22′48″E / 35.415°N 36.380°E / 35.415; 36.380
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Battle of Apamea
Part of the
Apamea
35°24′54″N 36°22′48″E / 35.415°N 36.380°E / 35.415; 36.380
Result Fatimid victory
Belligerents Byzantine Empire Fatimid CaliphateCommanders and leaders Damian Dalassenos † Jaysh ibn SamsamaStrength Unknown 10,000 Fatimid troops
1,000 Banu Kilab cavalryCasualties and losses Variously 5,000, 6,000 or 10,000 dead; 2,000 captured Over 2,000 dead
Battle of Apamea is located in Syria
Battle of Apamea
class=notpageimage|
Apamea's location within present-day Syria

The Battle of Apamea was fought on 19 July 998 between the forces of the

Apamea, until the arrival of the Fatimid relief army from Damascus, under Jaysh ibn Samsama. In the subsequent battle, the Byzantines were initially victorious, but a lone Kurdish rider managed to kill Dalassenos, throwing the Byzantine army into panic. The fleeing Byzantines were then pursued, with much loss of life, by the Fatimid troops. This defeat forced the Byzantine emperor Basil II
to personally campaign in the region the next year, and was followed in 1001 by the conclusion of a ten-year truce between the two states.

The Arab–Byzantine wars were a series of wars between a number of

Arab dynasties and the Byzantine Empire from the 7th to the 11th century. Conflict started during the initial Muslim conquests, under the expansionist Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs
, in the 7th century and continued by their successors until the mid-11th century.

Background

In September 994,

Antartus, the emperor withdrew, leaving Damian Dalassenos as the new doux of Antioch.[1]

Dalassenos maintained an aggressive stance. In 996 his forces raided the environs of

Ramlah.[3][4]

Siege of Apamea and the Fatimid relief expedition

In early summer 998, Dalassenos learned that a catastrophic fire had broken out in

Stephen of Taron. Arab accounts also survive, all apparently drawing upon the work of the 11th-century historian Hilal al-Sabi; the most detailed version is preserved by Ibn al-Qalanisi.[7][8]

The governor of Apamea, al-Mala'iti, called for aid upon the Fatimids. According to Ibn al-Qalanisi, the eunuch regent Barjawan appointed Jaysh ibn Samsama to command the relief army, naming him governor of Damascus and giving him a thousand men.[9][10] Before confronting the Byzantines, the Fatimids had to deal with the revolt of Tyre and the rebellion of Ibn al-Jarrah. The Byzantines attempted to aid the besieged at Tyre by sending a fleet, but it was beaten off by the Fatimids, and the city captured in June.[3][9] Ibn al-Jarrah's revolt was also suppressed, and Jaysh ibn Samsama returned to Damascus, where he stayed for three days to gather his forces for the relief of Apamea. There he was joined by the troops and volunteers from Tripoli, assembling a force numbering 10,000 men and 1,000 Bedouin riders of the Banu Kilab tribe.[11] According to Skylitzes, the Fatimid army comprised the forces of Tripoli, Beirut, Tyre, and Damascus.[12] Meanwhile, Dalassenos was vigorously pursuing the siege, and the inhabitants of Apamea had been reduced to famine, being forced to eat cadavers and dogs, which they bought for the price of 25 silver dirhams (according to Abu'l-Faraj, two gold dinars) a piece.[13][14]

Battle

The two armies met on the large plain of al-Mudiq (cf.

Arabic: أبو الحَجَر أَحْمَد بن الضَّحَّاك السَّليل) by Ibn al-Athir and Ibn al-Qalanisi, and Bar Kefa by the Byzantine sources and Abu'l-Faraj, rode towards Dalassenos, who was near his battle standard on top of a height and was accompanied only by two of his sons and ten men of his retinue. Believing the battle won and that the Kurd wanted to surrender, Dalassenos took no precautions. As he approached the Byzantine general, Ibn al-Dahhak suddenly charged. Dalassenos lifted his arm to shield himself, but the Kurd launched his spear at him. The general wore no cuirass, and the blow killed him.[13][16][17]

Dalassenos' death changed the tide of the battle: the Fatimids took heart and, shouting "the enemy of God is dead!", turned on the Byzantines, who fell into panic and fled. The garrison of Apamea too sallied forth, completing the Byzantine debacle.

Tornike Eristavi, as well as the two sons of Dalassenos, Constantine and Theophylact, who were bought by Jaysh ibn Samsama for 6,000 dinars and spent the next ten years as captives in Cairo.[15][19][20] Stephen of Taron gives a slightly different account of the battle, whereby the victorious Byzantines were surprised by an attack by the regrouped Fatimids on their camp and that one of Dalassenos's brothers and one of his sons were killed, as well as the general himself. This version is commonly rejected by modern scholars.[17][20]

Aftermath

Dalassenos' defeat forced Basil II to personally lead yet another campaign in Syria the following year. Arriving in Syria in mid-September, the emperor's army buried their fallen in the field of Apamea and then captured Shayzar, sacked the fortress of Masyaf and Rafaniya, torched Arqa, and raided the environs of Baalbek, Beirut, Tripoli and Jubayl. In mid-December, Basil returned to Antioch, where he installed Nikephoros Ouranos as doux,[21] although according to his self-description as the "ruler of the East", his role seems to have been more extensive, with plenipotentiary military and civilian authority over the entire eastern frontier.[22] In 1001, Basil II concluded a ten-year truce with the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim.[23][24]

References

  1. ^ Honigmann 1935, p. 106.
  2. ^ a b Honigmann 1935, pp. 106–107.
  3. ^ a b Honigmann 1935, p. 107.
  4. ^ Canard 1961, pp. 297–298.
  5. ^ Cheynet & Vannier 1986, pp. 77–78.
  6. ^ Schlumberger 1900, pp. 108, 110.
  7. ^ Canard 1961, p. 297.
  8. ^ Holmes 2005, pp. 347–349.
  9. ^ a b Canard 1961, p. 298.
  10. ^ Schlumberger 1900, pp. 107–108.
  11. ^ Canard 1961, pp. 298–299.
  12. ^ Schlumberger 1900, p. 108.
  13. ^ a b c Canard 1961, p. 299.
  14. ^ a b c Schlumberger 1900, p. 110.
  15. ^ a b Canard 1961, p. 300.
  16. ^ Schlumberger 1900, pp. 110–111.
  17. ^ a b c PmbZ, Damianos Dalassenos (#21379).
  18. ^ Canard 1961, pp. 299–300.
  19. ^ a b Schlumberger 1900, p. 111.
  20. ^ a b Cheynet & Vannier 1986, p. 78.
  21. ^ Honigmann 1935, pp. 107–108.
  22. ^ Holmes 2005, p. 477.
  23. ^ Honigmann 1935, p. 108.
  24. ^ Holmes 2005, pp. 476–477.

Sources

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Apamea&oldid=1166133323"