Peter (stratopedarches)
Peter (
Asia Minor
, falling in battle in autumn 977.
Biography
According to several Byzantine sources, Peter was originally a servant or member of the personal retinue of
Magyar) warband in Thrace.[2][3] Nothing is known of his early life and career, but he may have held the post of epi tes trapezes (master of the table) as Arab sources call him al-Aṭrābāzī and aṭ-Ṭrabāzī.[2]
In spring 967, following the dismissal of
Alexandretta and took Muhammad captive, until the Antiochenes ransomed him.[2]
In 968 Nikephoros II himself came east to take up the reins of his army. Peter participated in the emperor's invasion of
Hamdanid-ruled northern Syria and the subsequent prolonged siege of Antioch, which culminated in the fall of the city.[1][2] In this operation, the strategos Michael Bourtzes had the initiative, seizing one of the city's main towers in a coup de main. At this time, Peter was marching with his forces towards Aleppo on the request of Qarghuyah, who had usurped power there, to relieve its siege by loyalist Hamdanid troops under Sa'd al-Dawla. Learning of Bourtzes' feat, Peter turned back and reached Antioch three days later.[2][6] After the capture of Antioch, which took place on October 28, the two Byzantine generals resumed their advance on Aleppo, forcing Sa'd al-Dawla to flee. The Byzantines proceeded to attack Aleppo themselves, with the populace withdrawing to the citadel and abandoning the lower city to the imperial troops. After a siege of 27 days, Qarghuyah and his lieutenant Bakjur capitulated. In the Treaty of Safar, Aleppo and the former Hamdanid domains of northern Syria became an imperial vassal, hostages were given, an annual tribute was to be paid to the emperor, and a Byzantine tax official was to be established in the city. The Byzantines on the other hand recognized Qarguyah as the ruler of Aleppo, and Bakjur as his successor.[2]
After Nikephoros's assassination by John Tzimiskes in December 969, Peter, despite his close association with the murdered emperor, continued in active service during Tzimiskes's reign (r. 969–976), when he participated in the
Dorostolon during its siege by the Byzantines, while Bardas Skleros guarded the eastern one.[2] It is possibly during this campaign that Leo the Deacon's incident with his single combat against the "Scythian" leader took place.[2]
In 976, Tzimiskes died, and the throne reverted to the legitimate emperors of the
Iconium, they were decisively defeated by Skleros himself. Among many other loyalist commanders, Peter too fell on the battlefield.[2][11]
References
- ^ a b c Ringrose 2003, p. 137.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n PmbZ, Petros (#26496).
- ^ Ringrose 2003, pp. 137–138.
- ^ Kazhdan 1991, p. 1967.
- ^ Whittow 1996, p. 353.
- ^ Bréhier 1946, pp. 196–197.
- ^ Holmes 2005, p. 332.
- ^ Whittow 1996, p. 361.
- ^ Whittow 1996, pp. 361–362.
- ^ Kazhdan 1991, p. 1178.
- ^ Whittow 1996, pp. 362–363.
Sources
- Bréhier, Louis (1946). Le monde byzantin: Vie et mort de Byzance (PDF) (in French). Paris: Éditions Albin Michel.
- Holmes, Catherine (2005). Basil II and the Governance of Empire (976–1025). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-927968-5.
- )
- Lilie, Ralph-Johannes; Ludwig, Claudia; Zielke, Beate; Pratsch, Thomas, eds. (2013). "Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online". Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Nach Vorarbeiten F. Winkelmanns erstellt (in German). De Gruyter.
- Ringrose, Kathryn M. (2003). The Perfect Servant: Eunuchs and the Social Construction of Gender in Byzantium. Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-72015-9.
- Whittow, Mark (1996). The Making of Byzantium, 600–1025. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-20496-4.