Rebellion of Bardas Phokas the Younger

Rebellion of Bardas Phokas
	; The Coronation of Basil II as co-emperor by Patriarch Polyeuctus, from the Madrid Skylitzes
Date	February 987 – October 989
Location	Byzantine Empire
Result	Loyalist victory
Belligerents
Commanders and leaders
Strength
loyalist forces plus 6,000 Varangians	Byzantine army of Asia Minor, plus 2,000 Caucasians

The Rebellion of Bardas Phokas the Younger (February 987 – October 989) was a major war within the

Asia Minor

.

During the second half of the tenth century the Byzantine Empire was characterized by emperors either devoted to or forced into long periods of campaigning mostly in the Near East, Crete, Cyprus, Antioch; many other territories were also conquered during this period.^[1]^[2]^[3] The success Byzantium experienced during this period was largely thanks to the Phokas clan, an aristocratic family who consistently produced competent generals, and their relatives. Indeed, during the reigns of Nikephoros II Phokas and his nephew John I Tzimiskes, these aristocratic generals supplanted the legitimate heirs of the Macedonian dynasty, the adolescent brothers Basil II and Constantine VIII, as the de facto rulers of the empire. When Tzimiskes died in 976 Basil II ascended to power. Quickly, however, tensions began to flare up within the royal court itself as the purple-born emperor attempted to reign fully out of the influence of the established court eunuchs. The figureheads behind the simmering tensions in the capital would come to blows in a major rebellion led by Bardas Phokas the Younger, the most powerful man left of the old Phokas regime.

Prelude to the rebellion

The war was sparked by tensions circulating between the newly crowned emperor

katepano of Italy, Delphinas, as he too was a supporter of Lekapenos.^[4]

It was around this time that Bulgarian forces once again began to raid into Byzantine Greece. Basil, however, saw this as an opportunity: by crushing the Bulgarian forces, he could legitimize his reign at home while diminishing the distinguished military record of the Phokades carried on by Bardas Phokas in the east, as this was his main catalyst of support, he himself being a poor strategist. He departed for the western front in 986 and reached Serdica by summer. He besieged the city for twenty days before becoming worried on account of circulating rumors that Melissenos was planning a coup in the capital. On August 16, however, he was ambushed by the Bulgarian tsar Samuel's forces at the Gates of Trajan. His forces were scattered, and Basil was disgraced by the defeat.^[5] Not only was Samuil able to reconquer much of the former Bulgarian Empire,^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] as it had been before the conquests of John I Tzimiskes, but support for Basil's reign fragmented both in Constantinople and in the east. Worse yet, news of the disastrous defeat would reach as far as Baghdad, where the former rebel Bardas Skleros had been granted asylum by the ruling Buyid dynasty.

Beginning of hostilities

In a formal treaty in December 986, Skleros agreed to a number of concessions to the Buyids, including an exchange of Muslim prisoners, and cession of certain border fortresses, provided that they would supply him with support in an open rebellion against the Byzantine Empire.

Kurdish chieftain Bad ibn Dustuk.^[11]

Meanwhile, Basil attempted to counter the invasion of Skleros by elevating Bardas Phokas back to Domestic of the East. Phokas, however, who was already in control of most of Byzantine Asia Minor, in turn rebelled against Basil.

Bosphorus Strait in an attempt to blockade Constantinople and eventually cross into Europe and besiege the capital itself. While Phokas encamped on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, Delphinas, Phokas' ally and the former katepano of Italy, and Phokas' blinded brother Nikephoros, encamped at Chrysopolis. Phokas attempted to take Abydos without success, leaving Melissenos in charge of the siege, while Delphinas attempted to block grain imports into Constantinople, also without success, as the loyalists were able to use their command of the Black Sea to bring in food from some loyalist coastal cities, such as Trebizond.^[12]

Basil turns the tide

At this time, Basil II made a foreign policy decision which would change the course of eastern European history forever. In exchange for Kievan Rus' assistance in his civil war, and a guarantee to Christianize the Rus', Basil agreed to marry off his sister, Anna, to the prince of Rus', Vladimir the Great. Early in 988, Vladimir's forces arrived in Byzantium with his own troops along with a contingent of 6,000 Varangians.^[14]^[15]^[16] The same year Basil crossed the Bosporus and took Delphinas' camp by surprise, defeating his troops and taking him into custody.^[17] He was swiftly executed, while Nikephorus was arrested, as Basil's forces continued to move onward. As this offensive continued, the Georgian loyalist Gregory Taronites landed in Trebizond. He soon began to ravage Phokas' rear with impunity, moving towards the Euphrates. Phokas sent his son, also named Nikephoros, to the kouropalates of Tao, David III, in order to procure new troops for the rebellion. He managed marshaled 2,000 Caucasian troops.^[18]

Taronites was defeated by Nikephoros,

Didymoteichon

, where he died on March 6, 991.

Aftermath

Despite the inherently destructive nature of most rebellions, Bardas Phokas' rebellion in fact provided the Byzantine Empire with many long-term benefits. The first of these was the addition of the Varangians to the Imperial Guard. For the next three centuries this elite infantry force was the most effective component of the Byzantine army. Secondly, the resources-depleted David III was now in no position to withstand a concentrated Byzantine attack on his Iberian territories, and his countries were quickly overrun in the years after the civil war in retaliation for his support of Phokas.^[26]^[27] Kievan Rus' emerged from the civil war the newest Christian state in Europe, and one of the largest, largely as a result of the diplomacy sparked by the rebellion.^[12] The civil war also highlighted the inability of the Buyids to effectively influence Byzantine politics in a meaningful way despite their supposed military might and control of the Caliph.^[28]

References

^ Romane 2015, pp. 6, 34–35.
^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 278–279.
^ Treadgold 1997, pp. 500–501.
^ ^a ^b ^c Kaldellis 2017, p. 94.
^ Zlatarski, History of the Bulgarian state, v. I, ch. 2, pp. 674–675
^ Bozhilov, Iv., The anonimous of Haza. Bulgaria and Byzantium on the Lower Danube in the end of the 10th century, p. 125
^ Stoimenov, D., Temporary Byzantine military administration in the Bulgarian lands 971–987/989, GSU NCSVP, v. 82 (2), 1988, pp. 40–43
^ Nikolov, Centralism and regionalism in early medieval Bulgaria, pp. 194–195
^ Pirivatrić, Samuil's state, pp. 111, 113, 155
^ PmbZ, Bardas Skleros (#20785); Sharaf al-Dawla (#26976).
^ PmbZ, Bardas Skleros (#20785); Bād b. Dūstuk (#20727).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Kaldellis 2017, p. 97.
^ PmbZ, Bardas Phokas (der Jüngere) (#20784).
^ The Earliest Mediaeval Churches of Kiev, Samuel H. Cross, H. V. Morgilevski and K. J. Conant, Speculum, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Oct., 1936), 479.
^ Kaldellis 2017, p. 98.
^ PmbZ, Basileios II. (#20838).
^ Holmes 2005, pp. 246, 460
^ PmbZ, David III. (von Tao) (#21432).
^ PmbZ, Gregorios Taronites (#22428).
^ Holmes 2005, pp. 98 note 69, 320, 406 note 21.
^ Strässle 2006, p. 78, note 1080.
^ ^a ^b PmbZ, Nikephoros Phokas Barytrachelos (#25675).
^ Treadgold 1997, p. 518.
^ Treadgold 1997, pp. 518–519.
^ Whittow 1996, p. 373.
^ PmbZ, David III. (from Tao) (#21432).
^ Kaldellis 2017, p. 101.
^ Kaldellis 2017, p. 102.