Nikephoros II Phokas and Warfare in the 10th-Century Byzantine World

Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-90-04-51230-6
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Italienisch, Band 152, 384 Seiten, Format (B × H): 158 mm x 238 mm, Gewicht: 739 g

Reihe: History of Warfare

This volume throws light not just on the military and on warfare during a period of increasing Byzantine military success and expansion, but it also draws on the latest in academic debate and examines afresh the varied aspects of different thematics regarding the reign of the emperor Nikephoros II Phokas. That includes military theory, tactics and equipment in the 10th century, ‘war ideology’ and the ideological justification of war, Byzantine society’s attitudes to warfare, Nikephoros’ approaches to domestic affairs and the Church, and the emperor’s foreign policy.

Contributors are Jesse S. Arlen, Gennadiy Baranov, Georgios Chatzelis, Jean-Claude Cheynet, Phoebe-Irene Georgiadi, Konstantinos Karatolios, Taxiarchis Kolias, Alexandru Madgearu, Lucas McMahon, Marco Miotto, Ioannis S. Sarantidis, Filip Schneider, Dimitrios Sidiropoulos, Denis Sullivan, Konstantinos Takirtakoglou, Georgios Theotokis, and Mamuka Tsurtsumia.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Weitere Mitwirkende

Theotokis, Georgios

Tsurtsumia, Mamuka

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Vor- und Frühgeschichte, prähistorische Archäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface: Les hommes de Nicéphore Phocas Jean-Claude Cheynet

Annexe: Sceaux inédits mentionnés dans le texte

List of Figures, Plates, Maps, and Tables

Notes on Contributors

Introduction

part 1: Strategies, Tactics, and Foreign Policies

1 The Bulgarian War of Nikephoros II Phokas: Lessons Learned from the Past and Strategic Mistakes Alexandru Madgearu

2 Nikephoros Phokas’ Heritage on the Grand Strategy of the Komnenian Emperors in Cilicia and Northern Syria during the 12th Century Ioannis S. Sarantidis

3 Succeeding Where Others Failed: Nikephoros Phokas’ Conquest of Crete Reconsidered Dimitrios Sidiropoulos

4 Strangling Antioch: a Spatial Approach to Conquest Lucas McMahon

part 2: Reconsidering Military Reforms and Equipment

5 Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas and the Military Lands Taxiarchis G. Kolias

6 Byzantine (Mediterranean) Swords with Sleeve Cross-Guards: Constructing a Typology Gennadiy V. Baranov

part 3: Kinship and Imperial Portraits

7 Theodosios the Deacon’s “The Capture of Crete” as an Encomium of Two Emperors Konstantinos Karatolios

8 Le campagne militari di Niceforo Foca nella storiografia araba medievale Marco Miotto

9 Nikephoros II Phokas and David IV the Builder: Military and Political Portraits Mamuka Tsurtsumia

part 4: Portraits of ‘Us’ and the ‘Other’

10 ‘Us,’ as Reflected in the Byzantine Perception of the ‘Other’ Filip Schneider

11 Martial Culture, Literary Culture, and Alterity: Nikephoros II Phokas Through the Scope of the Arab-Byzantine Military and Cultural Antagonism Georgios Chatzelis

12 Nikephoros II, the Phokades, and Sayf al-Dawla: Portrayals of Self and Other Denis Sullivan

part 5: Conceptions of Holy War and Martyrdom

13 Paterazmunk' het'anosats': Byzantine Propaganda and Holy War, Recipients and Objectives Konstantinos Takirtakoglou and Jesse Siragan Arlen

14 Nikephoros II Phokas, Military Martyrs and the Church Phoebe-Irene Georgiadi

Epilogue

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Georgios Theotokis, Ph.D. (2010), University of Glasgow, is Assistant Professor at Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul, and specializing in the military history of the eastern Mediterranean in late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Among his published articles and monographs are The Campaign and Battle of Manzikert, 1071 (2024) and The Art of War in Byzantium (2024).

Mamuka Tsurtsumia, Ph.D. (2014), Tbilisi State University, is the author of the monographs Medieval Georgian Army (900-1700): Organization, Tactics, Armament (2016) and The Ideology of War in Georgia and the Near East: Christian Holy War and Islamic Jihad (2019).