Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/1193

Rh NICEPHORUS. dangerous as the khalif. In order to carry on the war against the Bulgarians with effect, Nicephoi'us established a strong and permanent cordon, or army of observation, along the Danube, and oppressed his people with taxes. The public indignation was roused, and an attempt was made to assassinate him. However, he was destined to die a more honourable death. Having drained the people of their gold and silver he was enabled to raise a very strong army, at the head of which he penetrated very far into Bulgaria (811), and so weakened Crum that the latter sued for peace. Nicephorus, proud of his success, rejected the request ; but the barbarian king now rose with all the energy of despair, and, as often happens in such cases, ruined the man who was too sure of ruining him. The Greeks being encamped on a plain surrounded on all sides by steep rocks, intersected by a few nar- row ravines. Crura contrived to block up all these defiles but one with enormous quantities of dry wood and other combustible materials, which one night were set on fire, while the Bulgarians from all sides shouted their war cries as if they intended to descend into the plain and take the camp by assault. The terrified Greeks rushed to- wards the only defile that was still open, but there were received by Crum with his main forces, and a conflict in the night ensued in which the Greek army Avas nearly destroyed, and Nicephorus lost his life, slain either by the enemy or his own enraged sol- diers (25th of July 811). His son Stauracius, al- though badly wounded, escaped and hastened to Constantinople, where he was proclaimed emperor. (Theophan. p. 402, &c. ; Cedren. p. 476, &c. ; Zonar. vol. ii. p. 121, &c. ; Manass. p. 93 ; Glyc. D. 285, &c.) ( W. P.] NICE'PHORUS TI. PHOCAS (Nt/c7j0o>s 6 was the son of the celebrated Bardas Phocas, and was born in or about 912. He owed his elevation to those great military capacities which were here- ditary in his family, and through which he ob- tained a fame that places him by the side of Narses, Belisarius, and the emperors Heracliiis, Mauricius, and Tiberius. In 954 Constantine VII. Porphyrogenitus appointed him magrnis domesticus, and his brothers Leo and Constantine, next to him the best generals, were also entrusted with great military commands. The Greeks were then at war with the khalif Modhi, against whom Nice- phorus and his brothers marched in 956. The first campaign was rather disastrous to the Greeks, who were defeated in a pitched battle in which Constan- tine Phocas was taken prisoner by the Arabs, who afterwards put him to death. In 958 Nicephorus and Leo took a terrible revenge. Chabgan, the Arab emir of Aleppo, the terror of the Christians, had conquered Cilicia : Nicephorus defeated him several times, took Mopsuestia and Tarsus, and forced him to fly into Syria, while Leo conquered the important fortress of Samosata. In an ensuing campaign in Syria the Greeks were likewise vic- torious, and, Romanus II. having succeeded his father Constantine in 959; Nicephorus proposed to the young emperor to drive the Arabs out of Crete, where they had established their power 1 36 years previously, to the great grief and annoyance of the Greeks. The expedition took place in 960, and the capital Candia, a fortress which was believed to be impregnable, having surrendered in 961, after a memorable siege of ten months, the island once NICEPHORUS. 1179 more recognised the Greek rule. All Greece was in joy, and the conquest was thought to be so im- portant, and, above all, was so unexpected, that the victor was allowed the honour of a public triumph in Constantinople. In 962 Nicephorus set out for another campaign in Syria, at the head of a splen- did army of 200,000 men, according to the probably exaggerated statements of the Arabs, and of 80,000 men according to Liutprand. The passes across Mount Amanus were forced, Aleppo, Antioch, and the other principal towns of Syria surrendered, or were taken by assault, and Nicephorus pushed on towards the Euphrates. The victor was checked in his military career by the death of the emperor Romanus in 963, whose prime minister Brindas, jealous of the unparalleled success of Nicephorus, endeavoured to ruin him by intrigues. Brindas made tempting propositions to John Zimisces and his brother Romanus Curcuas, through whose in- strumentality he hope^ to accomplish his objects ; but those two generals, having apprised their com- mander-in-chief of the treachery of Brindas, Nice- phorus was enabled to triumph over his rival. Theophano, the widow of Romanus, rewarded him by appointing him supreme commander of all the Greek armies in Asia, with unlimited and almost sovereign authority. In consequence of a widow, the mother of two infant princes, being placed at the head of the empire, the numerous partisans of Nicephorus persuaded him to seize the supreme power, and after some hesitation he allowed him- self to be proclaimed emperor. Upon this he went to Constantinople, and consolidated his power by marrying Theophano ; he was crowned in the month of December, 963 ; and along with him reigned, though only nominally, Basil II. and Con- stantine IX., the two infant sons of Romanus and Theophano. During the absence of Nicephorus the Greeks were victorious in Cilicia, under .the command of John Zimisces, afterwards emperor, and Nicephorus having joined him in 964, they, in three campaigns, conquered Damascus, Tripoli, Nisibis, and many other cities in Syria, compelled the emir Chabgan to pay a tribute, and overran the whole country as far as the Euphrates. In 968 the Greeks crossed the Euphrates, Baghdad trembled, and the khalif seemed lost, but the death of Nicephorus, and the ensuing troubles in 969, saved the Mohammedan empire from destruction. Inflated with success Nicephorus had made himself odious to many of his subjects, and, although he was still popular with the army, the people in general, especially in Constantinople, were tired of his severity. Un- fortunately for him he neglected his wife, and the bravest man in Greece fell a victim to the spite of a woman and the ambition of a jealous friend : John Zimisces and Theophano conspired against his life. Some of their helpmates were hidden in the imperial palace, and one night, on a certain signal being given, Zimisces came in a boat from the Asiatic side of the Bosporus, where he was watching an opportunity, to the water-gate of the palace, joined his confederates, and, guided by Theophano, entered the emperor's bedchamber. They found him sleeping on a skin : he started up, but the sword of one Leo clove his skull and he was soon despatched. His murderer Zimisces married his widow and succeeded him on the throne. Nicephorus Phocas was without doubt a most energetic man and a first-rate general, but his
 * a)/cas), emperor of Constantinople A. d. 963 — 9G9,