Byzantine Emperor. He was born in approximately AD 912 and entered the army at an early age. He rose to the position of military governor of the Anatolikon Theme by AD 945 and was made supreme commander on the Eastern Frontier when his father and predecessor in that post, Bardas, was wounded in battle. He went on to win victories against the Abbasid Caliphate in Syria and also against the Saracen Emirate of Crete, earning the nickname "The Pale Death of the Saracens". Following the death of the Emperor Romanos in AD 963 he seized the throne with support of the Eastern Army and the help of the Empress Theophano, who he later married. He fought many wars as Emperor, conquering Cilicia and Mesopotamia and re-taking Cyprus. However, he suffered several defeats in the West, being forced to surrender Sicily to the Fatimid Caliphate and to yield Byzantine territory in Italy to the Western Emperor Otto I. His great expenditure on the army required cut backs in areas such as the foundation of new monasteries, and his debasement of the Empire's coinage fueled popular unrest. In AD 969 he was assassinated as the result of a conspiracy led by his wife and her lover, John Tzimiskes.
Byzantine Emperor. He was born in approximately AD 912 and entered the army at an early age. He rose to the position of military governor of the Anatolikon Theme by AD 945 and was made supreme commander on the Eastern Frontier when his father and predecessor in that post, Bardas, was wounded in battle. He went on to win victories against the Abbasid Caliphate in Syria and also against the Saracen Emirate of Crete, earning the nickname "The Pale Death of the Saracens". Following the death of the Emperor Romanos in AD 963 he seized the throne with support of the Eastern Army and the help of the Empress Theophano, who he later married. He fought many wars as Emperor, conquering Cilicia and Mesopotamia and re-taking Cyprus. However, he suffered several defeats in the West, being forced to surrender Sicily to the Fatimid Caliphate and to yield Byzantine territory in Italy to the Western Emperor Otto I. His great expenditure on the army required cut backs in areas such as the foundation of new monasteries, and his debasement of the Empire's coinage fueled popular unrest. In AD 969 he was assassinated as the result of a conspiracy led by his wife and her lover, John Tzimiskes.
Bio by: js
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