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Battle of Aleppo |
year: 962December 962 |
| The Byzantines captured and pillaged the city and then left | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
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enemy: Arabs
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location: Modern Aleppo or Halab in Northern Syria
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accuracy:
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battle type: City Capture |
war: Later Byzantine-Muslim Wars |
modern country:
Syria |
| ▼ The Byzantines(emperor: Romanos II) | ▼ The Enemies | |
| Commander: | General Nikephoros Phokas | Emir Sayf al-Dawlah |
| Forces: | Unknown | Unknown |
| Losses: |
| Background story: |
| The great Byzantine general (and later emperor) Nikephoros Phokas completed the liberation of Crete from the Saracens in 961 and then returned to the eastern borders. The great rival of the Byzantines in the region was the emir of Aleppo Sayf al-Dawlah, of the Arab dynasty of the Hamdanids. Al-Dawlah had already suffered a painful defeat at the hands of Leon Phokas, Nikephoros' brother, in the Straits of Andrassos, returning from a predatory invasion of Asia Minor. Al-Dawlah in general had created many problems and the Byzantines wanted to punish him, at a time when Byzantine military power was beginning to recover. |
The Battle: |
 Nikephoros Phokas Aleppo was taken by storm, with the population killed or enslaved, and the city was razed. The Byzantine army took possession of 390,000 silver dinars, 2,000 camels, and 1,400 mules. Nikephoros Phokas then attacked Adana and Tarsus in Cilicia . |
Noteworthy: |
| It was on these campaigns that Phokas earned the sobriquet “The Pale Death of the Saracens”, because of his cruelty. |
Aftermath: |
| Al-Dawlah suffered a stroke and had since ruled from a stretcher. Aleppo was repopulated by a population that moved from other areas. Nikephoros continued his victorious campaigns in the East without permanent conquest, though. |
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