View source for Nikephoros II Phokas

{{short description|Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969}}<!--numerous paragraphs that have no citations-->
{{redirect|Nikephoros Phokas}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Nikephoros&nbsp;II Phokas
| image        = Nikephoros Phokas.jpg
| image_size   = 210px
| caption      = Nikephoros II Phokas on a 15th-century manuscript, [[Biblioteca Marciana]], [[Venice]]. The portrait is almost certainly imaginary.{{Cref2|i}}
| succession   = [[Byzantine emperor]]
| reign        = 16 August 963 –<br />11 December 969
| predecessor  = [[Romanos II]]<br/>
| regent       = {{Collapsible list|title={{nobold|''See list''}}|
|[[Basil II]]<br/>(963–969)
|[[Constantine VIII]]<br/>(963–969)
}}
| reg-type     = Co-emperors
| successor    = [[John I Tzimiskes|John I]]
| spouse       = [[Theophano (born Anastaso)|Theophano]]
| issue        = 
| royal house  = 
| dynasty      = [[Phokas (Byzantine family)|Phokas]]
| father       = [[Bardas Phokas the Elder|Bardas Phokas]]
| mother       = 
| birth_date   = {{circa|912}}
| birth_place  = [[Cappadocia]]
| death_date   = 11 December 969 (aged 57)
| death_place  = [[Constantinople]]
| date of burial = 
| place of burial = [[Church of the Holy Apostles]]
| title        = [[List of Byzantine emperors|Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans]]
}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix = [[Saint]]
|name=Nikephoros II Phokas 
|titles= Emperor of the Romans, Kallinikos
|feast_day=December 11
|venerated_in=[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
|image=Icon of St. Nikephoros II Phokas.jpg
|imagesize=128
|caption=[[Icon]] of St. Nikephoros by [[Theophanes the Cretan]]
|attributes=Imperial attire
|patronage= [[Great Lavra|Great Lavra of Mount Athos]]
}}
'''Nikephoros II Phokas''' ({{langx|el|Νικηφόρος Φωκᾶς|Nikēphóros Phōkâs}}; {{circa|912}} – 11 December 969), [[Latinization (literature)|Latinized]] '''Nicephorus II Phocas''', was [[Byzantine emperor]] from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless greatly contributed to the resurgence of the Byzantine Empire during the 10th century. In the east, Nikephoros completed the conquest of [[Cilicia]] and retook the islands of [[Crete]] and [[Cyprus]], opening the path for subsequent Byzantine incursions reaching as far as [[Upper Mesopotamia]] and the [[Levant]]; these campaigns earned him the [[sobriquet]] "pale death of the [[Saracen]]s."

== Early life and career ==
Nikephoros Phokas was born around 912. From his paternal side, he belonged to the [[Phokas (Byzantine family)|Phokas family]]{{sfn|Whittow|1996|p=9}} which had produced several distinguished generals, including Nikephoros' father [[Bardas Phokas the Elder|Bardas Phokas]], brother [[Leo Phokas the Younger|Leo Phokas]], and grandfather [[Nikephoros Phokas the Elder]], who had all served as commanders of the field army (''[[domestikos ton scholon|domestikos tōn scholōn]]''). From his maternal side he belonged to the [[Maleinos|Maleinoi]], a powerful Anatolian Greek family which had settled in [[Cappadocia]].{{Cref2|ii}}{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=1276}} Early in his life Nikephoros had married Stephano. She had died before he rose to fame, and after her death he took an oath of chastity.

=== Early Eastern campaigns ===
Nikephoros joined the army at an early age. He was appointed the military governor of the [[Anatolic Theme]] in 945 under Emperor [[Constantine VII]]. In 954 or 955 Nikephoros was promoted to [[Domestic of the Schools]], replacing his father, [[Bardas Phokas the Elder|Bardas Phokas]], who had suffered a series of defeats by the [[Hamdanid Dynasty|Hamdanids]] and by the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasids]]. The new position essentially placed Nikephoros in charge of the eastern Byzantine army. From 955, the Hamdanids in [[Aleppo]] entered a period of unbroken decline until their destruction in 1002. In June 957 Nikephoros managed to capture and destroy [[Hadath|Adata.]] The Byzantines continued to push their advantage against the Arabs until the collapse of the Hamdanids, except for the period from 960 to 961, when the army turned its focus to the [[Siege of Chandax|reconquest of Crete]].

=== Conquest of Crete ===
{{main|Siege of Chandax}}
[[File:Byzantines under Nikephoros Phokas besiege Chandax.png|thumb|left|upright=1.35|Depiction of the [[Siege of Chandax]] by Phokas, winter 960–61]]

From the ascension of Emperor [[Romanos II]] in 959, Nikephoros and his younger brother [[Leo Phokas the Younger|Leo Phokas]] were placed in charge of the eastern and western field armies respectively. In 960, 27,000 [[watercraft rowing|oarsmen]] and [[marine (military)|marines]] were assembled to man a fleet of 308 ships carrying 50,000 troops.{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=495}}{{sfn|Norwich|1991|pp=175–178}} At the recommendation of the influential minister [[Joseph Bringas]], Nikephoros was entrusted to lead this expedition against the Muslim [[Emirate of Crete]], and he led his fleet to the island and defeated a minor Arab force upon disembarking near Almyros. He soon began a nine-month siege of the fortress town of [[Heraklion|Chandax]], where his forces suffered through the winter due to supply issues.{{sfn|McMahon|2021|p=65}} Following a failed assault and many raids into the countryside, Nikephoros entered Chandax on 6 March 961 and soon wrested control of the entire island from the Muslims.{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|pp=493–495}} Upon returning to [[Constantinople]], he was denied the usual honor of a [[Roman triumph|triumph]], but was permitted an [[ovation]] in the [[Hippodrome of Constantinople|Hippodrome]].{{sfn|Norwich|1991|p=961}}

===Later Eastern campaigns===
Following the conquest of Crete, Nikephoros returned to the east and marched a large and well-equipped army into [[Cilicia]]. In February 962, he captured [[Anazarbos]] and threatened the major city of [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]], which had recently ceased to recognize the Hamdanid Emir of [[Aleppo]], [[Sayf al-Dawla]].{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|p=39}} Nikephoros continued to ravage the Cilician countryside and won an open battle against [[Ibn al-Zayyat (governor of Tarsus)|Ibn al-Zayyat]], governor of Tarsus, who killed himself after the defeat. Thereafter, Nikephoros returned to the regional capital of [[Kayseri|Caesarea]]. Upon the beginning of the new campaigning season al-Dawla entered the Byzantine Empire to conduct raids, a strategy which left Aleppo dangerously undefended. Nikephoros soon took [[Manbij|Syrian Hierapolis]].{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|p=49}} In December, an army split between Nikephoros and [[John I Tzimiskes]] [[Sack of Aleppo (962)|marched towards Aleppo]], quickly routing an opposing force led by [[Naja al-Kasaki]]. Al-Dawla's force caught up with the Byzantines, but he too was routed, and Nikephoros and Tzimiskes entered Aleppo on 24 December.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|p=39}} The loss of the city would prove to be both a strategic and moral disaster for the Hamdanids. It was probably on these campaigns that Nikephoros earned the sobriquet "Pale Death of the Saracens".{{sfn|Gregory|2010|p=263}}

== Ascension to the throne ==
On 15 March 963, Emperor Romanos II died unexpectedly at the age of twenty-five of uncertain cause. Both contemporary and later historians attribute the death to overindulgence in sex and drinking, or suspect that Romanos was poisoned by his wife, the Empress [[Theophano (born Anastaso)|Theophano]] (c. 941–after 976). Theophano had already gained a reputation for intelligence and ambition, and hostile later historians characterize her as ruthless in achieving her goals. Romanos had already [[coronation of the Byzantine emperor|crowned as co-emperors]] his two sons [[Basil II]] and [[Constantine VIII]]. At the time that Romanos died, however, Basil was five years old and Constantine only three years old, so Theophano was named [[regent]].

[[File:Entrance of the emperor Nikephoros Phocas (963-969) into Constantinople in 963 from the Chronicle of John Skylitzes.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|Nikephoros' entry into Constantinople as Emperor through the [[Golden Gate (Constantinople)|Golden Gate]] in summer 963]]
Theophano, however, was not allowed to rule alone. [[Joseph Bringas]], the [[eunuch]] palace official who had become Romanos' chief councilor, maintained his position. According to contemporary sources he intended to keep authority in his own hands. He also tried to reduce the power of Nikephoros Phokas. The victorious general had been accepted as the actual commander of the army and maintained a strong connection to the aristocracy. Bringas was afraid that Nikephoros would attempt to claim the throne with the support of both the army and the aristocracy. This is exactly what he did. On July 2 in Caesarea, his armies, along with his highest-ranking officers, proclaimed Nikephoros emperor. From his position in Caesarea, and in advance of the news of his proclamation as emperor, Nikephoros sent a fleet to secure the [[Bosphorus Strait]] against his enemies.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|p=41}} Around the same time, he appointed Tzimiskes as Domestic of the East, now taking on the formal roles of emperor. He then sent a letter to Constantinople requesting to be accepted as co-emperor. In response, Bringas locked down the city, forcing Nikephoros' father [[Bardas Phokas the Elder|Bardas Phokas]] to seek sanctuary in the [[Hagia Sophia]], while his brother [[Leo Phokas the Younger|Leo Phokas]] escaped the city in disguise. Bringas was able to garner some support within the city from a few high-ranking officers, namely [[Marianos Argyros]], but he himself was not a skilled orator and was unable to obtain the support of other popular officials such as the Patriarch [[Polyeuctus]] and the general [[Basil Lekapenos]]. The people of Constantinople soon turned against his cause, killing Argyros in a riot and soon forcing Bringas to flee.{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|pp=498–499}}{{sfn|Whittow|1996|pp=348–349}} On August 16, Nikephoros was proclaimed emperor and married the empress Theophano.{{sfn|Leo the Deacon|1000}}

== Reign ==

=== Western Wars ===
[[File:Histamenon of Nikephoros II.png|thumb|[[Histamenon]] of Nikephoros II (right) alongside Mary the ''[[Theotokos]]'']]
Nikephoros II was not very successful in his western wars. Under his reign, relations with the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarians]] worsened. It is likely that he bribed the [[Kievan Rus']] to raid the Bulgarians in retaliation for them not blocking [[Magyar people|Magyar]] raids.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|p=56}} This breach in relations triggered a decades-long decline in Byzantine-Bulgarian diplomacy and was a prelude to the wars fought between the Bulgarians and later Byzantine emperors, particularly [[Basil II]].

Nikephoros' first military failures came in [[Sicily]]. In 962 the son of the governor of [[Fatimid Dynasty|Fatimid Sicily]], [[Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Kalbi]], captured and reduced the Byzantine city of [[Taormina]]. The last major Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, [[Rometta]], appealed to the newly crowned emperor Nikephoros for aid against the approaching Muslim armies. Nikephoros renounced his payments of tribute to the [[Fatimid]] [[caliph]]s, and sent a huge fleet, purportedly boasting a crew of around 40,000 men, under [[Patrikios Niketas]] and [[Manuel Phokas]], to the island. The Byzantine forces, however, were swiftly routed in Rometta and at the [[Battle of the Straits]], and Rometta soon fell to the Muslims, completing the Islamic conquest of Sicily.{{sfn|PmbZ|loc=al-Ḥasan b. ‘Ammār al-Kalbī (#22562)}}{{sfn|Brett|2001|p=242}}

In 967, the Byzantines and the Fatimids hastily concluded a peace treaty to cease hostilities in Sicily. Both empires had grander issues to attend to: the Fatimids were preparing to invade [[Egypt]], and tensions were flaring up on mainland Italy between the Byzantines and the German emperor [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]]. The constant tension between the Germans and the Byzantines was largely due to mutual cultural biases, but also to the fact that both empires claimed to be the successors of the [[Roman Empire]].{{sfn|Keller|Althoff|2008|pp=221–224}} Conflicts in southern Italy were preceded by religious contests between the two empires and by the malicious writings of [[Liutprand of Cremona]]. Otto first invaded Byzantine [[Apulia]] in 968 and failed to take [[Bari]]. Early the next year, he once again moved against Byzantine Apulia and [[Calabria]], but, unable to capture [[Cassano delle Murge|Cassano]] or [[Bovino]], failed to make any progress. In May he returned north, leaving [[Pandulf Ironhead]] to take charge of the siege. Pandulf was defeated and taken prisoner by the Byzantine general Eugenios, who went on to besiege [[Capua]] and enter [[Salerno]]. The two empires would continue to skirmish with each other until after the reign of Nikephoros, but neither side was able to make permanent or significant gains.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

=== Eastern Wars ===
{{main|Byzantine conquest of Cilicia}}
{{see|Sayf al-Dawla#Wars with the Byzantines}}

From 964 to 965, Nikephoros led an army of 40,000 men which conquered Cilicia and conducted raids in [[Upper Mesopotamia]] and [[Syria]], while the patrician [[Niketas Chalkoutzes]] recovered [[Cyprus]].{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=948}} In the spring of 964, Nikephorus headed east. During the summer he captured [[Anazarbos]] and [[Adana]] before withdrawing. Later that year, Nikephoros attempted to quickly take [[Mopsuestia]], but failed, returning to Caesarea. It was around this time that [[Niketas Chalkoutzes]] instigated a coup in [[Cyprus]], which at the time was a shared condominium between the Byzantines and the Arabs. In the summer of 965, the conquest of Cilicia began in earnest. Nikephorus and Tzimiskes seized Mopsuestia July 13, while [[Leo Phokas the Younger|Leo Phokas]] invested [[Tarsus (West Syrian Diocese)|Tarsus]] and Nikephoros and Tzimiskes arrived soon after. Nikephoros won a pitched battle against the Tarsiots, routing their forces with his "ironclad horsemen", referencing the Byzantine [[cataphract]]s. Within a fortnight, on August 16, Tarsus surrendered. Nikephoros allowed the inhabitants to depart unharmed before the city was plundered by his army. With the fall of these two strongholds, Cilicia was in the hands of the Byzantines.{{sfn|Kennedy|2023|pp=278–279}}{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|pp=500–501}}
[[File:MadridSkylitzesEnvoysOfTarsosFol151v.jpg|thumb|Tarsus surrenders to Nikephoros Phokas (seated).]]
In June 966, Sayf al-Dawla and the Byzantines held an exchange of prisoners at [[Samosata]].{{sfn|Fattori|2013|p=117}} In October 966, Nikephoros led an expedition to raid [[Amida (Mesopotamia)|Amida]], [[Dara (Mesopotamia)|Dara]] and [[Nisibin|Nisibis]], then marched towards [[Manbij|Hierapolis]], where he took a relic with the image of Jesus to be later placed in the [[Church of the Virgin of the Pharos]] in Constantinople.{{sfn|Fattori|2013|p=117}} A detachment sent to [[Barbalissos]] returned with 300 prisoners, after which Nikephoros raided [[Dhahab River|Wadi Butnan]], [[Qinnasrin|Chalcis]], [[Oğulpınar, Reyhanlı|Tizin]] and [[Artah]], and finally laid siege to Antioch, abandoning the project after eight days due to a lack of supplies.{{sfn|Fattori|2013|pp=117–118}}
[[File:Byzantine Trebuchet Skylintzes.jpg|thumb|The army of Nikephoros employing a [[trebuchet]] to besiege a [[Hamdanid dynasty|Hamdanid]] fortress.]]
In 967 or 968, Nikephoros annexed the Armenian state of [[Taron (historic Armenia)|Taron]] by diplomacy,{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|p=50}} in addition to [[Arzen]] and [[Mayyafariqin|Martyropolis]].{{sfn|Fattori|2013|p=119}} He commenced another expedition in October 968 by besieging Antioch for thirteen days.{{sfn|Fattori|2013|p=119}} Afterwards the Byzantine army moved south, raiding and sacking most of the fortresses and cities along its path, including [[Maarrat Misrin]], [[Ma'arrat al-Nu'man|Arra]], [[Kafartab|Capharda]], [[Shaizar|Larissa]], [[Hama|Epiphania]] and [[Homs|Emesa]] in the [[Orontes River|Orontes]] valley, until it reached the city of [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]]; from Tripoli, Nikephoros moved to take [[Tell Arqa|Arca]], [[Tartus|Antarados]], [[Maraclea]], and [[Jableh|Gabala]], and received the submission of [[Latakia|Laodicea]].{{sfn|Fattori|2013|pp=120–121}} His aim was to cut off Antioch from its allies. Not wishing to damage its buildings, the emperor decided to take it by hunger. A detachment (taxiarchy) of 1500 men was left in the fort of [[Baghras|Pagrae]], controlling the road from Antioch to [[Alexandretta]], while the occupation of Maarat Misrin, Tizin, and Artach closed potential relief routes from Aleppo and Damascus.{{sfn|McMahon|2025|pp=78–105}} [[Siege of Antioch (968–969)|The siege]] ended in 969, when [[Michael Bourtzes]], the ''patrikios'' commanding the fort, disobeyed the emperor's orders and took Antioch with a surprise attack, supported by the troops of the ''stratopedarch'' Petros, eunuch of the Phokas family. Bourtzes was disgraced for his insubordination, and later joined the plot that killed Phokas.
[[File:Fall of Antioch in 969.png|thumb|The army under [[Michael Bourtzes]] laying siege to [[Antioch]].]]

=== Civil administration ===
[[File:INC-3041-r Номисма стамена. Никифор II Фока, Василий II, Константин VIII. Ок. 963—969 гг. (реверс).png|thumb|Histamenon of Nikephoros II (left) and his stepson [[Basil II]]]]

Nikephoros' popularity was largely based on his conquests. Due to the resources he allocated to his army, Nikephoros was compelled to exercise a rigid economic policy in other departments. He retrenched court largess and curtailed the immunities of the clergy, and while he had an [[ascetic]] disposition, he forbade the foundation of new [[monastery|monasteries]]. By his heavy imposts and the debasement of the [[Byzantine currency]], along with the enforcement and implementation of taxes across the centralized regions of the empire, he forfeited his popularity with the people and gave rise to riots.
[[File:Erhebung gegen Kaiser Nikephoros Phokas.jpg|thumb|The [[Byzantine army]] mutinies against Nikephoros.]]
Nikephoros also disagreed with the church on theological grounds. He wished the church to elevate those soldiers who died in battle against the Saracens to the positions of martyrs in the church – similar to the status of "[[Shahid]]" which the Emperor's Muslim foes bestowed on their own fallen soldiers. In the Christian context, this was a highly controversial and unpopular demand.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|p=52}}

In 967, he sparked a controversy in the capital by making a display of his military maneuvers in the Hippodrome similar in style to those displayed by the emperor [[Justinian]] centuries earlier preceding the [[Nika riots]] and its violent suppression within the stadium itself. The crowd within the Hippodrome panicked and began a stampede to retreat from the stadium, resulting in numerous deaths.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} In order to repopulate the regained lands in the East, he invited the [[Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East|Syriac Orthodox patriarch]] [[John VII Sarigta]] and his community to live in these lands. The Syriac community subsequently experienced a golden age with many monasteries founded, especially in the region around Melitene, such as the [[Monastery of Bārid]], where John VII Sarigta and his successors came to reside.{{sfn|Chatonnet|Debie|2023|pp=180–181}}

Nikephoros was the author of extant treatises on military tactics, most famously the ''[[Praecepta Militaria]]'', which contains valuable information on the art of war in his time, and the less-known ''On Skirmishing'' ({{langx|grc-x-medieval|Περὶ Παραδρομῆς Πολέμου}}), which concerned guerrilla-like tactics for defense against a superior enemy invasion force along the eastern frontier; though it purports that the tactics were no longer needed since the danger of the Muslim states to the east had subsided.{{sfn|McMahon|2016|pp=22–33}} It is likely that this latter work, at least, was not composed by the Emperor but rather for him; translator and editor George T. Dennis suggests that it was perhaps written by his brother Leo Phokas, then Domestic of the West.{{sfn|Dennis|2009|p=139}} Nikephoros was a very devout man, and he helped his friend, the [[Athanasius the Athonite|monk Athanasios]], found the monastery of [[Great Lavra (Athos)|Great Lavra]] on [[Mount Athos]].{{sfn|Speake|2018}}{{Page needed|date=November 2025}}

=== Assassination ===
The plot to assassinate Nikephoros began when he dismissed [[Michael Bourtzes]] from his position following his disobedience in the siege of Antioch. Bourtzes was disgraced, and he would soon find an ally with whom to plot against Nikephoros. Towards the end of 965, Nikephoros had John Tzimiskes exiled to eastern Asia Minor for suspected disloyalty, but was recalled on the pleading of Nikephoros' wife, Theophano. According to [[Joannes Zonaras]] and [[John Skylitzes]], Nikephoros had a loveless relationship with Theophano. He was leading an ascetic life, whereas she was secretly having an affair with Tzimiskes. Theophano and Tzimiskes plotted to overthrow the emperor. On the night of the deed, she left Nikephoros' bedchamber door unlocked, and he was assassinated in his apartment by Tzimiskes and his entourage on 11 December 969.{{sfn|Leo the Deacon|1000}} He died praying to the mother of God. Following his death, the Phokas family broke into insurrection under Nikephoros' nephew [[Bardas Phokas the Younger|Bardas Phokas]], but their revolt was promptly subdued as Tzimiskes ascended the throne.

== Legacy ==
[[File:Nikephoros Phokas stamp.png|thumb|339x339px|Nikephoros II on a modern stamp celebrating the 1000th anniversary of the [[Siege of Chandax|reconquest of Crete]].]]

=== Contemporary descriptions ===
The tension between East and West resulting from the policies pursued by Nikephoros may be glimpsed in the unflattering description of him and his court by Bishop [[Liutprand of Cremona]] in his ''[[Relatio de legatione Constantinopolitana]]''.{{sfn|Mayr-Harting|2001|pp=539–556}} His description of Nikephoros was clouded by the ill-treatment he received while on a diplomatic mission to Constantinople. Nikephoros, a man of war, was not apt at diplomacy. To add insult to injury, [[Pope John XIII]] sent a letter to Nikephoros while Liutprand was in Constantinople calling [[Otto I]] Emperor of Rome and even more insultingly referring to Nikephoros merely as Emperor of the Greeks. Liutprand failed in his goal of procuring an Imperial princess as a wife for Otto's young son, the future emperor [[Otto II]].

[[Liutprand of Cremona|Bishop Liutprand]] described Nikephoros as:

:...a monstrosity of a man, a pygmy, fat-headed and like a mole as to the smallness of his eyes; disgusting with his short, broad, thick, and half hoary beard; disgraced by a neck an inch long; very bristly through the length and thickness of his hair; in color an Ethiopian; one whom it would not be pleasant to meet in the middle of the night; with extensive belly, lean of loin, very long of hip considering his short stature, small of shank, proportionate as to his heels and feet; clad in a garment costly but too old, and foul-smelling and faded through age; shod with Sicyonian shoes; bold of tongue, a fox by nature, in perjury, and lying a Ulysses.{{sfn|Liutprand|968}}

Whereas Bishop Liutprand describes the emperor's hair as being bristly, [[Leo the Deacon]] says it was black with "tight curls" and "unusually long".

John Julius Norwich says, about his murder and burial, "It was a honourable place; but Nikephoros Phocas, the White Death of the Saracens, hero of Syria and Crete, saintly and hideous, magnificent and insufferable, had deserved a better end".{{sfn|Norwich|1991|p=210}}

=== Descendants ===
During the last decades of the tenth century, the Phokades repeatedly tried to get their hands again on the throne, and almost succeeded when Nikephoros' nephew, [[Bardas Phokas the Younger]], rebelled against the rule of Basil II. His death, possibly by cardiac arrest, put an end to the rebellion, and ultimately to the political prominence of the Phokades, although Bardas the Younger's own son, [[Nikephoros Phokas Barytrachelos]], launched another abortive revolt in 1022 along with [[Nikephoros Xiphias]].

===''Praecepta Militaria''===
Phokas was the author of a military manual, the ''[[Praecepta Militaria]]''.{{sfn|McGeer|1996|p=178}}{{sfn|Luttwak|2009|p=363}}

===Memory in Crete===
Due to his role in ending Saracen rule in Crete, Nikephoros II is often featured as a point of reference in legends that circulated in Crete during the later Middle Ages, when the island was under [[Kingdom of Candia|Venetian rule]] and the local Greek inhabitants sought inspiration in the Byzantine imperial past.{{sfn|Maltezou|1998|pp=239–242}} Nikephoros II was also brought into the legend of the [[twelve noble families of Crete]] by sending one of his sons to be the governor of Crete.{{sfn|Maltezou|1998|p=241}} The [[Kallergis family]], the most prominent of the Venetian-era Cretan nobility, claimed descent from Nikephoros II Phokas.{{Sfn|Bancroft-Marcus|1991|p=80}}

=== Modern honours ===
On 19 November 2004, the [[Hellenic Navy]] named its tenth {{Sclass|Kortenaer|frigate|1}} in his honour as [[Greek frigate Nikiforos Fokas|''Nikiforos Fokas'' F-466]] (formerly HNLMS ''Bloys Van Treslong'' F-824). Also, in the [[Rethymno (regional unit)|Rethymno regional unit]] in Crete, a municipality ([[Nikiforos Fokas]]) is named after him, as are many streets throughout Greece.

=== In popular culture ===
Nikephoros II appears as a character in:

*[[Frederic Harrison]], ''Theophano: The crusade of the tenth century'' (1904). 978-1017148909
*[[Frederic Harrison]], ''Nicephorus: A tragedy of New Rome'' (1906). 978-1290581578
*Anastasia Revi, ''Byzantium 00AD'' (Stage play 2000).
*[[Jonathan Harris (historian)|Jonathan Harris]], ''Theosis'' (2023). 979-8668071487

== See also ==
{{Portal|Byzantine Empire}}
* {{Section link|10th century in Lebanon|Revolt of Tripoli}}
{{clear}}

==Notes==
{{Cnote2 Begin|liststyle=lower-roman}}
{{Cnote2|i|John Burke provides the following description: "The portrait does not fit either of the two physical descriptions we have of Nikephoros Phokas: [[Liutprand of Cremona]] says he was short with a large head and next to no neck, pot-bellied and swarthy, while [[Leo the Deacon]], who also describes him as swarthy, says that he had bushy eyebrows and that his chest and shoulders were very broad."{{sfn|Burke|2014}}{{Page needed|date=November 2025}} Ioannis Spatharakis provides the following: "A portrait of this emperor, probably from [[Crete]], in a style more Western than Byzantine, is painted in the 15th century MS. Marc. Lat. 342"{{sfn|Spatharakis|1976|p=181}} }}
{{Cnote2|ii| {{harvnb|Krsmanović|2003|loc={{Plain link|url=http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaid=7766&boithimata_State=&kefalaia_State=#chapter_1 Chapter 2}}}}: "The Maleinos lineage was among the members of the old byzantine aristocracy, emerging during the 9th century. It was a family of greek origin with close bonds to the region of Asia Minor. It has been presumed that the surname Maleinos is related to the name place Malagina of Bithynia, a location in the theme of Boukellarion during the 9th century. If one accepts that presumption, one should look for the old estates of the family in the fertile valley of the Sangarios river. It is safe, however, to consider the region of Charsianon as the homeland of the family, according to evidence dating back to the end of the 9th century, or the whole of Cappadocia in a wider sense. It is known that the members of the wealthy Maleinos family had estates in the area of jurisdiction of the theme of Charsianon, the wider region of Caesarea of Cappadocia and Ankyra of Galatia."}}
{{Cnote2 End}}

== References ==
{{reflist|20em}}

== Sources ==
=== Primary ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite web|author=Liutprand of Cremona|title=Relatio de legatione Constantinopolitana ad Nicephorum Phocam|year=968|url=http://medieval.ucdavis.edu/20A/Luitprand.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304234452/https://medieval.ucdavis.edu/20A/Luitprand.html| archive-date = 4 March 2016| ref = {{harvid|Liutprand|968}} }}
* {{Cite book|last=Leo the Deacon|title=History|publisher=[[Dumbarton Oaks]]|year=c. 1000|isbn=978-0-88402-324-1|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=RCDsV41k8A0C&pg=PA98 98]–[https://books.google.com/books?id=RCDsV41k8A0C&pg=PA143 143]|author-link=Leo the Deacon | ref = {{harvid|Leo the Deacon|1000}} }}
{{refend}}

=== Books ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Bancroft-Marcus |first=Rosemary |chapter=The Pastoral Mode | pages = 79–102 | editor-first1 = David | editor-last1 = Holton | title = Literature and Society in Renaissance Crete | location = Cambridge |publisher = Cambridge University Press |year = 1991 |isbn =  0-521-32579-X | url = {{Gbooks|B81QOONACL0C|plainurl=yes}} }}
* {{cite book | last = Brett | first = Michael | title = The Rise of the Fatimids: The World of the Mediterranean and the Middle East in the Fourth Century of the Hijra, Tenth Century CE | series = The Medieval Mediterranean | volume = 30 | publisher = Brill | location = Leiden | year = 2001 | isbn = 9004117415 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BqCdfhW3nVwC}}
* {{cite book |last1=Chatonnet |first1=Francoise Briquel |last2=Debie |first2=Muriel |title=The Syriac World: In Search of a Forgotten Christianity |year = 2023 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-27125-6}}
* {{cite book| last = Dennis | first = George T. |title= Three Byzantine Military Treatises| location = Washington D.C.| publisher = Dumbarton Oaks | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-0884023395}} 
* {{cite book |last=Gregory |first=Timothy E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KIFJiOCSYc8C&pg=PA263 |title=A History of Byzantium |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4443-5997-8 |location=Malden }}
* {{cite book|last1=Kaldellis|first1=Anthony |author1-link=Anthony Kaldellis|title=Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood: The Rise and Fall of Byzantium, 955 A.D. to the First Crusade|date=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-025322-6}}
* {{Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|title=Nikephoros II Phocas|url=https://archive.org/details/odb_20210521/page/1478/mode/1up}}
* {{cite book |last1=Keller |first1=Hagen |last2=Althoff |first2=Gerd |year=2008 |title=Die Zeit der späten Karolinger und der Ottonen: 888–1024 |series=Gebhardt Handbuch der deutschen Geschichte Band 3 |language=de |publisher=Klett-Cotta |isbn=978-3-608-60003-2 }}
* {{cite book|last=Kennedy|first=Hugh|authorlink=Hugh N. Kennedy|year=2023|title=The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dPxwEAAAQBAJ|edition=2nd|publisher=Routledge|location=Abingdon, Oxon and New York|isbn=978-0-367-36690-2}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|last=Krsmanović|first=Bojana|script-title=el:Φωκάδες|date= 2003|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor|location=Athens|publisher=Foundation of the Hellenic World |url=http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=6634|language=el}}
* {{PMBZ | volume=online | url = http://www.degruyter.com/view/db/pmbz}}
* {{cite book |last1=Luttwak |first1=Edward |title=The grand strategy of the Byzantine Empire |date=2009 |publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=978-0-674-03519-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Maltezou |first=Chryssa |chapter=Byzantine Legends in Venetian Crete | pages = 233–242 | title = ᾿Αετός. Studies in honour of Cyril Mango presented to him on April 14, 1998 | editor-first = Ihor | editor-last = Ševcenko | editor-first2 = Irmgard | editor-last2 = Hutter | location = Stuttgart and Leipzig | publisher = B. G. Teubner | year = 1998 | url = {{Gbooks|hkgbAAAAYAAJ|page=233|plainurl=yes}} | doi = 10.1515/9783110958614.233 |isbn=978-3-598-77440-9 }}
* {{cite book | last = McGeer | first = Eric | title=Sowing the dragon's teeth : Byzantine warfare in the tenth century |date=1996 |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-88402-224-4 }}
* {{cite book|last=McMahon|first=Lucas|editor1-last=Theotokis|editor1-first=Georgios |editor2-last=Tsurstumia |editor2-first=Mamuka|title=Nikephoros II Phokas and Warfare in the 10th-Century Byzantine World |chapter=Strangling Antioch: a Spatial Approach to Conquest |chapter-url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004724716/BP000015.xml |date=2025 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]]|series=History of Warfare |volume=152 |isbn=9789004724716 |pages=78–108}}
* {{cite book|last=Norwich|first=John Julius|author-link=John Julius Norwich|title=Byzantium: The Apogee|year=1991|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|location=New York|isbn=978-0-394-53779-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Spatharakis|first=Ioannis|title=The Portrait in Byzantine Illuminated Manuscripts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6BEVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA181|publisher=Brill|year=1976|isbn=9789633862971}}
* {{cite book | last=Speake | first=Graham | title=A history of the Athonite Commonwealth: the spiritual and cultural diaspora of Mount Athos | publication-place=New York | date=2018 | isbn=978-1-108-34922-2 | oclc=1041501028}}
* {{A History of the Byzantine State and Society}}
* {{Cite book|last=Whittow|first=Mark|author-link=Mark Whittow|url=https://archive.org/details/makingofbyzantiu0000whit |url-access=registration |title=Making of Orthodox Byzantium, 600–1025|date=1996|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan Limited|isbn=978-0-333-49600-8|oclc=1050969602}}
{{refend}}

=== Journals ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Burke |first=John |date=2014|title=Inventing and re-inventing Byzantium: Nikephoros Phokas, Byzantine Studies in Greece, and 'New Rome' |url=https://www.academia.edu/8343815 |journal=Wanted: Byzantium. The Desire for a Lost Emperor|pages=1–42}}
* {{cite journal | last = Mayr-Harting | first = Henry | title = Liudprand of Cremona's Account of His Legation to Constantinople (968) and Ottonian Imperial Strategy | journal = The English Historical Review | year = 2001 | volume = 116 | issue = 467 | pages = 539–556 | jstor=579809}}
* {{cite journal |last1=McMahon |first1=Lucas |title=De Velitatione Bellica and Byzantine Guerrilla Warfare |journal=Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU |date=2016 |volume=22 |pages=22–33 |url=https://ams.ceu.edu/2016.htm}}
* {{cite journal |last1=McMahon |first1=Lucas |title=Logistical modelling of a sea-borne expedition in the Mediterranean: the case of the Byzantine invasion of Crete in AD 960 |journal=Mediterranean Historical Review |date=2021 |volume=36 |issue=1 |page=65 |doi=10.1080/09518967.2021.1900171|s2cid=235676141 }}

=== Web and other sources ===
* {{cite web |last=Fattori |first=Niccolò |url=https://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12615976/index.pdf |title=The Policies of Nikephoros II Phokas in the context of the Byzantine economic recovery |publisher=Middle East Technical University |date=June 2013 }}

=== Attribution ===
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Nicephorus|volume=19|pages=647–648 | ref = none}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|first=George T. |last=Dennis |title=Three Byzantine Military Treatises|location=Washington, DC |publisher=[[Dumbarton Oaks]]|year=2008 |isbn=978-0-88402-339-5}}
* {{cite journal|title=The Byzantine Conquest of Cilicia and the Hamdanids of Aleppo, 959–965|first=William|last=Garrood|journal=Anatolian Studies|volume=58|year=2008|pages=127–140|publisher=British Institute at Ankara|issn=0066-1546|jstor=20455416|doi=10.1017/s006615460000870x|s2cid=162596738}}
* {{cite book|first= Jonathan |last= Harris |author-link=Jonathan Harris (historian) |title=Introduction to Byzantium, 602–1453 |location=Abingdon and New York |publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |isbn=978-1138556430}}
* Ioannes A. Melisseides & Poulcheria Zavolea Melisseidou, "Nikefhoros Phokas (El) Nikfur", ek ton Leontos tou Diakonou, Kedrenou, Aboul Mahasen, Zonara, Ibn El Athir, Glyka, Aboulfeda k.a. Historike Melete, Vol. 1–2, Vergina, Athens 2001, {{ISBN|978-960-7171-88-7}} (Vol. 1) {{ISBN|978-960-7171-89-4}} (Vol. 2), (Worldcat, Greek National Bibliography 2001/2007/2009, Biblionet).
* Kolias, Taxiarchis, "Nicephorus II Focas 963–969, The Military Leader Emperor and his reforms", Vasilopoulos Stefanos D. Athens 1993, {{ISBN|978-960-7100-65-8}}, (Worldcat, Greek National Bibliography 1993, Biblionet).
* {{cite book|last1=Romane|first1=Julian|title=Byzantium Triumphant|date=2015|publisher=Pen and Sword Books|isbn=978-1-4738-4570-1|page=6}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Nikephoros II Phokas}}
* [http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/byz/nicephorus_II/t.html Coinage of Nikephoros II Phokas]
* [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/30_20_0963-0969-_Nicephorus_Phokas.html Written works by Nikephoros II Phokas; Greek Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes]

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Macedonian dynasty]]||c. 912||11 December 969}}
{{s-reg|}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[Romanos II]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[List of Byzantine emperors|Byzantine emperor]]
| years = 963–969
| with = [[Basil II]]
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[John I Tzimiskes]]
}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[Bardas Phokas the Elder]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[Domestic of the Schools]] of the East
| years = 954– 963
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[John I Tzimiskes]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Roman emperors}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikephoros 02 Phokas}}
[[Category:910s births]]
[[Category:969 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at the Church of the Holy Apostles]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:10th-century Byzantine emperors]]
[[Category:10th-century murdered monarchs]]
[[Category:10th-century Byzantine writers]]
[[Category:960s in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:Macedonian dynasty]]
[[Category:Byzantine generals]]
[[Category:Byzantine people of the Arab–Byzantine wars]]
[[Category:Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars]]
[[Category:Byzantine saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church]]
[[Category:Assassinated Byzantine emperors]]
[[Category:Byzantine Crete]]
[[Category:Domestics of the Schools]]
[[Category:Phokas family]]
[[Category:Governors of the Anatolic Theme]]
[[Category:People of medieval Crete]]
[[Category:People associated with Mount Athos]]
[[Category:People associated with Great Lavra]]