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).

• Preface: Les hommes de Nicéphore PhocasJean-Claude CheynetAnnexe: Sceaux inédits mentionnés dans le texteList of Figures, Plates, Maps, and TablesNotes on ContributorsIntroductionpart 1: Strategies, Tactics, and Foreign Policies1 The Bulgarian War of Nikephoros II Phokas: Lessons Learned from the Past and Strategic Mistakes Alexandru Madgearu2 Nikephoros Phokas’ Heritage on the Grand Strategy of the Komnenian Emperors in Cilicia and Northern Syria during the 12th CenturyIoannis S. Sarantidis3 Succeeding Where Others Failed: Nikephoros Phokas’ Conquest of Crete ReconsideredDimitrios Sidiropoulos4 Strangling Antioch: a Spatial Approach to ConquestLucas McMahonpart 2: Reconsidering Military Reforms and Equipment5 Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas and the Military LandsTaxiarchis G. Kolias6 Byzantine (Mediterranean) Swords with Sleeve Cross-Guards: Constructing a TypologyGennadiy V. Baranovpart 3: Kinship and Imperial Portraits7 Theodosios the Deacon’s “The Capture of Crete” as an Encomium of Two EmperorsKonstantinos Karatolios8 Le campagne militari di Niceforo Foca nella storiografia araba medievaleMarco Miotto9 Nikephoros II Phokas and David IV the Builder: Military and Political PortraitsMamuka Tsurtsumiapart 4: Portraits of ‘Us’ and the ‘Other’10 ‘Us,’ as Reflected in the Byzantine Perception of the ‘Other’Filip Schneider11 Martial Culture, Literary Culture, and Alterity: Nikephoros II Phokas Through the Scope of the Arab-Byzantine Military and Cultural AntagonismGeorgios Chatzelis12 Nikephoros II, the Phokades, and Sayf al-Dawla: Portrayals of Self and OtherDenis Sullivanpart 5: Conceptions of Holy War and Martyrdom13 Paterazmunkʿ hetʿanosatsʿ: Byzantine Propaganda and Holy War, Recipients and ObjectivesKonstantinos Takirtakoglou and Jesse Siragan Arlen14 Nikephoros II Phokas, Military Martyrs and the ChurchPhoebe-Irene GeorgiadiEpilogueIndex

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).

• Preface: Les hommes de Nicéphore PhocasJean-Claude CheynetAnnexe: Sceaux inédits mentionnés dans le texteList of Figures, Plates, Maps, and TablesNotes on ContributorsIntroductionpart 1: Strategies, Tactics, and Foreign Policies1 The Bulgarian War of Nikephoros II Phokas: Lessons Learned from the Past and Strategic Mistakes Alexandru Madgearu2 Nikephoros Phokas’ Heritage on the Grand Strategy of the Komnenian Emperors in Cilicia and Northern Syria during the 12th CenturyIoannis S. Sarantidis3 Succeeding Where Others Failed: Nikephoros Phokas’ Conquest of Crete ReconsideredDimitrios Sidiropoulos4 Strangling Antioch: a Spatial Approach to ConquestLucas McMahonpart 2: Reconsidering Military Reforms and Equipment5 Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas and the Military LandsTaxiarchis G. Kolias6 Byzantine (Mediterranean) Swords with Sleeve Cross-Guards: Constructing a TypologyGennadiy V. Baranovpart 3: Kinship and Imperial Portraits7 Theodosios the Deacon’s “The Capture of Crete” as an Encomium of Two EmperorsKonstantinos Karatolios8 Le campagne militari di Niceforo Foca nella storiografia araba medievaleMarco Miotto9 Nikephoros II Phokas and David IV the Builder: Military and Political PortraitsMamuka Tsurtsumiapart 4: Portraits of ‘Us’ and the ‘Other’10 ‘Us,’ as Reflected in the Byzantine Perception of the ‘Other’Filip Schneider11 Martial Culture, Literary Culture, and Alterity: Nikephoros II Phokas Through the Scope of the Arab-Byzantine Military and Cultural AntagonismGeorgios Chatzelis12 Nikephoros II, the Phokades, and Sayf al-Dawla: Portrayals of Self and OtherDenis Sullivanpart 5: Conceptions of Holy War and Martyrdom13 Paterazmunkʿ hetʿanosatsʿ: Byzantine Propaganda and Holy War, Recipients and ObjectivesKonstantinos Takirtakoglou and Jesse Siragan Arlen14 Nikephoros II Phokas, Military Martyrs and the ChurchPhoebe-Irene GeorgiadiEpilogueIndex

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).

• Preface: Les hommes de Nicéphore PhocasJean-Claude CheynetAnnexe: Sceaux inédits mentionnés dans le texteList of Figures, Plates, Maps, and TablesNotes on ContributorsIntroductionpart 1: Strategies, Tactics, and Foreign Policies1 The Bulgarian War of Nikephoros II Phokas: Lessons Learned from the Past and Strategic Mistakes Alexandru Madgearu2 Nikephoros Phokas’ Heritage on the Grand Strategy of the Komnenian Emperors in Cilicia and Northern Syria during the 12th CenturyIoannis S. Sarantidis3 Succeeding Where Others Failed: Nikephoros Phokas’ Conquest of Crete ReconsideredDimitrios Sidiropoulos4 Strangling Antioch: a Spatial Approach to ConquestLucas McMahonpart 2: Reconsidering Military Reforms and Equipment5 Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas and the Military LandsTaxiarchis G. Kolias6 Byzantine (Mediterranean) Swords with Sleeve Cross-Guards: Constructing a TypologyGennadiy V. Baranovpart 3: Kinship and Imperial Portraits7 Theodosios the Deacon’s “The Capture of Crete” as an Encomium of Two EmperorsKonstantinos Karatolios8 Le campagne militari di Niceforo Foca nella storiografia araba medievaleMarco Miotto9 Nikephoros II Phokas and David IV the Builder: Military and Political PortraitsMamuka Tsurtsumiapart 4: Portraits of ‘Us’ and the ‘Other’10 ‘Us,’ as Reflected in the Byzantine Perception of the ‘Other’Filip Schneider11 Martial Culture, Literary Culture, and Alterity: Nikephoros II Phokas Through the Scope of the Arab-Byzantine Military and Cultural AntagonismGeorgios Chatzelis12 Nikephoros II, the Phokades, and Sayf al-Dawla: Portrayals of Self and OtherDenis Sullivanpart 5: Conceptions of Holy War and Martyrdom13 Paterazmunkʿ hetʿanosatsʿ: Byzantine Propaganda and Holy War, Recipients and ObjectivesKonstantinos Takirtakoglou and Jesse Siragan Arlen14 Nikephoros II Phokas, Military Martyrs and the ChurchPhoebe-Irene GeorgiadiEpilogueIndex