Leo the Deacon, History: a Standard history source. Covers AD 959 – 974, with 51 events in chronological order. Text license and provenance included.
| Type | Standard history |
|---|---|
| Viewpoint | Insider account |
| Years covered | AD 959 – 974 |
| Events | 51 events, 46 placed on the map |
| Author | Leo Diaconus |
| Original title | Leonis Diaconi Historia |
Regions: West Asia 28 · Southern Europe 22
| Year | Place | Event | Passage |
|---|---|---|---|
| AD 959 | Constantinopolis | Romanos succeeds to the throne after the death of Constantine | I.1 |
| AD 960 – 961 | Creta/Candia(Heraklion) | Constantine Gongyles bungles the fight on Crete | I.2 |
| AD 960 – 961 | Creta/Candia(Heraklion) | Nikephoros Phokas launches the expedition to Crete | I.2 |
| AD 960 – 961 | Creta/Candia(Heraklion) | Nikephoros builds a camp before Chandax and musters his forces | I.3 |
| AD 960 – 961 | Creta/Candia(Heraklion) | Pastilas is appointed commander of the elite troops and sent into the interior of the island | I.3 |
| AD 960 – 961 | Creta/Candia(Heraklion) | Pastilas dies when his horse is struck down by arrows and spears amid the Saracen host | I.3 |
| AD 960 – 961 | Creta/Candia(Heraklion) | Nikephoros addresses his soldiers, urging them to cast off sloth and weakness | I.6 |
| AD 960 – 961 | Creta/Candia(Heraklion) | The Saracen army that came to aid Crete is heavily defeated | I.7 |
| AD 960 – 963 | Cilicia Pedias | Romanos sends Leo, brother of Phokas, to stop Hamdan | II.1 |
| AD 960 – 963 | Leo Phokas strikes Hamdan and drives him off, securing Asia | II.5 | |
| AD 961 | Creta/Candia(Heraklion) | Nikephoros spends the winter on Crete | I.9 |
| AD 961 – 962 | Creta/Candia(Heraklion) | Nikephoros attacks Chandax again and takes it with siege engines | II.6–7 |
| AD 961 – 962 | Temenos | He builds the strong fortress of Temenos in the interior of Crete and settles soldiers and colonists there | II.8 |
| AD 963 | Temenos | The eunuch Joseph again plots against Nikephoros | III.1 |
| AD 963 | Temenos | He writes to Marianos and John Tzimiskes, urging them to oppose Nikephoros | III.2 |
| AD 963 | Caesarea(Mazaka/Eusebeia) | At Caesarea the army acclaims Nikephoros emperor | III.4 |
| AD 963 | Constantinopolis | Nikephoros marches from Caesarea to the capital | III.8 |
| AD 963 | Constantinopolis | Joseph tries to seize the capital but fails amid internal unrest and flees | III.7 |
| AD 963 | Constantinopolis | Nikephoros enters the capital and receives the crown | III.8 |
| AD 963 – 964 | Constantinopolis | Nikephoros marries Theophano | III.9 |
| AD 964 – 966 | Claudiopolis(Bithynia) | Earthquake at Claudiopolis, heavy rain in Constantinople | IV.8 |
| AD 964 – 966 | Antiochia | Nikephoros's Syrian campaign: the attack on Antioch fails and he moves toward Edessa | IV.9 |
| AD 964 – 965 | Tarsus/Antiochia ad Cydnum | Nikephoros pitches camp on the plain of Tarsus and surrounds the city | IV.8 |
| AD 964 – 965 | Tarsus/Antiochia ad Cydnum | Famine worsens during the siege, yet the people of Tarsus keep shooting arrows from the walls | IV.8 |
| AD 964 – 965 | Tarsus/Antiochia ad Cydnum | The people of Tarsus surrender on condition of being allowed to depart freely into the interior of Syria, and leave | IV.8 |
| AD 966 | Constantinopolis | During the Ascension procession, citizens of Constantinople clash with Armenian soldiers; as the emperor returns to the palace in the evening, the citizens hurl insults and stones. The emperor calms the unrest overnight and lets it pass. Pending | IV.7 |
| AD 966 | Syracusae | Nikephoros sends Niketas and Manuel to Sicily; they easily take Syracuse, Himera and other places, but Manuel is killed in an ambush in the mountains and Niketas is handed over to the Saracen ruler. | IV.7–8 |
| AD 968 | Claudiopolis | Great earthquake at Claudiopolis: a strong tremor in summer brings down the city and its buildings, crushing residents and visitors to death. | IV.9 |
| AD 968 | Antiochia | Emperor Nikephoros makes a forced march to Antioch and camps before the city. Rather than assault it directly, he builds a fort on a hill so that its garrison sallies out daily (completed in IV.11, garrisoned by 500 cavalry and 1,000 infantry). | IV.10–11 |
| AD 968 | Tripolis | Nikephoros crosses the Lebanon range, besieges Tripoli, brings down its walls with siege engines and plunders for nine days. | IV.10 |
| AD 968 | Constantinopolis | On 22 December, at the fourth hour, the sun is obscured in a clear sky and the land goes dark; Leo writes that he was in Constantinople at the time. | IV.11 |
| AD 969 | Antiochia | Fall of Antioch: Michael Bourtzes and others scale the walls by ladders at night, kill the Saracen sentries and open the gate; the inhabitants surrender, and the city is burned and plundered. | V.4–5 |
| AD 969 | Constantinopolis | Empress Theophano secretly brings John Tzimiskes into the palace, and a conspiracy to depose Nikephoros is hatched. | V.6 |
| AD 969 | Constantinopolis | On the night of 11 December the conspirators kill Nikephoros in a bedchamber inside the palace; John is acclaimed emperor on the spot. | V.7–9 |
| AD 969 | Constantinopolis | John accepts the conditions of Patriarch Polyeuktos, sends Empress Theophano to the island of Prote, hands over Leo Balantes as the assassin, and is crowned in Hagia Sophia. | VI.4–5 |
| AD 969 | Constantinople | The empress, in league with the Domestic, lets assassins in through the passage of a chapel beside the bedchamber, and Emperor Nikephoros is killed in his sleep | part_05 L959-976 (969-971행 핵심) |
| AD 970 | Bardas Skleros fights the Rus': more than 30,000 Rus' against about 10,000 on the Roman side (ambush included), with the Rus' reportedly losing more than 20,000. | VI.12–13 | |
| AD 970 | Caesarea Cappadociae | Bardas Phokas (of the Nikephoros side of the family) slips out of Amaseia at night, goes to Caesarea, gathers followers and has himself proclaimed emperor. | VII.1 |
| AD 971 | Generals under Phokas defect to Skleros and the army scatters; Phokas flees silently by night to the fortress of Antigous, and Skleros pursues and has the participants blinded. | VII.5–6 | |
| AD 971 | Chios | Phokas surrenders: he comes down from the fortress under Skleros's guarantee, and the emperor orders him tonsured as a priest and sent with his wife and children to the island of Chios. | VII.8–9 |
| AD 971 | Constantinopolis | John Tzimiskes marries Theodora, daughter of Constantine Porphyrogennetos; in November of the second year of his reign. | VII.9 |
| AD 972 | Adrianopolis | The emperor leaves Constantinople, leads his army to Adrianople; the fleet heads for the Danube. | VIII.1–2 |
| AD 972 | Praesthlaba | Preslav falls in two days; the emperor captures the Bulgarian king (Boris, written Borim in the text) and treats him as 'ruler of Bulgaria'. | VIII.5–7 |
| AD 972 | Dorystolum | On the plain before Dorostolon the imperial army and the Rus' clash; the Rus' are pushed back and driven inside the walls. Before that, Sphendosthlavos had executed 300 Mysian nobles. | VIII.9–10 |
| AD 972 | Constantinopolis | Leo Kouropalates (brother of Nikephoros) escapes from exile on Lesbos, lands secretly opposite Constantinople, and tries to gain entry by forging the palace keys; discovered, he and his son have both eyes put out. | IX.3–5 |
| AD 972 | Dorystolum | Magistros John Kourkouas, while overseeing the artillery, falls from his horse drunk, is captured by the Rus' and is hacked to death; his head is stuck on a spear. | IX.5 |
| AD 972 | Dorystolum | The final battle with the Rus' (July): Anemas is killed in front of Sphendosthlavos when his horse is stabbed; as night falls the Rus' scatter and think of peace overnight. | IX.8–9 |
| AD 972 | Dorystolum | Peace: the Rus' hand over Dorostolon, return prisoners and leave Mysia to go home; the emperor provides provisions and guarantees their passage home. Sphendosthlavos then meets the emperor from a boat on the riverbank. | IX.10–11 |
| AD 972 | Constantinopolis | The emperor returns in triumph to Constantinople, renames Dorostolon 'Theodoropolis', and gives King Boris of Bulgaria the title of magistros. | IX.12 |
| AD 974 | Emesa | In summer the emperor campaigns in Syria: he crosses the Euphrates, Emesa surrenders and pays a huge ransom; Niketas, who accompanied the campaign, falls from his horse and drowns in the Euphrates. | X.1 |
| AD 974 | Nisibis | Nisibis is taken empty: the inhabitants had left beforehand. The emperor sets out to attack Ecbatana but breaks off because of desert and lack of water, and returns on the way back with a large quantity of gold and silver. | X.1–2 |