Ali Sayf al-Daula, 'Sword of the State',…

953 CE

Ali Sayf al-Daula, 'Sword of the State', rules northern Syria from Aleppo, and has become the most important opponent of the Empire's expansion.

His court is a center of culture.

After establishing himself at Aleppo in 944, Sayf al-Dawla had resumed warfare against Constantinople in 945/946.

From this time until the time of his death, he is to be Constantinople’s' chief antagonist in the East—by the end of his life Sayf al-Dawla is said to have fought against them in over forty battles.

Nevertheless, despite his frequent and destructive raids against the Empire’s frontier provinces and into Asia Minor, and his victories in the field, his mode of warfare was essentially defensive, and he never seriously attempted to challenge Constantinople’s control of the crucial mountain passes or conclude alliances with other local rulers in an effort to roll back the imperial conquests.

Sayf al-Dawla's main opponent during the first decade of continuous conflict with the Empire is the Domestic of the Schools (commander-in-chief) Bardas Phokas, who had been appointed to the post in 945.

Phokas was the personal choice of Emperor Constantine VII, who needed a reliable ally in this critical post.

An experienced soldier, Phokas is by now well into his seventies, and not up to the task entrusted to him: even sources favorably disposed to the Phokades comment on Bardas that although a good general under someone else's command, he was unable to adequately fulfill the role of commander-in-chief.

Sayf al-Dawla, on the other hand, has come down to us—mainly through the work of his court poets—as the archetype of Arab chivalry and a great warrior, but he is greatly hampered by lack of men and money, by rebellions in his domains and by lack of support from the rest of the Muslim world.

Compared to Constantinople, Sayf al-Dawla is the ruler of a minor principality, and cannot match the means and numbers available to the resurgent Empire: the contemporary Arab sources report—with obvious, but nonetheless indicative, exaggeration—that imperial armies numbered up to two hundred thousand, while Sayf al-Dawla's largest force numbered some thirty thousand.

Sayf al-Dawla's origin in the Jazira also affect his strategic outlook in that, contrary to most Syria-based polities in history, he neglects constructing a fleet or paying any attention at all to the Mediterranean, instead concentrating his attention on rebuilding the fortresses of Cilicia and northern Syria, including Marash and Hadath.

Bardas Phokas had launched an expedition to obstruct these works, but had been defeated.

Sayf al-Dawla launches perhaps his most memorable campaigns in early 953.

From Aleppo, …