Nikephoros, as emperor, can state proudly that…

Nikephoros, as emperor, can state proudly that he controls the seas, having destroyed the power of the Arab corsairs in Crete, recovered Cilicia and the island of Cyprus, and captured other Muslim naval bases.

Though his wars have been largely victorious, the taxes to support them are unpopular and the currency debased.

He has continued his exploits against the Arabs until finally, abandoned by all, he retires to the fortified palace of Boukoleion, which he has had built for his personal safety.

Meanwhile, the emperor had banished his nephew John Tzimiskes, his domestic (commander) in the east, to the latter’s estate at Chalcedon.

The ambition of Tzimiskes for the throne of his patron involves him in a conspiracy with his mistress, Theophano (the Emperor's wife), that leads in December 969 to the assassination of Nikephoros in his bed.

Pleading innocence of the conspiracy but forced by Patriarch Polyeuctus to do penance in order to receive the imperial crown, Tzimiskes banishes Theophano to a convent and punishes his murdering accomplices.