Philaretos Brachamios, noted for his cruelty and…

Philaretos Brachamios, noted for his cruelty and greed, had held a high command in the army of Romanus IV Diogenes.

As the commander of the main imperial army that was protecting the frontier of Mesopotamia while Romanus participated in the siege of Akhlat in 1069, he had been defeated by the Seljuq Turks who advanced deep into Cappadocia and Lycaonia and plundered at will before rapidly retreating with their spoils.

He was present at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, where he had commanded a division of Romanus' army, and had remained at the head of a considerable body of troops after the disaster.

In the aftermath of the battle, he had commanded the forces of the fortress Romanopolis, and on Romanus' death he had assumed the title of Emperor.

As the only remaining imperial general in the southeast, he had established a quasi-autonomous realm in the neighborhood of Germanicia, which stretched from Cilicia to Edessa.

The core of his army was composed of eight thousand "Franks" (Normans) under Raimbaud.

In 1078, at the beginning of the rule of Nikephoros III Botaneiates, he had agreed to abandon his imperial claims on condition that Botaneiates appoint him as the duke of Antioch, which includes Edessa.

Several seals testify him as megas domestikos and protokouropalates, then sebastos, then even protosebastos.

He retains his dukedom until the Turks begin to press heavily upon him.

He loses Antioch to Suleiman I, Sultan of Rum, in December 1084.