Aleppo had been an imperial vassal since the days of Nikephoros II Phokas (r. 963–969), but already in the years before the death of Basil II (r. 976–1025), its emirs had begun to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt.

After the overthrow of the Hamdanids in 1004, Aleppo had been ruled by several princes nominally subordinate to the Fatimids.

It was from these individuals that Salih ibn Mirdas had taken the town in 1024, by which time Constantinople’s influence over Aleppo and northern Syria in general had declined considerably.

When he died fighting the Fatimid governor of Damascus, al-Duzbari, five years later, his two sons Shibl al-Daula Nasr and Mu'izz al-Daula Thimal had succeeded him.

During an absence from the town, however, Thimal had been removed from power by his brother.

Nasr is hereafter the sole ruler of the Mirdasid territories.

Romanos III, despite his complete lack of military experience, is eager to emulate Basil's military successes, and in March 1030 he departs Constantinople, leading in person a campaign against Aleppo.

His army, some twenty thousand strong, contains many foreign mercenaries.

According to the Byzantine chroniclers, so confident was Romanos of his success that he prepared special crowns for his triumph to come, and staged a grandiose entry into Antioch.

Shibl al-Dawla Nasr, learning of the imperial army’ approach, sends envoys and offers to recognize imperial suzerainty and to restart the payment of tribute.

Romanos's generals counsel him to accept so as to avoid the hazards of campaigning in the arid Syrian desert in summer, especially as their troops are unaccustomed to such conditions and are encumbered by their heavy armor, but Romanos rejects their advice and leads his army towards Azaz.

The imperial troops set up a fortified camp near Azaz, and the Emperor dispatches the Excubitors, under their commander, the patrikios Leo Choirosphaktes, to reconnoiter the area.

Choirosphaktes is ambushed, however, and taken captive, while his men disperse.

This success encourages the Arabs, who begin to harass the imperial camp and prohibit the imperial troops from foraging.

As a result, the invading army begins to suffer from hunger and especially from thirst.

The patrikios Constantine Dalassenos now leads an attack against the Arabs, but is defeated, and flees back to the camp.

The invaders become demoralized, and an imperial council resolves to abandon the campaign and return to imperial territory.

Thus, in the next morning, August 10, 1030, the army departs its camp and makes for Antioch.

The besieging Arabs attack the retreating imperial army.

As most of the troops are too worn out from thirst and dysentery to fight, the imperial army breaks and flees.

Only the imperial bodyguard, the Hetaireia, holds firm, and their brave stand allows Romanos, who is nearly captured himself, to escape.

According to the report of Yahya of Antioch, however, the imperial army suffered remarkably little casualties.

The Arabs take great booty, including the entire imperial army's baggage train, which the army had abandoned in their hasty flight.

Among the spoils is the sumptuous imperial tent with its treasures, which allegedly had to be carried off on seventy camels.

Only the holy icon of the Theotokos, which the emperors habitually carry along on campaigns, has been saved.

The failure of Emperor Romanos III had been partly offset by the victory of George Maniakes, governor of Telouch, against eight hundred Arabs returning from the debacle at Azaz.

The Arabs, emboldened by their victory, had demanded that he evacuate his province.

Maniakes had at first pretended to comply, sending food and drink to the Arabs, but then attacked and overwhelmed them.

Maniakes's success had been followed soon after by a sustained imperial campaign against the Arab border lords, who had risen up against Constantinople’s rule in the aftermath of Azaz.

Romanos himself had departed for Constantinople, leaving behind Niketas of Mistheia and Symeon the protovestiarios as the katepano of Antioch and as Domestic of the Schools respectively.

These two generals had scored a number of successes, taking several fortresses, including Azaz after a short siege in December 1030.

Over the next two years, they will systematically take the hill forts of the local tribes and reduce them to submission, restoring the imperial position in Syria.

In the meantime, Nasr of Aleppo, seeking to conciliate his powerful neighbor, sends his own son 'Amr to Constantinople in April 1031 to ask for a treaty whereby he returns to tributary and vassal status towards the Empire.

The imperial resurgence in the East culminates in the capture of Edessa in 1031 by Maniakes.

The governor of Damascus, al-Duzbari, finds the Mirdasid alliance with Constantinople to be unacceptable and calls for a jihad.

The imperial government announces their desire for a truce with al-Duzbari, causing Nasr to worry that he will be sacrificed by the Greeks to the Fatimids.

He, along with the Numayrids, Marwanids, and the Banu 'l-Djarrah and Kalb Arabs, sends envoys to Constantinople to determine the fate of the Muslims situated between the Fatimids and the Empire.

Nasr declares his submission to Romanos III, who claims Aleppo as under his protection.

The Fatimids refuse to accept this, however, and after Romanos III dies in 1034 his successor Michael IV recommends to Nasr that he accept Fatimid suzerainty.

Shibl al-Daula Nasr, Amir of Aleppo, had eventually transferred his allegiance from Constantinople to the Fatimids.

However, Nasr, like his father is killed fighting al-Duzbari as well, in 1038.

Nasr’s brother Thimal flees, together with his Numayrid ally Shabib ibn Waththab, back to Aleppo.

Al-Duzbari advances on the town, however, and is received in a friendly manner by the citizenry, who are upset of the Mirdasids' alignment with the Constantinople.

Thimal had already retreated from Aleppo; his cousin Mukallad b. Kamil b. Mirdas, who had been in charge of the citadel, is allowed to depart peacefully.