John I Tzimiskes

An intuitive and successful general who married into the influential Skleros family, he strengthened and expanded the Byzantine Empire to include Thrace and Syria by warring with the Rus' under Sviatoslav I and the Fatimids respectively.[10] A more favorable explanation is offered by the medieval Armenian historian Matthew of Edessa, who states that Tzimiskes was from the region of Khozan, from the area called Chmushkatzag.[13] Tzimiskes was born in 924 or 925, as Leo the Deacon states that he died aged 51,[14] to an unnamed member of the Kourkouas family and the sister of the future Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas.Contemporary sources describe Tzimiskes as a rather short but well-built man, with reddish blonde hair and beard and blue eyes who was attractive to women.On his return to Constantinople, Tzimiskes celebrated a triumph, expanded the Church of Christ of the Chalke as thanksgiving, divested the captive Bulgarian Emperor Boris II of the Imperial symbols, and proclaimed Bulgaria annexed.A second campaign, in 975, was aimed at Syria, where his forces took Emesa, Heliopolis, Damascus, Tiberias, Nazareth, Caesarea, Sidon, Beirut, Byblos, and Tripoli, but failed to take Jerusalem.[20] Finnish philologist and researcher Paavo Hohti asserts that Tzimiskes was one of "Byzantine's most capable military generals", noting his talents as a mediator and a reformer of religious institutions.
Tentative reproduction of the lost portrait of John I. He's depicted beardless, although literary sources describe him as having a reddish/blonde facial hair.
The coronation of John Tzimiskes, from the Madrid Skylitzes
The Byzantine army under John I lays siege to the Bulgarian capital at Preslav.
John Tzimiskes enters Constantinople in triumph along with the captured Boris II of Bulgaria .
Klavdiy Lebedev (1852–1916). Svyatoslav 's meeting with Emperor John, as described by Leo the Deacon
Emperor and Autocrat of the RomansGunthertuchByzantine silktriumphByzantine emperorCoronationNikephoros II PhokasBasil IIÇemişgezekTunceli ProvinceTurkeyConstantinopleIstanbulTheodoraDynastyMacedonianromanizedSkleros familyByzantine EmpireThraceSviatoslav IFatimidsHistamenonMiliaresionKourkouasArmenianAnatolianPhokasLeo the DeaconMatthew of EdessaChmushkatzagFourth ArmeniaSopheneStepanos AsoghikNikephoros II PhokasKourkouaiPhokadaiCappadocianAsia MinorJohn KourkouasMeliteneBardas SklerosAbbasid CaliphateHamdanidEmirate of AleppoSayf al-DawlaBattle of RabanRomanos IITheophanoMichael BourtzesassassinateMadrid SkylitzesBardas PhokasConstantine VIIAleppoTreaty of SafarKievan Rus'DanubeArcadiopolisMt. Haemusbesieged the fortress of DorostolonSilistraBoris II of BulgariaChurch of Christ of the ChalkeBoris IIPauliciansMuslimAbbasid EmpireMesopotamiasecond campaignHeliopolisDamascusTiberiasNazarethCaesareaBeirutByblosTripoliJerusalemKlavdiy LebedevSvyatoslavChurch of Christ ChalkitesBasil LekapenosBasil IITsimiski StreetThessalonikiList of Byzantine emperorsHrach BartikyanTalbot, Alice-MaryDumbarton OaksUniversity Press of AmericaKazhdan, AlexanderThe Oxford Dictionary of ByzantiumLilie, Ralph-JohannesProsopographie der mittelbyzantinischen ZeitDe GruyterTreadgold, WarrenStanford University Presspublic domainChisholm, HughEncyclopædia BritannicaNorwich, John J.Macedonian dynastyConstantine VIIIDomestic of the SchoolsMeliasByzantine emperorsPrincipateAugustusTiberiusCaligulaClaudiusVitelliusVespasianDomitianTrajanHadrianAntoninus PiusMarcus AureliusLucius VerusCommodusPertinaxDidius JulianusSeptimius SeverusCaracallaMacrinusDiadumenianElagabalusSeverus AlexanderCrisisMaximinus IGordian IGordian IIPupienusBalbinusGordian IIIPhilip IPhilip IIDeciusHerennius EtruscusTrebonianus GallusHostilianVolusianusAemilianusSilbannacusValerianGallienusSaloninusClaudius IIQuintillusAurelianTacitusFlorianusProbusCarinusNumerianDominateDiocletianMaximianGaleriusConstantius ISeverus IIConstantine IMaxentiusLiciniusMaximinus IIValerius ValensMartinianConstantine IIConstantius IIConstans IMagnentiusNepotianusVetranioJulianJovianValentinian IValensProcopiusGratianTheodosius IValentinian IIMagnus MaximusVictorEugeniusWestern EmpireHonoriusConstantine IIIConstans IIPriscus AttalusConstantius IIIJoannesValentinian IIIPetronius MaximusAvitusMajorianSeverus IIIAnthemiusOlybriusGlyceriusJulius NeposRomulus AugustulusEastern EmpireArcadiusTheodosius IIMarcianLeo IIBasiliscusMarcusAnastasius IJustin IJustinian IJustin IITiberius II ConstantineMauriceTheodosiusPhocasHeracliusEastern/Byzantine EmpireHeraclonasConstantine IVJustinian IILeontiusTiberius IIIPhilippicusAnastasius IITheodosius IIILeo IIIConstantine VArtabasdosNikephorosLeo IVConstantine VINikephoros IStaurakiosMichael I RangabeTheophylactConstantineMichael IITheophilosTheodora (II)TheklaMichael IIIBasil ILeo VIAlexanderRomanos I LekapenosChristopherStephenConstantine LekapenosRomanos III ArgyrosMichael IVMichael VConstantine IX MonomachosTheodora (III)Michael VI BringasIsaac I KomnenosConstantine X DoukasEudokia MakrembolitissaRomanos IV DiogenesMichael VII DoukasAndronikosKonstantiosConstantine DoukasNikephoros III BotaneiatesAlexios I KomnenosJohn II KomnenosAlexiosManuel I KomnenosAlexios II KomnenosAndronikos I KomnenosIsaac II AngelosAlexios III AngelosAlexios IV AngelosAlexios V DoukasTheodore I LaskarisNicholasJohn III VatatzesTheodore II LaskarisJohn IV LaskarisMichael VIII PalaiologosAndronikos II PalaiologosMichael IX PalaiologosAndronikos III PalaiologosJohn V PalaiologosJohn VI KantakouzenosMatthewAndronikos IV PalaiologosJohn VII PalaiologosAndronikos VManuel II PalaiologosJohn VIII PalaiologosConstantine XI PalaiologosGallic emperorsPalmyrene emperorsBritannic emperorsTrapezuntine emperorsThessalonian emperorsEmpressesAugustaeUsurpersClassicalEastern