Basil Apocapes
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Basil Apokapes (or Apocapes) (b 924–977) () was a
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
general of the 11th century. A descendant of the Apokapai family, an
Armeno Armeno ( Piedmontese and Lombard: ''Armagn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Novara. Armeno borders the following municipali ...
- Georgian noble clan, he was the son of the patrician Michael Apokapes or Abu K’ab, who had once served as a tent-guard for the influential Georgian Bagratid prince
David III of Tao David III Kuropalates (, ''Davit’ III Kurapalati'') or David III the Great (დავით III დიდი, ''Davit’ III Didi''), also known as David II, (c. 930s – 1000/1001) was a Georgia (country), Georgian prince of the Bagrationi, B ...
(r. 966–1000) and then commanded the city of
Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...
(modern-day
Şanlıurfa Urfa, officially called Şanlıurfa (), is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. The city was known as Edessa from Hellenistic times and into Christian times. Urfa is situated on a plain about east of the Eup ...
,
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
) under the
Byzantine Emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...
Michael IV the Paphlagonian Michael IV the Paphlagonian (; c. 1010 – 10 December 1041) was Byzantine Emperor from 11 April 1034 to his death on 10 December 1041. The son of a peasant, Michael worked as a money changer until he was found a job at court by his brother ...
(r. 1034–1041). In 1054, as ''
patrikios The patricians (from ) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after the Conflict of the Orders (494 BC to 287 B ...
'' and ''
strategos ''Strategos'' (), also known by its Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized form ''strategus'', is a Greek language, Greek term to mean 'military General officer, general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term was also use ...
'', Basil Apokapes rallied the people of
Manzikert Malazgirt (; ; ), historically known as Manzikert (), is a town in Muş Province in Turkey. It is the seat of Malazgirt District.repulsed an attack by the
Seljuks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of th ...
under
Toğrül Abu Talib Muhammad Tughril ibn Mika'il (), better known as Tughril (; also spelled Toghril / Tughrul), was a Turkoman"The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turkomans at the battle of Malazgirt (Manzikert) is ...
. Later, from 1059 to 1065, he served as ''
archon ''Archon'' (, plural: , ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem , meaning "to be first, to rule", derived from the same ...
'' (''
magistros The (Latin; ; ) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantium, the office was eventually transformed into a senior honorary rank, simply called ''magist ...
'' and '' doux'') of Paraistrion (modern northern
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
, along the
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
). In 1064, together with the future emperor
Nikephoros Botaneiates Nikephoros III Botaneiates (; 1002–1081), Latinized as Nicephorus III Botaniates, was Byzantine Emperor from 7 January 1078 to 1 April 1081. He became a general during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos, serv ...
and his sons, he was defeated and captured by the
Oghuz Turks The Oghuz Turks ( Middle Turkic: , ) were a western Turkic people who spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia ...
who had crossed the northern
Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
, but the outbreak of epidemic soon decimated the invaders and the prisoners were recovered. After the defeat of
Romanos IV Romanos IV Diogenes (; – ) was Byzantine emperor from 1068 to 1071. Determined to halt the decline of the Byzantine military and to stop Turkish incursions into the empire, he is nevertheless best known for his defeat and capture in 1071 at ...
by Andronikos Doukas in 1071, he seems to have been under the command of
Philaretos Brachamios Philaretos Brachamios (; ; ) was a distinguished Byzantine general and warlord of Armenian heritage. He was for a time a claimant to the imperial throne against Emperor Michael VII. Philaretos is attested on seals as ''taxiarches'' (commander of ...
, a Byzantine general of Armenian heritage, who had established himself in
Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...
, and served him as a governor of Edessa from 1077 until his death in 1083.Speros Vryonis, Jr. The Will of a Provincial Magnate, Eustathius Boilas (1059). ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'', Vol. 11, 1957 (1957), pp. 263–277.


References


Sources

*Grünbart, M., "Die Familie Apokapes im Licht neuer Quellen," in N. Oikonomides, ed.,'' Studies in Byzantine sigillography'', V (
Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
, 1998), 29–41. *Alexios G. C. Savvides. The Armenian-Georgian-Byzantine family of Apocapes/Abukab in the 11th c., Δίπτυχα 5 (1991), 96–104. 1083 deaths 11th-century Byzantine generals Patricii Byzantine people of Georgian descent 11th-century people from Georgia (country) Byzantine people of Armenian descent Year of birth unknown Magistroi {{Byzantine-bio-stub