Himerios (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
: ), also Himerius, 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 ...
administrator and admiral of the early 10th century, best known as the commander of the
Byzantine navy
The Byzantine navy was the Navy, naval force of the Byzantine Empire. Like the state it served, it was a direct continuation from its Roman navy, Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defence and survival of the state than its ...
during its struggles with the resurgent
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
navies in the period 900–912.
Biography
Nothing is known about Himerios's early life. He was married to the sister or aunt of
Zoe Karbonopsina
Zoe Karbonopsina, also Karvounopsina or Carbonopsina, (), was an empress and regent of the Byzantine Empire. She was the fourth spouse of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise and the mother of Constantine VII, serving as his regent from 913 u ...
, the mistress and later wife of Emperor
Leo VI the Wise
Leo VI, also known as Leo the Wise (; 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well read, leading to his epithet. During ...
(r. 886–912), and his career was the direct result of this relationship.
Initially a ''
protasēkrētis'', Himerios was given command of the Byzantine fleet in 904. A Muslim fleet under
Leo of Tripoli
Leo of Tripoli (), known in Arabic as Rashīq al-Wardāmī (), and Ghulām Zurāfa (), was a Greek renegade and fleet commander for the Abbasid Caliphate in the early tenth century. He is most notable for his sack of Thessalonica, the Byzanti ...
was heading towards
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
and had already driven back the Byzantines under the ''
droungarios tou ploimou
The ''droungarios'' of the Fleet (, ''droungarios tou ploïmou/tōn ploïmōn''; after the 11th century δρουγγάριος τοῦ στόλου, ''droungarios tou stolou''), sometimes anglicized as Drungary of the Fleet, was the commander o ...
''
Eustathios Argyros. Eustathios was replaced by Himerios, who, however, did not have to fight, as the
Arabs
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...
withdrew on their own. The two fleets encountered each other off
Thasos
Thasos or Thassos (, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area.
The island has an area of 380 km2 and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate regiona ...
, but the Byzantines chose not to give battle. As a result, the Arabs were able to
besiege and sack Thessalonica
Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area) and the capital city, capital of the geographic reg ...
, the Byzantine Empire's second-largest city, and sail home unopposed.
On
St. Thomas's day (6 October) in 906, Himerios managed to score his first victory over the Arabs,
[.][.] and it was probably then that he was awarded the high state office of ''
logothetēs tou dromou'' (effectively foreign minister). Another victory followed in 909, and in the next year, he led an expedition on the
Syrian
Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...
coast:
Laodicea was sacked, its hinterland plundered, and many prisoners captured, with minimal losses.
[ At the same time, Himerios also landed on ]Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
, which for centuries had been demilitarized as a condominium
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...
with the Caliphate
A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
. The recovery of the island was temporary only, as in 911 or 912, Damian of Tarsus Damian of Tarsus (Greek: Δαμιανός ό Ταρσεύς, ; died 924), surnamed Ghulam Yazman (" slave/page of Yazman"), was a Byzantine Greek convert to Islam, governor of Tarsus in 896–897 and one of the main leaders of naval raids against t ...
assaulted Cyprus. Eventually, the previous ''status quo'' was restored.[.]
In meantime, in the autumn of 911, Himerios had set out on a new attempt to retake Crete
Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...
. He commanded a fleet of 177 dromon
The dromon (from Greek δρόμων, , ), a type of galley, became the most important type of warship of the Byzantine navy from the 5th to 12th centuries AD, after which the Italian-style galley superseded it. It developed from the ancient li ...
s with 43,000 men,[ and set the island's capital, Chandax, under siege. The siege had lasted for six months, when news arrived from Constantinople that the emperor was ill and dying. Consequently, Himerios abandoned the fruitless siege and set sail for the capital. However, as his fleet was rounding ]Chios
Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...
, they fell into a Saracen ambush set by Leo of Tripoli and Damian of Tarsus (April 912):Alexander
Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here ar ...
(r. 912–913), and exiled to the monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
of Kamba, where he died six months later.[.]
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Himerios
Byzantine admirals
Logothetai tou dromou
10th-century Byzantine military personnel
918 deaths
Byzantine people of the Arab–Byzantine wars
9th-century births
Medieval Aegean Sea