Niketas Ooryphas
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Niketas Oryphas or Oöryphas ( or , fl. 860–873). was a distinguished
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 ...
official, ''
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 admiral under the
Byzantine emperors 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 III Michael III (; 9/10 January 840 – 24 September 867), also known as Michael the Drunkard, was Byzantine emperor from 842 to 867. Michael III was the third and traditionally last member of the Amorian dynasty, Amorian (or Phrygian) dynasty. He ...
(r. 842–867) and
Basil I the Macedonian Basil I, nicknamed "the Macedonian" (; 811 – 29 August 886), was List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor from 867 to 886. Born to a peasant family in Macedonia (theme), Macedonia, he rose to prominence in the imperial court after gainin ...
(r. 867–886), who achieved several naval victories against the Cretan Saracen raiders.


Biography


Under Michael III

Nothing is known of Niketas Ooryphas's early life. Several people surnamed Ooryphas are recorded in sources during the first half of the 9th century, all of them in high naval positions, but any family relation is conjectural. Niketas Ooryphas first appears in our sources in 860, as
urban prefect The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, an ...
of
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 ...
, when a
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fleet suddenly appeared in the entrance to the
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and started pillaging the city's suburbs. In his capacity as urban prefect, Ooryphas made a report to Emperor Michael III, who was campaigning against the
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in
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. At a subsequent date, he was appointed in a position in 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 ...
, and in 867 he was in charge of the Imperial Fleet ('' droungarios tou ploïmou''). As such he sailed with 100 ships in relief of
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against an Arab siege which had already lasted 15 months, and restored the imperial suzerainty over the coasts of
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. It is, however, possible that Ooryphas already had naval experience, as he may be identifiable with one of the commanders of the 853 attack on
Damietta Damietta ( ' ) is a harbor, port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the Damietta branch, an eastern distributary of the Nile Delta, from the Mediterranean Sea, and about north of Cairo. It was a Cath ...
.


Under Basil the Macedonian

Although he had risen to high rank under Michael III and had protested the usurpation of the Byzantine throne by Basil I the Macedonian in 867, Ooryphas was quickly won over and retained in office by the latter, and went on to become the perhaps most successful Byzantine admiral of his age. In 869, Ooryphas led the Byzantine fleet that sailed in support of Louis II who was besieging
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, but on arriving there, he found the
Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...
army dispersed in winter quarters, and caused a diplomatic episode by referring to Louis, who claimed the title of '' Emperor of the Romans'', merely as "king". As a result of the quarrel, the main part of the Byzantine force left, without participating in the siege of the city. In , Ooryphas defeated the Cretan Saracens in the
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, and soon after followed this success with another: while the Saracens were campaigning off the western coasts of
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, he had his men drag his ships overland across the
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, thereby surprising the Saracen fleet in the
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and defeating them. Ooryphas subsequently disappears from the scene, although he may have led the Imperial Fleet in its actions for a few years before being replaced by the ''droungarios'' Nasar, including the recapture of Bari and, briefly, of
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..


References


Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oryphas, Niketas 9th-century Byzantine military personnel Byzantine admirals Urban prefects of Constantinople Patricii Byzantine people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Byzantine Dalmatia