The Byzantine regional commander, Damian Dalassenos, had been besieging Apamea, until the arrival of the Fatimid relief army from Damascus, under Jaysh ibn Samsama.

In September 994, Michael Bourtzes, the Byzantine military governor (doux) of Antioch and northern Syria, suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of the Orontes at the hands of the Fatimid general Manjutakin.

This Fatimid victory shook the Byzantine position in Syria, and posed a grave threat to its Arab vassal, the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo.

The Aleppines too endeavoured to seize Apamea and arrived there first, but withdrew at the approach of Dalassenos, who could not permit a vassal to grow too strong and intended to capture the town for the emperor.

[5][6] Subsequent events are presented by several authors, including the brief narrative of John Skylitzes and the more extensive accounts of the Christian Arab Yahya of Antioch and the Armenian Stephen of Taron.

[12] Meanwhile, Dalassenos was vigorously pursuing the siege, and the inhabitants of Apamea had been reduced to famine, being forced to eat cadavers and dogs, which they bought for the price of 25 silver dirhams (according to Abu'l-Faraj, two gold dinars) a piece.

Only 500 ghilman under Bishara the Ikhshidid remained steadfast and held firm against the assault, while the Banu Kilab simply abandoned the fight and began looting the battlefield.

[15][19][20] Stephen of Taron gives a slightly different account of the battle, whereby the victorious Byzantines were surprised by an attack by the regrouped Fatimids on their camp and that one of Dalassenos's brothers and one of his sons were killed, as well as the general himself.

Arriving in Syria in mid-September, the emperor's army buried their fallen in the field of Apamea and then captured Shayzar, sacked the fortress of Masyaf and Rafaniya, torched Arqa, and raided the environs of Baalbek, Beirut, Tripoli and Jubayl.

In mid-December, Basil returned to Antioch, where he installed Nikephoros Ouranos as doux,[21] although according to his self-description as the "ruler of the East", his role seems to have been more extensive, with plenipotentiary military and civilian authority over the entire eastern frontier.