[2] Nothing is known of him before 995/6, when Emperor Basil II appointed him governor of Antioch in succession to Michael Bourtzes following the latter's defeat in the Battle of the Orontes in September 994.
[3][4] This post was one of the most important military positions in the Byzantine Empire, as its holder commanded the forces arrayed against the Fatimid Caliphate and the semi-autonomous Muslim rulers of Syria.
The Aleppines tried to seize the city first, but withdrew at the approach of Dalassenos, who could not permit a vassal to grow too strong.
[9][10] The local Fatimid governor, al-Mala'iti, called for aid, but the relief army under Jaysh ibn Samsama was delayed by having to deal first with suppressing the Byzantine-sponsored rebellion of Tyre.
[11] Damian Dalassenos had at least three sons:[1][8] Theophylact was most likely the father of Adrianos, the maternal grandfather of Anna Dalassene, the mother of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, founder of the Komnenian dynasty.