Leo Phokas the Younger

Leo was the younger son of Bardas Phokas the Elder, a noted general and longtime commander of the eastern armies under Constantine VII, and of an unnamed lady from the Maleinos clan.

Under Romanos II, he was named Domestic of the Schools of the West, i.e. commander of the western armies in the Balkans, and raised to the rank of magistros.

When his older brother Nikephoros was detailed to assault the Emirate of Crete in 960, Leo replaced him as domestikos of the West, a new institution.

From this position, he scored a notable victory against the Empire's old adversary, the emir of Aleppo Sayf al-Daula, whose army had invaded Byzantine Asia Minor, made good progress, and was retiring laden with booty and prisoners.

Due to his record of successful service in the Byzantine-Arab frontier, he has been suggested as the possible author of the treatise De velitatione bellica ("On skirmishing warfare").