RebelsPhokas clanSupport from:Principality of TaoBuyid Dynasty RebelsBardas Skleros The Rebellion of Bardas Phokas the Younger (February 987 – October 989) was a major war within the Byzantine Empire, fought mostly in Asia Minor.

[1][2][3] The success Byzantium experienced during this period was largely thanks to the Phokas clan, an aristocratic family who consistently produced competent generals, and their relatives.

Basil, however, saw this as an opportunity: by crushing the Bulgarian forces, he could legitimize his reign at home while diminishing the distinguished military record of the Phokades carried on by Bardas Phokas in the east, as this was his main catalyst of support, he himself being a poor strategist.

[5] Not only was Samuil able to reconquer much of the former Bulgarian Empire,[6][7][8][9] as it had been before the conquests of John I Tzimiskes, but support for Basil's reign fragmented both in Constantinople and in the east.

Worse yet, news of the disastrous defeat would reach as far as Baghdad, where the former rebel Bardas Skleros had been granted asylum by the ruling Buyid dynasty.

In a formal treaty in December 986, Skleros agreed to a number of concessions to the Buyids, including an exchange of Muslim prisoners, and cession of certain border fortresses, provided that they would supply him with support in an open rebellion against the Byzantine Empire.

At Melitene, Skleros was able to confiscate large quantities of gold and provisions, as well as corral local support, including from the Kurdish chieftain Bad ibn Dustuk.

Phokas quickly moved his armies towards the Bosphorus Strait in an attempt to blockade Constantinople and eventually cross into Europe and besiege the capital itself.

Phokas sent his son, also named Nikephoros, to the kouropalates of Tao, David III, in order to procure new troops for the rebellion.

Secondly, the resources-depleted David III was now in no position to withstand a concentrated Byzantine attack on his Iberian territories, and his countries were quickly overrun in the years after the civil war in retaliation for his support of Phokas.

[26][27] Kievan Rus' emerged from the civil war the newest Christian state in Europe, and one of the largest, largely as a result of the diplomacy sparked by the rebellion.

[12] The civil war also highlighted the inability of the Buyids to effectively influence Byzantine politics in a meaningful way despite their supposed military might and control of the Caliph.