Судан и Большой Ближний Восток

326 IV. Ближний Восток и его соседи Another failed attempt of the Byzantines to reconquer Crete was organized by Caesar Bardas, who was murdered before his fleet reached Crete, at the time of Michael III, in 866. 1 Less is known about another attempt for the reconquest of Crete during Leo VI’s reign (886–912). Neither the exact date of this expedition, usually dated ca 911–912, nor any details about it are certain. 2 The last unsuccessful attempt to reconquer Crete, before Nicephorus Phocas’ expedition, took place in 949 under the leadership of the eunuch Gongyles. 3 In Constantine Porphyrogenitus’ work De Cerimoniis , there is a description with a long list of the impressive equipment and supplies with which the Byzantine fleet was provided. 4 The most extensive description of this expedition appears in the works of Leo Diaconus and Skylitzes. They describe an unopposed landing and a humiliating defeat of the Byzantines in Handax. Taking profit of the inadequate Byzantine defense preparedness of Gongyles’ army, the Cretan Arabs attacked the Byzantines’ military camp, killed a large number of them and forced them to abandon Crete. 5 Skylitzes attributed the failure of this expedition to the incompetence of Gongyles, whomhe calls sarcastically “inexperienced and effeminate” 6 Makrypoulias considers Skylitzes’ derogatory comments somewhat exaggerated and attributes the Byzantines’ disastrous defeat and abandonment of their expedition mainly to the lack of supplementary 1 Makrypoulias, op. cit. 352; for another attempt by Himerios, see ibid. 2 See R. Jenkins, The Imperial Centuries AD 610–1071 , New York 1969, 210, andMakrypoulias, op. cit. 352, notes 27–31 with the relevant bibliography 3 Makrypoulias, 353 ff. 4 For Skylitzes’ historical value, see A. Karpozilos, op. cit., especially 31–36 and 251 ff., and for Leo Diaconus, Alice Mary Talbot and Dennis Sul- livan, op. cit. 11–49; also, some important remarks in S. Ivanof, Leo Diaconus’ History , Moscow 1988, 166 ff (in Russian). 5 Thurn, 245, lines 20–26, 246, lines 1–11. 6 Thurn, 245, line 25: “θηλυδρίαν ανθρώπου”; See also Leo Diaconus’ relevant passage, “ανανδρία και απειρία…”, Leonis Diaconi Historiae , ed. Bonn, 1828, p. 7., l. 3; see the English translation in Alice-Mary Talbot and Denis F. Sullivan, trans., The History of Leo the Deacon. Byzantine Military Expansion in the Tenth Century , Washington D.C. 2005, 59.