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Nikephoros II Phokas
| Nikephoros II Phokas | |
|---|---|
| Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans | |
 Nikephoros II Phokas on a 15th-century manuscript, Biblioteca Marciana, Venice. The portrait is almost certainly imaginary.[1][2] | |
| Byzantine emperor | |
| Reign | 16 August 963 – 11 December 969 |
| Predecessor | Romanos II |
| Successor | John I |
| Born | c. 912 Cappadocia |
| Died | 11 December 969 (aged 57) Constantinople |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Theophano |
| Dynasty | Phokas |
| Father | Bardas Phokas |
Nikephoros II Phokas (Greek: Νικηφόρος Φωκᾶς, Nikēphóros Phōkãs; c. 912 – 11 December 969), Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless greatly contributed to the resurgence of the Byzantine Empire during the 10th century. In the east, Nikephoros completed the conquest of Cilicia and retook the islands of Crete and Cyprus, opening the path for subsequent Byzantine incursions reaching as far as Upper Mesopotamia and the Levant; these campaigns earned him the sobriquet "pale death of the Saracens".
- ^ Burke, John (2014). I. Nilsson; P. Stephenson (eds.). "Inventing and re-inventing Byzantium: Nikephoros Phokas, Byzantine Studies in Greece, and 'New Rome'". Wanted: Byzantium. The Desire for a Lost Emperor: 1–42.
The portrait does not fit either of the two physical descriptions we have of Nikephoros Phokas: Liutprand of Cremona says he was short with a large head and next to no neck, pot-bellied and swarthy, while Leo the Deacon, who also describes him as swarthy, says that he had bushy eyebrows and that his chest and shoulders were very broad.
- ^ Spatharakis, Ioannis (1976), The Portrait in Byzantine Illuminated Manuscripts, Brill, p. 181, ISBN 9789633862971,
A portrait of this emperor, probably from Crete, in a style more Western than Byzantine, is painted in the 15th century MS. Marc. Lat. 342
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