The Siege of Tarsos by Leo the Deacon

The Siege of Tarsos
By Leo the Deacon
965 AD

Thus the emperor Nikephoros captured Mopsuestia and reduced the neighboring fortresses by force in the manner I have related. Then he spent the winter in Cappadocia, vexed and worried and disheartened because he had not captured Tarsos at the first assault, but had been driven away from it, like a blunt dart falling on something harder, and had accomplished nothing mighty or courageous. He considered the matter a disgrace, a downright insult and ineradicable reproach; for when he, Nikephoros Phokas, had previously been a general and was later proclaimed Domestic of the Schools, he had destroyed untold numbers of cities, plundered them and reduced them to ashes. He had enslaved prosperous regions, and routed and subdued war-like peoples in pitched battle, nor had they been able to withstand at all his power and invincible force of weapons; but now that he had assumed leadership of the Romans through his courage and wits, and was leading an army numbering 400,000, he was driven back, having done nothing but shadow-fight. Furthermore, he had been driven off not from Babylon, which Semiramis fortified with seven circuit walls, nor from Old Rome, which was built by the might of the Romans, nor from the walls of Judaea, whose solid height seemed to be a tall tale, devoid of truth, to those who had only heard about it with their ears and not seen it, but he had been repelled from Tarsos, a city of modest size, on a plain suitable for cavalry, with a combined population of immigrants and natives. As he brooded on this, trying to reach a decision, he was annoyed and uncontrollably angry, that, when their neighbors had been killed, and those who had escaped the point of the sword had exchanged freedom for servitude, the Tarsians alone had gone scot-free, and were laughing loudly at his bravery, making fun of his military experience. Therefore he drilled his men rigorously in battle skills, while he waited for the right time of year. As soon as spring shone forth, and the bitter cold of winter changed considerably to the warmth of summer, the troops started to assemble round the emperor following his orders. He arrayed the army, which was composed of over 400,000 men, in compact fashion, and, after raising the standard, set off toward Tarsos.


In the course of this march, one of the lightly armed soldiers, who was exhausted by the rough terrain (for it so happened that the army was marching through a very deep defile, which was hemmed in by cliffs and caves), took off the shield he was carrying on his shoulder, and dropped it on the path. The emperor saw this with his own eyes as he passed by, and ordered one of his attendants to pick up the shield. When he arrived at their halting place, he asked to which captain was assigned the man who threw away his shield and tossed away his own arms, when there was no danger of battle. The guilty party did not escape detection, but was quickly seized. The emperor gave him a grim and baleful look, and said, “Tell me, you scoundrel, if there were an unexpected attack, what defense would you use to ward off the enemy, since you threw away your shield on the path?” The man remained speechless, paralyzed with terror. The emperor ordered the captain to flog the soldier who was bent on his own destruction, to cut off his nose and parade him through the camp. But, whether seized with pity for the man, or softened by bribes, he (the captain) let the man go unharmed. The next day the emperor saw him passing by, and summoned the captain, and said, “O, stubborn and bold man, how dare you not carry out my order? Or do you think that you have greater concern for this army than I do? I ordered that the man who tossed away his arms receive such a punishment as a lesson for the others, so that none of them might do the same thing in imitation of his carelessness and laziness, and be caught at the time of battle without their arms, and fall easy prey to the enemy.” Then he flogged the captain severely, and cutting off his nose, he instilled fear in all the army, so they would no longer be careless about their own equipment.


Upon arrival in the vicinity of Tarsos, he pitched camp there and surrounded it with a palisade; he then ordered his men to clear cut and mow down thoroughly the fields and meadows, which were filled with flowers and all sorts of trees, so that he could launch an attack in the open, and it would be impossible for any of the barbarians to set up an ambush in thickly grown areas, and attack the Roman army from a concealed spot. Thus one could see the area losing its inherent beauty; for it was all fertile and abounding in pasture, and thickly grown with all kinds of trees, which produced every sort of succulent fruit. The Tarsians, exulting in their previous victories over the Romans, again were shown to be rash and arrogant, and could not bear to restrain their anger, but went out from the town, assembled in a powerful close formation for a pitched battle, revealing themselves as daring and overweeningly confident before they engaged in the battle. The emperor himself led out from the camp the bravest and most robust soldiers, and arranged the divisions on the battlefield, deploying the ironclad horsemen in the van, and ordering the archers and slingers to shoot at the enemy from behind. He himself took his position on the right wing, bringing with him a vast squadron of cavalrymen, while John who had the sobriquet Tzimiskes, and was honored with the rank of doux, fought on the left. He was a man of unbridled courage, extremely daring and more reckless than anyone else; although his body was shorter than average, like the fabled warrior Tydeus, there was still a certain heroic strength and force in his diminutive frame. When the emperor ordered the trumpets to sound the charge, one could see the Roman divisions move into action with incredible precision, as the entire plain sparkled with the gleam of their armor. The Tarsians could not withstand such an onslaught; forced back by the thrusts of spears and by the missiles of the <archers> shooting from behind, they immediately turned to flight, and ingloriously shut themselves up in the town, after losing most of their men in this assault. They were overwhelmed by a terrible cowardice, when they saw such an experienced multitude advancing <against them>. Therefore they assigned positions on the circuit wall of the town, fortifying it with artillery engines, and remained patiently inside, awaiting the enemy’s attack.


Since the emperor Nikephoros realized that the city was extremely difficult to attack and capture, and that it could not be taken by force, he decided not to take any chances by fighting in an ill-advised manner, but to deliver the city into the grip of famine, which through cruel necessity would make it surrender, even against its will. After making this plan, he encircled the town with diligent guards. The Tarsians kept hurling missiles at the Romans from the towers, as long as the famine had not yet grown serious and completely overwhelmed them. But when it began pitilessly to consume them, and their bodies were weakened by the lack of food, then one could see the dreadful suffering and severe depression which overwhelmed the city; the men were cadaverous, no different from ghostly shadows. Starvation is a most piteous and devastating fate; it wastes away the body’s mass, quenches its warmth with cold, makes the skin stretch over the bones like a spiderweb, and summons death to slowly prevail.


Since they were not able to fight both invincible suffering from starvation and so great an army, they came to terms with the emperor and surrendered, on condition that anyone who wished could proceed unimpeded to the interior of Syria. After making this concession and agreement with them, he ordered them to leave the city quickly, taking only themselves and necessary clothing. When he captured the city in this way, he distributed to the army some of the booty, which amounted to countless wealth, taking himself the cross-standards made of gold and precious stones which the Tarsians had seized in various battles, when they defeated the Roman forces; after securing the city with a sufficient army, he returned to the imperial city. After arriving there, being magnificently received by the populace, he deposited the captured crosses in the celebrated and holy church, and entertained the people with chariot races and other sights. For the Byzantines are fonder of spectacles than any other people.