Battle of Azaz (1030)

Battle of Azaz
Part of the Arab–Byzantine Wars
The Arabs drive the Byzantines to flight at Azaz, miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes
Date Early August 1030 Location Azaz, Syria Result Arab victory
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire	Mirdasid Emirate of Aleppo
Commanders and leaders
Romanos III Argyros	Shibl al-Dawla Nasr
Strength
~20,000	700–2,000

The Battle of Azaz was an engagement fought near the Syrian town of Azaz between the Byzantine army, led by Emperor Romanos III Argyros (r. 1028–1034) in person, and the forces of the Mirdasid Emirate of Aleppo. The battle resulted in a rout for the Byzantines, whose army fled in disorder back to Antioch, but the Byzantine generals managed to recover the situation thereafter, forcing Aleppo to resume tributary status in 1031.

The Emirate of Aleppo had been a Byzantine vassal since the days of Nikephoros II Phokas (r. 963–969), but already in the years before the death of Basil II (r. 976–1025), its emirs had begun to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt. By the time the Mirdasid dynasty (1025–1080) gained control of the city, Byzantine influence over Aleppo and northern Syria in general had declined considerably (cf. Michael Spondyles). After the Mirdasid emir Salih ibn Mirdas was killed by the Fatimids at the battle of al-Uqhuwanah in Palestine in 1029, he was succeeded by his young sons Nasr and Thimal. The katepano of Antioch, Michael Spondyles, used the inexperience of Salih's successors as an opportunity to establish a protectorate over the Mirdasid domains. Moreover, Spondyles was provoked by the construction of fortresses by Muslim families in the coastal mountains and confessional clashes between Muslims and Christians in Maarrat al-Nu'man. Without notifying Emperor Romanos III Argyros, Spondyles dispatched a Byzantine force against the Mirdasids, but they were "wiped out by the [Banu] Kilab" at Qaybar in July 1029; the Kilab, from which the Mirdasid dynasty sprung, were the most powerful Arab tribe of northern Syria and provided the core of the Mirdasid military.

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