Damian Dalassenos (duke of Antioch)

Damian Dalassenos (Greek: Δαμιανός Δαλασσηνός) (died 998) was a Byzantine aristocrat and general, who served as the military governor (doux) of Antioch in 995/6–998.

Damian is the first attested member of the distinguished Dalassenos clan. As a holder of the high title of magistros, he became governor of Antioch in 995/996, succeeding the disgraced Michael Bourtzes.^[1][2] This post was one of the most important military positions in the Byzantine Empire, as its holder commanded the forces arrayed against the Fatimid Caliphate and the semi-autonomous Muslim rulers of Syria. Damian was engaged in operations against the amir Nazzal of Tripoli, and forced him to agree to terms. Soon however Nazzan was overthrown by the city's populace, forcing Dalassenos to resume operations along the northern Syrian coast.^[3][4] In June/July 998, he marched his troops to Apamea to seize the city after a catastrophic fire. There he was killed while pursuing a force of Bedouins, and was succeeded as doux by Nikephoros Ouranos.^[3][5]

Damian Dalassenos had at least three sons:

• Constantine Dalassenos, doux of Antioch in 1025 and a favourite of Emperor Constantine VIII (r. 1025–1028).^[1]
• Theophylaktos Dalassenos, also a doux of Antioch.^[1]
• Romanos Dalassenos, katepano of Iberia.^[1]
• a further child was the parent of Adrianos Dalassenos, the maternal grandfather of Anna Dalassene, the mother of Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118).

References

Sources

• Cheynet, Jean-Claude; Vannier, Jean-François (1986) (in French), Études prosopographiques, Publications de la Sorbonne, ISBN 978-2859441104, http://books.google.com/books?id=x7a1cRMNz3UC 
• Holmes, Catherine (2005). Basil II and the Governance of Empire (976–1025). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199279685. 
• Kazhdan, Alexander, ed (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6. 
• Trombley, Frank (1997), "The Taktika of Nikephoros Ouranos and Military Encyclopaedism", in Binkley, Peter, Pre-modern encyclopaedic texts: proceedings of the second COMERS Congress, Groningen, 1-4 July 1996, BRILL, pp. 261–274, ISBN 978-90-04-10830-1