Nikephoros II Phokas

Nikephoros II Phokas, who lived from around 912 to 11 December 969, served as Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969, born to the prominent Phokas family on his father's side and the Maleinoi family on his mother's. He succeeded Romanos II and was followed by John I Tzimiskes, ruling for part of his reign jointly with his young stepsons Basil II and Constantine VIII as co-emperors. His military career greatly contributed to the resurgence of the Byzantine Empire during the tenth century: he completed the conquest of Cilicia, retook Crete and Cyprus, and campaigned into Upper Mesopotamia and the Levant, earning the epithet pale death of the Saracens. His father, Bardas Phokas the Elder, was a distinguished general, as were his grandfather and brother; Nikephoros married Theophano, the widow of Romanos II. He was assassinated on 11 December 969 and buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.