John I Tzimiskes

John I Tzimiskes, who lived from around 925 to 10 January 976, was the senior Byzantine emperor from 969 to 976, born in present day Cemisgezek in Tunceli Province, Turkey. His father belonged to the Kourkouas family, of Armenian origin, and his mother was the sister of the future Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, from the Phokas family, both prominent Byzantine military aristocratic houses of Anatolia. He first married Maria Skleraina, daughter of Pantherios Skleros and sister of Bardas Skleros, a marriage that appears to have been childless before her death, and later married Theodora, daughter of Emperor Constantine VII, to solidify his position. Tzimiskes strengthened and expanded the Byzantine Empire to include Thrace and Syria by warring with the Rus' under Sviatoslav I and with the Fatimids: he defeated Sviatoslav at the siege of Dorostolon in 971, annexed Bulgaria, and conducted successful campaigns in Syria, conquering cities including Damascus and Beirut. He died suddenly in 976 and was succeeded by his ward and nephew Basil II, leaving him a strengthened and expanded empire.