Editing Nikephoros III Botaneiates (section)

===Later military career===
[[File:Nicephorus III and Maria of Alania BnF Coislin79 fol2bis.jpg|thumb|Emperor Nikephoros&nbsp;III Botaneiates and Maria of Alania|alt=A gold and dye folio of Emperor Nikephoros&nbsp;III Botaneiates and Maria of Alania]]
Nikephoros was reassigned as ''doux'' of [[Antioch]] in {{circa}}1065 by Constantine X{{sfn|Maynard|2018}}{{sfn|Attaleiates|Kaldellis (tr.)|Krallis (tr.)|2012|loc=16.6}} due to the mismanagement of the province by its previous ''doux'', [[Nikephoritzes]], who would later serve as ''[[logothetes]]'' under Michael VII.{{sfn|Maynard|2018}}{{sfn|Attaleiates|Kaldellis (tr.)|Krallis (tr.)|2012|loc=22.2}} Although his troops were inexperienced and under-equipped, Nikephoros was able to repel numerous raids against Antioch from the [[Emirate of Aleppo]], largely due to his own military prowess, his well-trained [[retinue]], and his use of local levies. Nikephoros was relieved of his command in {{circa}} 1067, likely due to the political efforts of the civil officials, who wished to eliminate the military aristocracy, of which Nikephoros was a member. The political machinations of the civil officials, and their willingness to undermine the military elites, had built up under previous emperors such as [[Romanos III]] ({{reign|1028|1034}}) and Michael VI; during this period the civil officials had become increasingly powerful, until Isaac I's reforms definitively curbed their power. Constantine X had become emperor when Isaac abdicated in 1059 and was considerably weaker than Isaac had been, allowing the civil officials to manipulate him, thereby preventing him from gaining the level of control that Isaac had. This was largely accomplished by undermining the military aristocracy, even while the Turks had begun to invade Byzantine Armenia.{{sfn|Maynard|2018}}

Upon the death of Constantine X in 1067, his wife, Empress [[Eudokia Makrembolitissa]], considered taking Nikephoros as husband and emperor, but instead chose Romanos IV Diogenes ({{reign|1068|1071}}).{{sfn|Maynard|2018}}{{sfn|Bedrosian|2017|loc=2.66}} The need for an emperor was made pressing by the constant raids of the Turks into the Byzantine territories of Antioch, Cilicia, and Armenia;{{Sfn|Maynard|2018}}{{sfn|Attaleiates|Kaldellis (tr.)|Krallis (tr.)|2012|loc=16.12}} Eudokia, Patriarch [[John VIII of Constantinople]], and the [[Byzantine Senate]] agreed that their top priority was the defense of the empire and that they needed an emperor to lead troops to repel the Turks. Nikephoros was the favorite candidate of the senate, but was in the field leading troops in Antioch, and was still married to Vevdene. Romanos was already in Constantinople and had no wife, making him a much more suitable candidate; Matthew of Edessa also suggests that Eudokia already desired Romanos over Nikephoros.{{sfn|Maynard|2018}}{{sfn|Attaleiates|Kaldellis (tr.)|Krallis (tr.)|2012|loc=16.13}} Upon taking power, Romanos exiled Nikephoros to his holdings in the Anatolic Theme{{Sfn|Maynard|2018}}{{sfn|Norwich|1993|pp=360–361}} and excluded him from the Manzikert campaign due to questionable loyalty, likely because he had been Eudokia's other candidate for the throne, and thus posed a threat to Romanos{{'}}s rule.{{sfn|Maynard|2018}}{{sfn|Sewter|1953|loc=Michael VII 7.18}} After Romanos was captured by the Seljuks at the disastrous Battle of Manzikert, Nikephoros did not involve himself in the [[coup d'état]] of Michael VII against the still-captive Romanos, and would not again lead troops until the uprising of the mercenary leader [[Roussel de Bailleul]].{{sfn|Maynard|2018}}{{sfn|Norwich|1993|p=360}}{{sfn|Attaleiates|Kaldellis (tr.)|Krallis (tr.)|2012|loc=23.1}}

[[File:Seal of Nikephoros Botaneiates, kouropalates and doux of the Anatolikoi (Schlumberger, 1900).png|thumb|Seal of Nikephoros Botaneiates as ''[[kouropalates]]'' and ''[[dux|doux]]'' of the Anatolic Theme]]
Emperor Michael VII ({{reign|1071|1078}}) brought Nikephoros, who was now in his early seventies, out of retirement and declared him ''[[kouropalates]]'' and governor of the Anatolic Theme.{{sfn|Maynard|2018}} The title of ''kouropalates'' was reserved for esteemed members of the imperial court who were not related to the ruling dynasty, and officially designated him as a high-ranking general; the title of ''kouropalates'' was below the rank of ''[[nobilissimus]]'' and two ranks below the title of ''[[Caesar (title)|Caesar]]''. None of the sources specifically mention why Nikephoros was recalled to lead forces, but it is likely due to a few reasons: Nikephoros was a renowned commander who had served under the Doukas emperors, he did not have any loyalty to Romanos IV, and the main theater of war was in the eastern portion of the Byzantine Empire, the terrain of which Nikephoros knew well; he likely gained the military governorship of the Anatolic Theme because it was his homeland. Michael VII then sent Nikephoros and the Caesar [[John Doukas (Caesar)|John Doukas]] to defeat the rebellion of Roussel de Bailleul.{{sfn|Maynard|2018}}{{sfn|Attaleiates|Kaldellis (tr.)|Krallis (tr.)|2012|loc=23.4}} Nikephoros warned John not to cross the Zompos Bridge and engage the forces of Roussel, but John disregarded him and led his troops to defeat at the [[Battle of the Zompos Bridge]] in 1074. Nikephoros, who commanded the rearguard, held his troops back from fighting in the battle; modern historians have debated exactly why he chose to withhold his troops, and whether they could have turned the tide of the battle.{{sfn|Maynard|2018}} After the defeat of the forces under John, Nikephoros gathered the survivors and led them with his troops back to his estates in the Anatolic Theme.{{sfn|Maynard|2018}}{{sfn|Norwich|1993|p=360}}