Editing Basil II (section)

===Manjutakin's attacks, and Basil's first expedition to Syria===
Encouraged by the defectors after the death of emir [[Sa'd al-Dawla]], Al-Aziz decided to renew his attacks on the [[Hamdanid dynasty|Hamdanid Emirate]] of Aleppo, a Byzantine protectorate, perhaps expecting Basil would not interfere. Manjutakin invaded the emirate, defeated a Byzantine force under the ''[[dux|doux]]'' of [[Antioch]] [[Michael Bourtzes]] in June 992, and laid siege to Aleppo. The city easily resisted. In early 993, after thirteen months of campaigning, a lack of supplies forced Manjutakin to return to Damascus.{{sfn|Whittow|1996|pp=379–380}}

In 994, Manjutakin resumed his [[Siege of Aleppo (994–995)|offensive]] and in September scored a major victory at the [[Battle of the Orontes]] against Bourtzes. {{Anchor|Basil II's Syrian expedition (995)}}Bourtzes' defeat forced Basil to intervene personally in the East; with his army, he rode through Asia Minor to Aleppo in sixteen days, arriving in April 995. Basil's sudden arrival and the exaggeration of his army's strength circulating in the Fatimid camp caused panic in the Fatimid army, especially because Manjutakin, expecting no threat, had ordered his cavalry horses to be dispersed around the city for pasture. Despite having a considerably larger and well-rested army, Manjutakin was at a disadvantage. He burned his camp and retreated to Damascus without battle.{{sfn|Wortley|2010|p=322}} The Byzantines besieged [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]] unsuccessfully and occupied [[Tartus]], which they refortified and garrisoned with Armenian troops. Al-Aziz now prepared to take to the field in person against the Byzantines and initiated large-scale preparations but they were abandoned upon his death.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=325}}{{sfn|Lev|1995|pp=201–203}}

====Second expedition to Syria, and peace====
Warfare between the two powers continued as the Byzantines supported an [[Revolt of Tyre (996–998)|anti-Fatimid uprising]] in [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]]. In 998, the Byzantines under [[Damian Dalassenos]], the successor of Bourtzes, launched an attack on [[Apamea, Syria|Apamea]] but the Fatimid general [[Jaysh ibn al-Samsama]] [[Battle of Apamea|defeated them in battle]] on 19 July 998.{{sfn|Wortley|2010|p=322}} This defeat drew Basil back into the conflict; he arrived in Syria in October 999 and remained there for three months. Basil's troops raided as far as [[Baalbek|Heliopolis]], placed a garrison at [[Shaizar|Larissa]],{{sfn|Magdalino|2003|p=86}} and burnt three minor forts in the vicinity of [[Abu Qubays, Syria|Abu Qubais]], [[Masyaf|Masyath]] and [[Arqa|Arca]]. The siege of Tripoli in December failed while [[Homs|Emesa]] was not threatened.{{sfn|Stevenson|1926|p=252}} Basil's attention was diverted to developments in [[Kingdom of Georgia|Georgia]] following the murder of [[David III Kuropalates]]; he departed for Cilicia in January and dispatched another embassy to Cairo.{{sfn|Holmes|2003}}

In 1000, a ten-year truce was concluded between the two states.{{sfn|Lev|1995|pp=203–205}}{{sfn|Stephenson|2010|p=32}} For the remainder of the reign of [[Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah]] ({{r.}} 996–1021), relations remained peaceful as al-Hakim was more interested in internal affairs. Even the acknowledgement of Fatimid suzerainty by [[Abu Muhammad Lu'lu' al-Kabir]] of Aleppo in 1004 and the Fatimid-sponsored installment of [[Aziz al-Dawla]] as the city's emir in 1017 did not lead to a resumption of hostilities, especially because al-Kabir continued to pay tribute to the Byzantines and al-Dawla quickly began acting as an independent ruler.{{sfn|Lev|1995|p=205}} Al-Hakim's [[persecution of Christians]] in his realm and especially the 1009 destruction of the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] at his orders strained relations and, along with Fatimid interference in Aleppo, provided the main focus of Fatimid–Byzantine diplomatic relations until the late 1030s.{{sfn|Lev|1995|pp=203, 205–208}}