Editing Nikephoros II Phokas (section)

=== Western Wars ===
[[File:Histamenon of Nikephoros II.png|thumb|[[Histamenon]] of Nikephoros II (right) alongside Mary the ''[[Theotokos]]'']]
Nikephoros II was not very successful in his western wars. Under his reign, relations with the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarians]] worsened. It is likely that he bribed the [[Kievan Rus']] to raid the Bulgarians in retaliation for them not blocking [[Magyar people|Magyar]] raids.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|p=56}} This breach in relations triggered a decades-long decline in Byzantine-Bulgarian diplomacy and was a prelude to the wars fought between the Bulgarians and later Byzantine emperors, particularly [[Basil II]].

Nikephoros' first military failures came in [[Sicily]]. In 962 the son of the governor of [[Fatimid Dynasty|Fatimid Sicily]], [[Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Kalbi]], captured and reduced the Byzantine city of [[Taormina]]. The last major Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, [[Rometta]], appealed to the newly crowned emperor Nikephoros for aid against the approaching Muslim armies. Nikephoros renounced his payments of tribute to the [[Fatimid]] [[caliph]]s, and sent a huge fleet, purportedly boasting a crew of around 40,000 men, under [[Patrikios Niketas]] and [[Manuel Phokas]], to the island. The Byzantine forces, however, were swiftly routed in Rometta and at the [[Battle of the Straits]], and Rometta soon fell to the Muslims, completing the Islamic conquest of Sicily.{{sfn|PmbZ|loc=al-Ḥasan b. ‘Ammār al-Kalbī (#22562)}}{{sfn|Brett|2001|p=242}}

In 967, the Byzantines and the Fatimids hastily concluded a peace treaty to cease hostilities in Sicily. Both empires had grander issues to attend to: the Fatimids were preparing to invade [[Egypt]], and tensions were flaring up on mainland Italy between the Byzantines and the German emperor [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]]. The constant tension between the Germans and the Byzantines was largely due to mutual cultural biases, but also to the fact that both empires claimed to be the successors of the [[Roman Empire]].{{sfn|Keller|Althoff|2008|pp=221–224}} Conflicts in southern Italy were preceded by religious contests between the two empires and by the malicious writings of [[Liutprand of Cremona]]. Otto first invaded Byzantine [[Apulia]] in 968 and failed to take [[Bari]]. Early the next year, he once again moved against Byzantine Apulia and [[Calabria]], but, unable to capture [[Cassano delle Murge|Cassano]] or [[Bovino]], failed to make any progress. In May he returned north, leaving [[Pandulf Ironhead]] to take charge of the siege. Pandulf was defeated and taken prisoner by the Byzantine general Eugenios, who went on to besiege [[Capua]] and enter [[Salerno]]. The two empires would continue to skirmish with each other until after the reign of Nikephoros, but neither side was able to make permanent or significant gains.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}