Battle of the Orontes

Shortly after the battle, the Fatimid caliphate took control of Syria, removing the Hamdanids from power they had held since 890.^[1] Manjutakin went on to capture Azaz and continued his siege of Aleppo.^[2]

This defeat led to the direct intervention of Byzantine emperor Basil II in a lightning campaign the next year,^[4] and Bourtzes' dismissal from his post and his replacement by Damian Dalassenos. 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.^[5] The Byzantines besieged Tripoli unsuccessfully and occupied Tartus, which they refortified and garrisoned with Armenian troops.

• Trombley, Frank (1997), "The Taktika of Nikephoros Ouranos and Military Encyclopaedism", in Binkley, Peter (ed.), Pre-modern encyclopaedic texts: proceedings of the second COMERS Congress, Groningen, 1–4 July 1996, Brill, pp. 269–270, ISBN 978-90-04-10830-1.
• Melton, J. Gordon (2014). Faiths across time : 5,000 years of religious history. Santa Barbara, California. ISBN 978-1-61069-025-6. OCLC 869548511.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Holmes, Catherine (2005). Basil II and the governance of Empire (976–1025). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-153550-5. OCLC 77175413.
• Scylitzes, John (2010). A synopsis of Byzantine history, 811–1057. John Wortley. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-85853-6. OCLC 694342139.

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