Baghdad served as the seat of the Abbasid caliphate and figured at several points in Byzantine political affairs. It was the destination of a diplomatic embassy in which the scholar Photius participated early in his career, and later a city that John Tzimiskes chose not to capture despite having the means to do so. It also functioned as a place of exile from which the pretender Bardas Skleros returned, equipped with men and money provided by the Caliph, to mount a second bid for the Byzantine throne.
What each episode says
Episode 12 (1 mention)
Destination of an embassy in which Photius participated on his way up through the court ranks, before Bardas elevated him to patriarch.
“and even taking part in an embassy to Baghdad.”
Episode 13 (3 mentions)
Mentioned twice: first as the seat of the Abbasid caliphate which John Tzimiskes could easily have taken but chose not to, and second as the place of exile from which Bardas Skleros returned — armed with men and money by the Caliph — to make his second bid for the throne.
“By now it was clear that the Abbasid caliphate of Baghdad wasn't capable of resistance, and”
“caliph of Baghdad.”
“Bardas Sklaris, still in exile in Baghdad, became convinced that the time was right to”
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