A province on the eastern frontier of the Byzantine Empire, Syria was a recurring site of military and political crisis across several centuries. In the late fifth century it hosted a pagan-linked rebellion that drew the general Illus into open conflict with Emperor Zeno; in the seventh century, Christological divisions within the empire weakened resistance there, allowing Muslim forces to take Damascus and press toward Jerusalem. It was subsequently reconquered during the tenth-century eastern campaigns and twice invaded by the Fatimid Caliphate during Basil II's Bulgarian wars, forcing the emperor to redirect his attention eastward on each occasion.
What each episode says
Episode 6 (1 mention)
The province where a rebel was trying to restore paganism, prompting Zeno to send Illus to suppress the uprising. A violent quarrel there between Illus and Zeno's incompetent brother led Zeno to declare Illus a public enemy, driving him into the rebel camp.
“A rebel in Syria was trying to restore paganism, and Ailas was sent to stop him.”
Episode 10 (1 mention)
The region into which Muslim forces poured after the Christological controversy undermined Byzantine unity, conquering Damascus and besieging Jerusalem. The Byzantine army of 80,000 retreated there to pursue the Muslims, who fell back into the Syrian desert.
“With even local areas divided, the Muslims poured into Syria, conquering Damascus and”
Episode 11 (1 mention)
“Spain, Italy, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and North Africa were all gone, never to be retaken.”
Episode 13 (5 mentions)
Reconquered by the first usurping general before Romanus II, and then again by John Tzimiskes during his eastern campaigns. Also mentioned as the region twice invaded by the Fatimid Caliphate during Basil II's Bulgarian campaigns, drawing the emperor east at speed.
“of Armenia and parts of Syria, lands that had fallen 300 years before during the first”
“One by one, Tarsus, Cyprus, and Aleppo, all the major cities in Mesopotamia and Syria,”
“The next year he returned to the east, conquering Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon, as well as”
Episode 14 (1 mention)
“deserts of Syria and Lebanon in the south, to the cold of the Ukraine in the north.”
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