Battle of Raban The Battle of Raban was an engagement fought in autumn 958 near the north Syrian fortress of Raban between the Byzantine army , led by John Tzimiskes ( later emperor in 969 – 976 ) , and the forces of the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo under the famed emir Sayf al - Dawla ( r . 945 – 967 ) . The battle was a major victory for the Byzantines , and contributed to the demise of Hamdanid military power , which in the early 950s had proven a great challenge to Byzantium . Background . In the period from 945 to 967 , the Hamdanid Emir of Aleppo , Sayf al - Dawla , was the Byzantines ' most persistent opponent on their eastern frontier , by virtue of his control over most of the Byzantine – Muslim borderlands ( " Thughur " ) and his commitment to " jihad " . Sayf al - Dawla had already campaigned against the Byzantines in 938 and 940 , but it was after his establishment of a large domain centred on Aleppo in 945 , that he began confronting them on an annual basis . Despite the numerical advantages enjoyed by the Byzantines , the Hamdanid ' s emergence blunted a Byzantine offensive that had been unfolding since the mid - 920s and had already resulted in the fall of Malatya ( 934 ) , Arsamosata ( 940 ) , and Qaliqala ( in 949 ) . His main enemy during the first decade of continuous conflict with the Byzantines was the Domestic of the Schools ( commander - in - chief ) Bardas Phokas . After a few initial failures , Sayf al - Dawla quickly established his supremacy : in 953 , he heavily defeated Bardas near Marash . Expeditions led by Bardas in the next two years were also defeated , allowing Sayf al - Dawla to refortify his frontier zone and strengthen it against further Byzantine attacks . Using his light cavalry to evade the more slow - moving Byzantines , Sayf al - Dawla was also able to launch destructive raids deep into Byzantine territory ; however , his raids avoided fortified positions , and he could not challenge effective Byzantine control over their recent conquests . After 955 , however , the situation began to change : the ineffective Bardas Phokas was dismissed and replaced by his more capable son , Nikephoros , under whose supervision the Byzantine army ' s equipment was upgraded , its ranks filled with Armenians , and its training intensified . The new Byzantine leadership , which included Nikephoros ' s brother Leo and his nephew John Tzimiskes , resolved on a forward strategy and began raiding deep into Hamdanid territory . Tzimiskes ' s raids and the battle of Raban . In spring 956 , Sayf al - Dawla pre - empted Tzimiskes from a planned assault on Amida in the Jazira , and invaded Byzantine territory first . Tzimiskes then seized a pass in Sayf al - Dawla ' s rear , and attacked him during his return . The hard - fought battle , fought amidst torrential rainfall , resulted in a Muslim victory as Tzimiskes lost 4 , 000 men . At the same time , however , Leo Phokas invaded Syria and defeated and captured Sayf al - Dawla ' s cousin , whom he had left behind in his stead . In 957 , Nikephoros took and razed the fortress of Hadath , and in the next spring , Tzimiskes invaded the Jazira . There , he captured the fortress of Dara , and scored a crushing victory near Amida over an army led by one of Sayf al - Dawla ' s favourite lieutenants , the Circassian Nadja . Of Nadja ' s 10 , 000 troops , Tzimiskes reportedly killed half and captured the more than half of the survivors . Reinforced with more troops under the " parakoimomenos " Basil Lekapenos , in June , Tzimiskes then stormed Samosata and the fortress of Raban south of Hadath . It was there that Sayf al - Dawla himself came to confront him . The ensuing battle ( taking place between 18 October and 15 November 958 ) was hard fought — Sayf al - Dawla ' s cousin and court poet Abu Firas is said to have broken two lances in his first charge — but in the end , the Byzantines prevailed and the Muslim army broke and fled . Many of Sayf al - Dawla ' s court companions and " ghilman " fell in the pursuit , while over 1 , 700 of his cavalry were captured and paraded in the streets of Constantinople . Aftermath . The victory at Raban made clear that the Byzantines were gaining the upper hand over the Hamdanids . Their success also enabled them to retain control of Samosata , meaning that they had broken through the fortified frontier zone protecting northern Syria . Nevertheless , the Hamdanid ruler was still in control of a potent military and capable of launching raids into Byzantine territory , until he suffered a catastrophic defeat in November 960 at the hands of Leo Phokas . Thereafter , Hamdanid military power was broken , Cilicia was annexed by the Byzantines in 964 – 965 , and even Aleppo itself was captured briefly by the Byzantines in 962 .