About this ebook
On the night of December 10, 969, John Tzimiskes scaled the palace walls, cut down his own uncle, and seized the most powerful crown in the medieval world.
What followed was nothing short of extraordinary.
In six relentless years, this short, fearless Armenian warlord crushed every enemy who dared test him. He drove north and turned the Danube red, breaking the ferocious Sviatoslav of Kiev so completely that the Rus never threatened Byzantium again. He then wheeled his armies south, carving through the Levant, dismantling Fatimid power, and pushing his banners to within striking distance of Jerusalem.
No emperor covered more ground. No reign burned brighter or faster.
But Constantinople had a way of punishing its most dangerous men.
In 976, at the height of his power, Tzimiskes died suddenly — the empire intact, his enemies broken, his legacy secured in blood and steel.
History forgot him. It shouldn't have.
