John Chaldos

John Chaldos (Greek: Ἰωάννης Χάλδος, Ioannes Chaldos; fl. 995–1030) was a Byzantine general under Basil II.

Life

As his surname indicates, Chaldos came from the region of Chaldia in northeastern Asia Minor.^[1] He served as military governor (strategos) of the Armeniac and Bucellarian themes in Asia Minor, before being sent to Thessalonica as doux ca. 995, in succession to Gregory Taronites, who had been killed in a Bulgarian ambush.^[2][3] Alternatively, he may have held all three offices concurrently, despite their wide geographic separation.^[4] He was certainly at his post as governor of Thessalonica in September 995, for he issued an act (sigillion) confirming various privileges and exemptions of the Kolobou Monastery at Ierissos on Chalcidice, which survives to this day.^[4]

Soon after, in early 996, he was captured by the Bulgarians in another ambush placed by Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria. He remained in Bulgarian captivity for 22 years, until the final collapse of Bulgarian resistance in 1018, when he was released upon the surrender of Dragomouzos, the Bulgarian governor of Strumitza, to Emperor Basil II.^[4][5] Following the death of Taronites and the capture of Chaldos, Basil II appointed one of his most trusted subordinates, Nikephoros Ouranos, as commander-in-chief in the Balkans, resulting in the crushing victory over Samuel and his army at the Battle of Spercheios.^[6][7]

John Chaldos is mentioned next, and for the last time, during the 1030 campaign by Emperor Romanos III Argyros against the Mirdasids of Aleppo, which he advised against. The Emperor did not heed his opinion, and the campaign ended in a humiliating defeat in the Battle of Azaz.^[4]

References

1. Strässle 2006, p. 411.
2. Holmes 2005, pp. 404 note 15, 406–407.
3. Strässle 2006, p. 405 note 1086.
4. PmbZ, Ioannes Chaldos (#23166).
5. Stephenson 2003, p. 35.
6. PmbZ, Nikephoros Uranos (#25617).
7. Holmes 2005, pp. 163–167.

Sources

• Holmes, Catherine (2005). Basil II and the Governance of Empire (976–1025). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-927968-5.
• Lilie, Ralph-Johannes; Ludwig, Claudia; Zielke, Beate; Pratsch, Thomas, eds. (2013). Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Nach Vorarbeiten F. Winkelmanns erstellt (in German). De Gruyter.
• Stephenson, Paul (2003). The Legend of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81530-4.
• Strässle, Paul Meinrad (2006). Krieg und Kriegführung in Byzanz: die Kriege Kaiser Basileios' II. gegen die Bulgaren (976–1019) (in German). Cologne: Böhlau Verlag. ISBN 3-412-17405-X.