"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎٦‎٩] (٧٣٨/١٤٣)

132
MILITARY HISTORY
valley of the Orontes, passed Hama and Homs, turned to
the sea through El-Buqei‘ah and then northwards by the
coast to Cilicia. The expedition was little more than a great
raid and an encouragement to the Christian population.
A garrison was left in Baghras, a castle at the ‘ Syrian gates ’.
In October 969 the governor of this castle was admitted into
Antioch by a party in the town. The Greeks thus secured
a footing in Syria which they retained for 100 years. Antioch
was strongly fortified and accessible from the sea. It became
the Greek base of military operations against the Moslems
and a standing menace to Aleppo.
Syria was invaded four times within 30 years in the latter
part of the tenth century by Greek armies commanded by the
emperors in person. It is significant that the invaders had in
no case to fight a pitched battle, while, at the same time, their
Syrian territory never exceeded the coast and the inland
hills (Jebel Ansariyeh) south and south-east of Antioch. In
particular the great expedition of 975 may have served its
purpose as a display of power and a means of obtaining sums of
money, but it left Syria unsubdued. The first of these four
invasions was that of Nicephorus Phocas, already described
(968). In 975 the Emperor John’s army passed Hama and
Homs, traversed the Biqa‘, reached Tiberias and Beisan and
‘Akka, and finally turned northwards by the coast. The
expedition lasted six months. The only permanent result was
the occupation of some castles in the hills east of Ladiqiyeh.
Basil in 995 raised the siege of Aleppo, which was being
besieged by a Fatimite commander, and then with a small
army followed the route traversed previously by Nicephorus.
Tripoli was invested without success for 40 days. Antarsus
was garrisoned by Armenian auxiliaries. Basil’s second
campaign (999) lasted three months. A number of castles in
the Jebel Ansariyeh were captured and dismantled. Northern
Palestine was raided. Tripoli was again unsuccessfully
besieged for four weeks. A garrison was left in Sheizar, on
the Orontes, near Hama.
The invasion of Romanus in 1030 and his defeat by the