Battle of Marash (953)

Battle of Marash
Part of the Arab–Byzantine Wars
Map of the Arab-Byzantine frontier zone
Date 953 Location Marash 37°35′00″N 36°56′00″E / 37.5833°N 36.9333°E / 37.5833; 36.9333 Result Hamdanid victory
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire	Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo
Commanders and leaders
Bardas Phokas the Elder (WIA)	Sayf al-Dawla
Strength
Unknown, but considerably larger than the Hamdanid force	600 cavalry

The Battle of Marash was fought in 953 near Marash (modern Kahramanmaraş) between the forces of the Byzantine Empire under the Domestic of the Schools Bardas Phokas the Elder, and of the Hamdanid Emir of Aleppo, Sayf al-Dawla, the Byzantines' most intrepid enemy during the mid-10th century. Despite being outnumbered, the Arabs defeated the Byzantines who broke and fled. Bardas Phokas himself barely escaped through the intervention of his attendants, and suffered a serious wound on his face, while his youngest son and governor of Seleucia, Constantine Phokas, was captured and held a prisoner in Aleppo until his death of an illness some time later. This debacle, coupled with defeats in 954 and again in 955, led to Bardas Phokas' dismissal as Domestic of the Schools, and his replacement by his eldest son, Nikephoros Phokas (later emperor in 963–969).