Though emperor for only a relatively short period, the Armenian general John Tzimisces accomplished much. He continued the impressive successes of his predecessor, Nicephorus II Phocas, and prepared the way for the brilliant Basil II. John came to power through the machinations of his mistress, and the wife of Nicephorus, Theophano. Excellent as Nicephorus may have been on the battlefield, his wife wanted someone younger and better looking. (This beautiful, pleasure-loving, daughter of a wine-merchant's first husband had, after all, been the outstandingly handsome Romanus II.) And so she arranged for John, who had formerly been Nicephorus' staunchest ally, and his aristocratic allies to assassinate him in his bedchamber on the night of 10th December, 969.
Theophano was to be disappointed in her plans for marrying the new emperor. The Patriarch Polyeuctes demanded John commit penance, punish his cohorts, and expel Theophano from the palace. Only when he had submitted to all the Patriarch's demands was he admitted to enter a church and be crowned. These events show the extent of the patriarchate's power in Byzantium, (though Christianity did not hold complete sway: Matthew of Edessa reports John had a liasion with a Muslim of lady of Amida.) John made a political marriage, taking as his wife Theodora, the daughter of Constantine VII, and aunt of the young emperors Basil and Constantine. John is described as handsome with dark-blond hair, a red beard and piercing blue eyes, though his surname refers to his short stature.
Nicephorus had invited the Russian strongman Svjatoslav into the Balkans to help fight the Bulgars, but with Nicephorus' death the Russian soon proved himself a loose cannon on Imperial soil. In April, 971 John stormed Svjatoslav's base, the Bulgarian capital of Preslav, and won a decisive victory. His triumphal return to Constantinople is pictured above. With the west secure, John turned his attention to the east. Here he continued Nicephorus' work, pushing back the Arabs and capturing Beirut. The Byzantine chronicles claim he penetrated into Palestine (though he did not take Jerusalem), but contemporary Arab writers make no mention of this.
On his return to the capital in early 976 John came down with typhoid, and on the 10th January he died. It has been speculated that it was poison rather than disease that ended this great general's life.
