Map of the Arab–Byzantine naval conflict in the Mediterranean, 7th–11th centuries
Date
c. 873
Location
Gulf of Corinth, Greece
Result
Byzantine victory
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire
Emirate of Crete
Commanders and leaders
Niketas Ooryphas
Photios †
v
t
e
Arab–Byzantine wars
Early conflicts
Mu'tah
Balqa
Firaz
Dathin
The Levant
Marj Rahit
al-Qaryatayn
Bosra
Ajnadayn
Yaqusa
Marj al-Saffar
Sanita-al-Uqab
Damascus
Maraj-al-Debaj
Fahl
Marj ar-Rum
Emesa
Yarmouk
Laodicea
Jerusalem
Hazir
1st Aleppo
Iron Bridge
2nd Emesa
Germanicia
Egypt
Heliopolis
Babylon Fortress
Alexandria
Nikiou
Darishkur
Bahnasa
North Africa
Sufetula
Vescera
Mamma
Carthage
Tabarka
Anatolia & Constantinople
1st Constantinople
Sebastopolis
Tyana
2nd Constantinople
Nicaea
Akroinon
Border conflicts
Kamacha
Asia Minor (782)
Kopidnadon
Krasos
Asia Minor (806)
Anzen
Amorium
Mauropotamos
Faruriyyah
Lalakaon
Bathys Ryax
Sicily and Southern Italy
1st Syracuse
Messina
Butera
Enna
2nd Syracuse
1st Malta
3rd Syracuse
Caltavuturo
Campaigns of Leo Apostyppes & Nikephoros Phokas the Elder
1st Milazzo
2nd Milazzo
1st Taormina
Garigliano
Campaigns of Marianos Argyros
2nd Taormina
Rometta
Straits of Messina
George Maniakes in Sicily
2nd Malta
Naval warfare
Phoenix
Keramaia
1st Crete
2nd Crete
Thasos
Damietta
Ragusa
Kardia
Gulf of Corinth
Cephalonia
Euripos
Thessalonica
3rd Crete
4th Crete
Tyre
Byzantine reconquest
Campaigns of John Kourkouas
Campaigns of Sayf al-Dawla
Marash
Raban
Andrassos
Campaigns of Nikephoros II
5th Crete
Aleppo
Cilicia
Antioch
Campaigns of John I
Alexandretta
Syria
Campaigns of Basil II
Orontes
2nd Aleppo
Apamea
Azaz
The Battle of the Gulf of Corinth was fought in c. 873 between the fleets of the Byzantine Empire and the Cretan Saracens in the Gulf of Corinth. The Byzantines under Niketas Ooryphas managed to surprise the Saracens, resulting in a major Byzantine victory.
According to the 10th-century chronicler Theophanes Continuatus—whose work was later reused almost without change by the 11th-century historian John Skylitzes[1]—in the early years of the reign of the Emperor Basil I the Macedonian (r. 867–886) the Arab emir of Crete, Shu'ayb ("Saet" in Greek), son of the founder of the emirate, Abu Hafs, sent a Greek renegade called Photios, "a warlike and energetic fellow", on major raiding expeditions against the Byzantine Empire. The first raid was defeated by the droungarios of the Fleet, Niketas Ooryphas, at the Battle of Kardia (c. 872/3).[2][3]
Photios with the remnants of his fleet survived to return to Crete, and some time shortly after—probably c. 873, although some scholars place it as late as 879[2]—launched another expedition, raiding the shores of the Peloponnese. Ooryphas once again led a fleet to meet the Saracens. Aided by favourable wind, he arrived at the harbour of Kenchreai on the northeastern Peloponnese within a few days. There he learned that the Saracens had moved south and west around the Peloponnese, raiding Methone, Pylos, and Patras, and entered the Corinthian Gulf to raid the western approaches of Corinth. Following them by circumnavigating the Peloponnese would take time, and Ooryphas was unwilling to risk allowing them to escape. Thus, according to the Byzantine historians, he decided to haul his ships over the Isthmus of Corinth into the Corinthian Gulf. This was done, and the Byzantine fleet fell upon the Saracens, who were caught completely off guard. He destroyed many of their ships and killed many of the raiders, including Photios, while many others were captured and—especially the Christian renegades among them—tortured to death in various ways.[4]
Historian David Pettegrew has cast doubt on the historicity of this event, pointing out that Ooryphas' portage of his fleet over the Isthmus is the first and only such recorded event after the 1st century BC, when the diolkos was still active. Given that the portage of entire fleets across the Isthmus was considered even in Antiquity an extraordinary feat, and was hardly possible to be carried out in such short time as to surprise a fleet anchored near Corinth, Pettegrew suggests that Ooryphas' portage and victory must be considered more a literary topos evoking Classical models, specifically Philip V of Macedon's similar action while campaigning against the Illyrians in 217 BC, rather than an actual event.[5]
^Wortley 2010, p. xix.
^ abPmbZ, Photios (#26671).
^Wortley 2010, pp. 147–148.
^Wortley 2010, pp. 148–149.
^Pettegrew 2011, pp. 1–8.
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