The Short History of Nikephoros is a condensed Greek history of the Roman empire. It runs from the reign of Phokas, who took the throne in 602, to the marriage of the emperor Leo IV to Eirene in 769.[1] It passes over the reign of Constans II entirely. The narrative therefore runs from 602 to 641 and resumes in 668.[1] For the Göktürks it is one of two Greek witnesses to Heraclius’s alliance with their ruler, beside Theophanes.

The author

Nikephoros was born at Constantinople in or about 758.[2] Like his father he served as an imperial secretary.[2] In 806, still a layman, he was made patriarch of Constantinople.[3] The emperor Leo V demanded that he remove the icons. He refused and was forced to abdicate early in 815. He died in 828 in one of the monasteries to which he had been sent.[4]

The work survives in two redactions by the author himself. The London manuscript preserves a first draft that breaks off in 713. The Vatican manuscript preserves a revision that changes the style, not the substance.[1] No decisive evidence fixes its date. It may belong to his years in imperial service. On one argument it is a work of his youth, perhaps of the 780s.[5]

The alliance with the Göktürks

In the twelfth chapter Heraclius leaves Constantinople by the Black Sea. From Lazica he sends gifts to “the chieftain of the Turks” and urges him to an alliance against the Persians. The chieftain accepts and promises to be his ally.[6] When the emperor comes, the chieftain meets him with a great multitude of Göktürks. He dismounts and prostrates himself, and his whole host does the same. Heraclius tells him that if their friendship is steadfast he may approach on horseback. He calls him his son.[6]

The emperor then takes the crown from his own head and places it on the Göktürk ruler’s. After a banquet he gives him all the vessels of the table, an imperial garment and earrings set with pearls. With his own hand he adorns the chieftain’s nobles with earrings.[7] He fears the same betrayal as with the Avar khagan, and he wants to bind the agreement. He therefore shows the chieftain the portrait of his daughter Eudokia: “God has joined us and has made you my son. Behold, this is my daughter, the Roman Augusta. If you espouse my cause and help me against my enemies, I shall give her to you in marriage.”[8] The chieftain is struck by the beauty of the picture and holds the more firmly to the alliance. He hands over to the emperor a multitude of Göktürks under a commander. With them Heraclius invades Persia and overturns the fire temples.[8]

In the eighteenth chapter the story closes. Heraclius had ordered Eudokia to leave Byzantium, because he had betrothed her to the lord of the Göktürks. When news came that the Göktürk ruler had been killed, he ordered her to return.[9] These details about Eudokia are found in no other source.[10]

Sources and value

For the years 602 to 641 Nikephoros followed a Constantinopolitan chronicle, perhaps written soon after 641.[11] Its entries are disconnected. It dwells on events in the capital and lacks exact information on distant campaigns.[11] Nikephoros, or his source, was poorly informed about the war in the east. The sequence of the twelfth chapter is confused.[12] The Short History has very few points of contact with Theophanes for these years.[13] The two authors were exact contemporaries. Their works are nevertheless entirely independent of each other.[13]

Theophanes puts the meeting before Tiflis. He names the Göktürk commander Ziebel.[14] Nikephoros gives no place for the meeting. He gives no name for the Göktürk ruler.[7] The meeting is dated to 626 if Theophanes can be trusted there.[15] Beside Theophanes’ account, the Nikephoros version has been called the romantic one.[16]

What Nikephoros adds is the view from Constantinople. It shows the crown, the gifts, the portrait and the betrothal, and the princess sent out and called back when the Göktürk ruler died.

The passage

Nikephoros 12: the crown, the portrait of Eudokia and the promise of marriage

ὁ δὲ ὃν περιέκειτο στέφανον τῆς κεφαλῆς λαβὼν τῇ τοῦ Τούρκου κεφαλῇ περιέθετο,

συμποσιάσας τε αὐτῷ πάντα τὰ εἰς ὑπηρεσίαν τοῦ συμποσίου σκεύη ἅμα καὶ στολῇ βασιλικῇ καὶ ἐνωτίοις ἐκ μαργάρων κεκοσμημένοις δωρεῖται αὐτῷ.

ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ τοὺς περὶ αὐτὸν ἄρχοντας τοῖς ὁμοίοις ἐνωτίοις αὐτοχειρίᾳ ἐκόσμει.

εἶτα δεδιὼς μὴ τὰ αὐτὰ τῷ Ἀβάρῳ καὶ παρ᾽ ἐκείνου πείσεται, ἐπικρατέστερα δ᾽ αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ τῆς συμβάσεως ἀπεργάζεται, παραδείκνυσιν αὐτῷ τῆς θυγατρὸς Εὐδοκίας εἰκόνα.

ἔφη τε πρὸς αὐτὸν ὡς “ἥνωσεν ἡμᾶς ὁ θεός, σὲ τέκνον ἐμὸν ἀπέδειξεν.

ἰδοὺ δὴ αὕτη θυγάτηρ μού ἐστι καὶ Ῥωμαίων Αὐγούστα.

εἰ οὖν συναίρεις μοι καὶ βοηθεῖς κατὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν, εἰς γυναῖκα δίδωμί σοι αὐτήν”.

ὁ δὲ τῷ κάλλει τῆς εἰκόνος καὶ τῷ περὶ αὐτὴν κόσμῳ τρωθεὶς ἔρωτι τοῦ ἀρχετύπου ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τῇ συμμαχίᾳ ἐπέκειτο.

εὐθὺς οὖν ἄρχοντα καὶ πλῆθος Τούρκων τῷ βασιλεῖ παραδίδωσι·

σὺν αὐτοῖς τε εἰς τὴν Περσικὴν εἰσβαλὼν τάς τε πόλεις καθήρει καὶ τὰ πυρεῖα διέστρεφεν.

The emperor took the crown he wore on his head and placed it on the head of the Turk,

and, after feasting with him, presented him with all the vessels used at the banquet, together with a royal robe and earrings adorned with pearls.

In the same way he adorned the chiefs around him with similar earrings, with his own hand.

Then, fearing that he would suffer the same from him as from the Avar, and making the terms of the agreement more binding for himself, he showed him a portrait of his daughter Eudokia.

And he said to him: “God has united us and has made you my child.

Behold, this is my daughter and Augusta of the Romans.

If, then, you join me and help me against my enemies, I give her to you as a wife.”

Struck by the beauty of the picture and by the adornment about her, he fell in love with the original and held to the alliance all the more.

At once, then, he handed over to the emperor a commander and a multitude of Turks;

and with them the emperor invaded Persia, tore down the cities and overturned the fire temples.

[17] Nikephoros; Mango 1990, p. 55, 57

Nikephoros 12: Heraclius sends gifts to the lord of the Turks and meets him

ἐντεῦθεν ἀποστέλλει δῶρα πρὸς τὸν Τούρκων κύριον, ἐπὶ συμμαχίᾳ τῇ κατὰ Περσῶν συγκαλούμενος·

ὁ δὲ δεξάμενος ὑπέσχετο συμμαχήσειν.

ἐν τούτῳ ἡσθεὶς Ἡράκλειος ὥρμησε καὶ αὐτὸς πρὸς αὐτόν,

κἀκεῖνος τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως παρουσίαν ἀκηκοὼς σὺν πλήθει Τούρκων πολλῷ τῷ βασιλεῖ ὑπηντίαζε,

καὶ ἀποβὰς τοῦ ἵππου τῷ βασιλεῖ κατὰ γῆς προσκυνεῖ.

ἐποίει δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ σὺν αὐτῷ πᾶς ὄχλος.

ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τὸ ὑπερβάλλον τῆς τιμῆς θεασάμενος ἐδήλου αὐτῷ ὡς εἰ τὰ τῆς φιλίας αὐτῷ βέβαια εἴη, καὶ ἐποχούμενον πλησιάζειν, καὶ ἅμα τέκνον ἴδιον ἀποκαλῶν.

οὕτως οὖν οὗτος ἀσπάζεται τῷ βασιλεῖ.

From there he sent gifts to the lord of the Turks, calling him to an alliance against the Persians.

He accepted and promised to be an ally.

Heraclius was pleased at this and set out himself toward him,

and he, having heard of the emperor's coming, met the emperor with a great multitude of Turks,

and, dismounting from his horse, did obeisance to the emperor on the ground.

The whole crowd with him did the same.

Seeing the exceeding honour, the emperor made it known to him that, if the terms of friendship were firm for him, he might approach even on horseback, and at the same time he called him his own child.

So he greeted the emperor.

[18] Nikephoros; Mango 1990, p. 55

Nikephoros 18: Eudokia is betrothed to the Turk and called back

Ἡράκλειος δὲ τὴν θυγατέρα Εὐδοκίαν τοῦ Βυζαντίου ἐξιέναι ἐπέτρεψεν

ὡς τῷ Τούρκῳ ταύτην κατεγγυήσας·

καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἔγνωστο ὅτι σφαγῇ ὁ Τοῦρκος ἀνῄρητο,

ταύτην ὑποστρέφειν ἐκέλευσεν.

Heraclius allowed his daughter Eudokia to leave Byzantium,

since he had betrothed her to the Turk;

and when it became known that the Turk had been killed by slaughter,

he ordered her to return.

[19] Nikephoros; Mango 1990, p. 67

Nikephoros 12: Heraclius forges Khosrow's letter about the Turks

Χοσρόης τοίνυν ἀκούσας τά τε ἄλλα πάντα καὶ ὡς Τοῦρκοι συμμαχοῦσιν Ἡρακλείῳ,

δῆλα ἐποίει πάντα διὰ γραφῆς τῷ Σαρβάρῳ, καὶ ὡς ταχέως πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς Ῥωμαϊκῆς ἀναζευγνύναι καὶ Ἡράκλειον ἀμύνασθαι·

μηδὲ γὰρ δύνασθαι τῷ πλήθει τῷ ἐκείνου ἀντικαθίστασθαι.

τὸ δὲ γράμμα περιτραπὲν Ἡρακλείῳ ἐγχειρίζεται.

ὁ δὲ τοῦτο ἀναγνοὺς ταῦτα μὲν ἐξηφάνισεν, ἑτέραν δὲ γραφὴν ὡς ἀπὸ Χοσρόου σκηψάμενος τῷ Σαρβάρῳ ἐκτίθεται, τῇ ἐκείνου σφραγῖδι σημηνάμενος, ἔχουσαν οὕτως

“ὁ Καῖσαρ Ῥωμαίων φιλίαν μετὰ Τούρκων ἐσπείσατο καὶ εἰσῆλθε μέχρι τοῦ Ἀδορβαδιγάνου καλουμένου τόπου,

καὶ ὅτι πέμψας στρατιὰν κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ αὐτόν τε καὶ τοὺς Τούρκους διώλεσα, οἱ δὲ περιλειφθέντες ἔφυγον.

μὴ οὖν ἀπάρῃς ἐκ τῆς Ῥωμαίων γῆς, ἀλλὰ τῇ Χαλκηδόνι προσέδρευε, Ῥωμαίους αἰχμαλωτεύων καὶ ληϊζόμενος”.

καὶ Σάρβαρος μὲν τὸ γράμμα δεξάμενος τῆς προσεδρίας εἴχετο.

When Khosrow heard all the rest, and that the Turks were fighting as allies of Heraclius,

he made everything known in writing to Sarbaros, and told him to march back quickly from Roman land to him and ward off Heraclius;

for he could not stand up against the other's multitude.

The letter was intercepted and handed to Heraclius.

After reading it, he erased this and, pretending a different letter from Khosrow, set it out for Sarbaros, sealed with Khosrow's seal and reading thus:

“The Caesar of the Romans has concluded friendship with the Turks and has come as far as the place called Adorbadigan,

and I sent an army against him and destroyed him and the Turks; those who were left fled.

Do not, then, leave the land of the Romans, but keep up the siege of Chalcedon, taking Romans captive and plundering.”

And Sarbaros, having received the letter, kept to the siege.

[20] Nikephoros; Mango 1990, p. 57

References

  1. ^ a b c Mango 1990, p. 5
  2. ^ a b Mango 1990, p. 1
  3. ^ Mango 1990, p. 1–2
  4. ^ Mango 1990, p. 2
  5. ^ Mango 1990, p. 8, 12
  6. ^ a b Nikephoros
  7. ^ a b Nikephoros
  8. ^ a b Nikephoros
  9. ^ Nikephoros
  10. ^ Mango 1990, p. 184
  11. ^ a b Mango 1990, p. 14
  12. ^ Mango 1990, p. 180
  13. ^ a b Mango 1990, p. 12
  14. ^ Theophanes the Confessor
  15. ^ Mango 1990, p. 181
  16. ^ Scott 1997, p. 448
  17. ^ Nikephoros; Mango 1990, p. 55, 57
  18. ^ Nikephoros; Mango 1990, p. 55
  19. ^ Nikephoros; Mango 1990, p. 67
  20. ^ Nikephoros; Mango 1990, p. 57

Sources

Literature

  • Cyril Mango (ed., trans.), Nikephoros, Patriarch of Constantinople: Short History (1990)
  • Carl de Boor (ed.), Nicephori archiepiscopi Constantinopolitani opuscula historica (1880)
  • Cyril Mango, Roger Scott (trans.), The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor: Byzantine and Near Eastern History AD 284–813 (1997)
  • Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (1992)

Articles resting on this source 12

Busir Glavan · Diplomacy of the Steppe Empires · Heraclius · Meeting of Heraclius and Ziebel (627) · Murder of Tong Yabgu (630) · Old Great Bulgaria · The Caucasus campaign, 627–629 · Theodora of Khazaria · Tong Yabgu · Tzitzak · Western Göktürk Khaganate · Women among the Turkic Peoples

Related

What links here3

Conflicts
The Caucasus campaign, 627–629
Battles & Events
Meeting of Heraclius and Ziebel (627)
Sources
Theophanes the Confessor

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “Nikephoros.” Turkic Atlas, revised 28 October 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/sources/nikephoros/

Last revised: 28 October 2026