Battle of Caesarea | |||||||
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Part of the Byzantine-Seljuk wars | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Byzantine Empire | Seljuk Turks | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Romanos IV | Alp Arslan Afshin Bey [2] | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
unknown | unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
unknown | unknown |
The Battle of Caesarea occurred in 1067 when the Seljuk Turks under Alp Arslan attacked Caesarea. Caesarea was sacked and its Cathedral of St. Basil desecrated. [3] Following Caesarea, the Seljuk Turks made another attempt invading Anatolia, with an assault on Iconium in 1069. This provoked Romanos IV Diogenes' second campaign. [4]
Alp Arslan, born Muhammad bin Dawud Chaghri, was the second sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty. He greatly expanded the Seljuk territory and consolidated his power, defeating rivals to the south and northwest, and his victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert, in 1071, ushered in the Turkmen settlement of Anatolia.
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