On this day, we celebrate the temporary liberation of our Holy Capital of Antioch!
On October 28, 969 A.D., East Roman forces under Michael Bourtzes and Stratopedarches Peter liberated Antioch [Αντιόχεια η Μεγάλη] from the Hamdanid dynasty, allowing the city to return to its rightful place within the Romaic (Byzantine) Empire.
Afterward, the city would become the seat of a Doux, the civil governor of the homonymous theme, and the seat of the Domestic of the Schools of the Orient, the supreme military commander of the imperial forces on the eastern frontier.
Today, we remember those brave East Roman that sacrificed their lives to liberate our capital from the Hamdanid dynasty.
May their memory be eternal.
