Michael Spondyles (, ) was a high-ranking Byzantine courtier who became governor of Antioch, and then Apulia and Calabria.
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Moreover, Spondyles was provoked by the construction of fortresses by Muslim families in the coastal mountains and religion-motivated clashes between Muslims and Christians in Maarrat al- Nu'man. Without notifying Emperor Romanos III Argyros, Spondyles dispatched a Byzantine force against the Mirdasids, but they were annihilated by the Banu Kilab tribe at Qaybar in July 1029. The Kilab, from which the Mirdasid dynasty sprung, were the most powerful Arab tribe of northern Syria and provided the core of the Mirdasid military. There are varying accounts regarding Romanos III's motivation for attacking the Mirdasids.
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A court eunuch and favourite of Constantine VIII (r. 1025–28), Spondyles was among the coterie of court officials appointed to senior positions on Constantine's accession as sole emperor.John Skylitzes, Synopsis of Histories, 370.37–371.1 In 1027, as the emir of Aleppo, Salih ibn Mirdas, raided Byzantine territory. Spondyles, although inexperienced in warfare, marched out to meet him, and was defeated and forced to withdraw to the safety of Antioch.John Skylitzes, Synopsis of Histories, 378.51–379.57 Shortly after (in 1027/28) he was also tricked by the Arab tribal leader Nasr ibn Musharraf al-Rawadifi, who was captured by Michael's deputy, Pothos Argyros.
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According to the medieval Arabic chroniclers Yahya of Antioch (d. 1066) and Ibn al-Adim (d. 1262), Romanos resolved to avenge the defeat of Spondyles, whom he dismissed. On the other hand, the contemporary Byzantine historians John Skylitzes and Michael Psellos hold that the impending campaign was motivated by Romanos's quest for glory.
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Leo's surname is in all probability a sobriquet; he seems to have belonged to the Spondylos family, and was possibly a relative of the general Michael Spondyles. He is attested as an official under Michael IV the Paphlagonian (r. 1034–41), and rose in office to become the Empire's chief minister (paradynasteuon) under Theodora (r. 1042–56) and Michael VI (r.
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Constantine gave a diploma to a monastery near Troia in November 1034. In 1037, the Zirid sultan of Tunisia, Sharaf ad-Dawla al-Mu'izz ibn Badis, sent his son Abdallah to fight the Sicilian emir Ahmad II al-Akhal. Al-Akhal was defeated and fled to Constantine. The next year Constantine disappears from the record to be replaced by Michael Spondyles and then Nikephoros Doukeianos.
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The Emirate of Aleppo had been a Byzantine vassal since the 969 Treaty of Safar, but in the years before the death of Basil II (), its emirs had come under the suzerainty of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt. By the time the Mirdasid dynasty (1025–1080) gained control of the city, Byzantine influence over Aleppo and northern Syria in general had declined considerably. After the Mirdasid emir Salih ibn Mirdas was killed by the Fatimids at the Battle of al-Uqhuwanah in Palestine in 1029, he was succeeded by his young sons Nasr and Thimal. The katepano of Antioch, Michael Spondyles, used the inexperience of Salih's successors as an opportunity to establish a protectorate over the Mirdasid domains.
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Seal of Pothos Argyros, with his titles of protospatharios and katepano of Italy Pothos Argyros or Argyrus (; ) was a Byzantine commander, who served as the catepan of Italy during the eventful years of 1029 to 1031. Pothos is first mentioned in the history of John Skylitzes in , or perhaps still under Basil II (), as a commander in the eastern frontier, when he captured the Arab chieftain Nasr ibn Musharraf al-Rawadif, ruler of the disputed border area of Jabal Rawadif near Antioch. Nasr succeeded in being set free after promising assistance to Pothos' superior, the doux of Antioch, Michael Spondyles. Following the rise to the throne of Romanos III Argyros (), Pothos was appointed Catepan of Italy in 1029.
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