general who had revolted in the previous reign and been interned in a monastery for seven years. Phokas proceeded to Sebastea in the East, where his family demesnes were situated. He came to an understanding with David III Kuropalates of Tao, who pledged 12,000 Georgian horsemen under the command of Tornikios to Phokas' aid. Skleros instantly left Nicaea for the East and defeated Phokas in two battles, but the latter was victorious in a third. On March 24, 979, the two leaders clashed in single combat, with Skleros cutting the right ear of Phocas' horse with his lance before sustaining a grave wound to the head. The rumour of his death put his army to flight, but Skleros himself found shelter with his Muslim allies. Thereupon the rebellion was subdued without difficulty. Later years After the Asian potentates refused to support his further operations against Constantinople, Skleros and his family retreated to Baghdad in 980. They resided in honourable captivity at the Abbasid Caliph's court for six years, dreaming about the invasion of Byzantium. In 987 Skleros was finally recalled to his homeland by Phokas, who took advantage of the Bulgarian wars to aim at the crown. Skleros promptly mustered an army to support Phokas's cause, but his plans of profiting from the attendant disorders were frustrated when Phokas had him committed to prison. Upon Phokas' death at the Battle of Abydos (989), Skleros succeeded him as the leader of the rebellion: "The truth was, the men who had enrolled in Skleros's army were no longer divided in their loyalties: every one of them was a declared rebel. Their leader inspired them with his own resolute determination and bound them into one coherent body. By favours he won their loyalty, by his kindliness he earned their devotion. He reconciled their differences, ate at the same table as his men, drank from the same cup, called them by name, and by his flattery bound them to his allegiance" (Michael Psellos). The date of his surrender to the authorities is disputed, as are the circumstances. In 991 Skleros, a blinded and broken man, then residing in semi-captivity in Thrace, was visited by Emperor Basil II on his way to Bulgaria. The famous rebel accepted the title of curopalates and died several days later, presumably on April 2. Descendants The bloodline of Bardas Skleros continued, however. A grandson, Basil Skleros, was married to