 By 925 , Romanos Lekapenos felt himself strong enough to demand the payment of tribute from the Muslim cities on the western side of the Euphrates . When they refused , in 926 , Kourkouas led the army across the border . Aided by his brother Theophilos and an Armenian contingent under the strategos of Lykandos , Mleh ( Melias in Greek sources ) , Kourkouas targeted Melitene ( modern Malatya ) , the center of an emirate which had long been a thorn in Byzantium 's side . The Byzantine army successfully stormed the lower city , and although the citadel held out , Kourkouas concluded a treaty by which the emir accepted tributary status . 
