The Rebellion of Bardas Phokas the Younger was a major Byzantine civil war fought mostly in Asia Minor. During the second half of the tenth century the Byzantine Empire was characterized by emperors either devoted to or forced into long periods of campaigning mostly in the Middle East, Crete, Cyprus, Antioch; many other territories were also conquered during this period. The success Byzantium experienced during this period was largely thanks to the Phokas clan, an aristocratic family who consistently produced competent generals, and their relatives. Indeed, during the reigns of Nikephoros II Phokas and his nephew John I Tzimiskes, these aristocratic generals supplanted the legitimate heirs of the Macedonian dynasty, the adolescent brothers Basil II and Constantine VIII, as the true rulers