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The famous commander who for the last time conquered Sicily for the Byzantine Empire was an incredibly tall person.
George Maniakes, famous indeed as a great commander in the Byzantine Empire and as a terrible invader in Sicily lived in the 11th century. Historically he remained one of the last conquerors of the Eastern Roman Empire which was already experiencing the first signs of decay. The empire was pressed by enemies extensively. Only George Maniakes managed to weaken this iron grip. He was a man of outstanding outside appearance. Back in 1032 the chronicler wrote - "his height reaches almost three meters and people looked at him as a high mountain, his hands were strong as for collapsing walls or doors of bronze." The contemporaries noted the commander's manners were not all that well and his voice was loud and unfriendly. Probably the great commander could not look in another way...
In 1031 when the Byzantine Empire was defeated at the Battle of Aleppo George Maniakes has shown all the wonders of his courage. It was marked by Emperor Michael IV who has appointed George to lead this campaign. And Maniakes began his military operations. On the way to Sicily his fleet entered Italy, the territory of present Salerno. The expedition hired there additional troops - the Varangians and the Lombards. Incidentally the future King of Norway Harald took part in this campaign. The siege of Sicily lasted for two years and in 1040 the island was captured. At that time Sicily belonged to the Arabs, so it could be considered the next war stage between the Christian and Islamic worlds in the Middle Ages.
George Maniakes was destroyed not by the enemies in open battle but ... by his allies. As it was common in Byzantium, intrigues immediately began appearing around the successful military leader. He was accused of treason, recalled to Constantinople and thrown into prison. He was released from custody only after the rule of two emperors. Byzantium was perishing. The Lombards took possession of nearly all estates in Italy, the Arabs regained Sicily... Maniakes was released and ordered to conquer Italy again and he did it with unprecedented cruelty. Once again George was accused of treason but he already found something out the hard way. He returned to Constantinople at the head of the army declaring himself the Emperor. He died on his way to the capital though winning the battle with the Emperor Constantine IX.
