Nicholas Picingli was the Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 strategos

Strategos

Strategos, plural strategoi, is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...

of Bari

Bari

Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...

 in the thema

Theme (Byzantine administrative unit)

The themes or themata were the main administrative divisions of the middle Byzantine Empire. They were established in the mid-seventh century in the aftermath of the Muslim conquests of Byzantine territory and replaced the earlier provincial system established by emperors Diocletian and...

of Langobardia, who led the Byzantine contingent of the Christian League in the Battle of Garigliano

Battle of Garigliano

The Battle of Garigliano was fought in 915 between the forces of the Christian League and the Saracens. Pope John X personally led the Christian forces into battle.-Background:...

 in 915 during the Byzantine–Arab Wars.

He was appointed strategos of Bari by Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII

Constantine VII

Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, "the Purple-born" was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 913 to 959...

 in 915 to replace Melisianus, and immediately set to work organizing the various south Italian princes in a concerted effort to expel the Saracen

Saracen

Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...

 presence.

At sea, Picingli had the support of the Byzantine navy

Byzantine navy

The Byzantine navy was the naval force of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire. Like the empire it served, it was a direct continuation from its imperial Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defense and survival of the state then its earlier iterations...

, while on land he allied with Alberic I of Spoleto

Alberic I of Spoleto

Alberic I was the Lombard duke of Spoleto from between 896 and 900 until 920, 922, or thereabouts. He first appears as a page to Guy III of Spoleto at the Battle on the Trebbia in 889 He may have later been the count of Fermo or margrave of Camerino, but whatever the case, he succeeded to Spoleto...

 and Pope John X

Pope John X

Pope John X, Pope from March 914 to May 928, was deacon at Bologna when he attracted the attention of Theodora, the wife of Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, the most powerful noble in Rome, through whose influence he was elevated first to the see of Bologna and then to the archbishopric of...

 to form the Christian League. Picingli assembled the Byzantine forces from Byzantium's Italian vassal

Vassal

A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...

s: the Lombard

Lombards

The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...

 prince of Salerno, Guaimar II

Guaimar II of Salerno

Guaimar II was the Lombard prince of Salerno from 901, when his father retired to a monastery, to his death. His father was Guaimar I and his mother was Itta. He was associated with his father in the principality from 893...

, and the prince of a united Capua and Benevento, Landulf I

Landulf I of Benevento

Landulf I , sometimes called Antipater, was a Lombard nobleman and the Prince of Benevento and of Capua from 12 January 901, when his father, Atenulf I, prince of Capua and conqueror of Benevento, associated his with him in power...

. This force then marched north towards the River Garigliano, where the Saracens' chief fortress was, where the rulers of Gaeta

Gaeta

Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....

 and Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, Dukes John I

John I of Gaeta

John I was the second hypatus of Gaeta of his dynasty, a son of Dociblis I and Matrona, and perhaps the greatest of medieval Gaetan rulers....

 and Gregory IV

Gregory IV of Naples

Gregory IV was the firstborn son of Duke Sergius II of Naples and successor of his paternal uncle, Bishop Athanasius, in 898, when he was elected dux, or magister militum, unanimously by the aristocracy. His other paternal uncle, Stephen, succeeded Athanasius as bishop...

 respectively, both technically Byzantine vassals, came to his camp to receive Byzantine titles

Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy

The Byzantine Empire had a complex system of aristocracy and bureaucracy, which was inherited from the Roman Empire. At the apex of the pyramid stood the Emperor, sole ruler and divinely ordained, but beneath him a multitude of officials and court functionaries operated the administrative...

 and the duke of Gaeta and his son, Docibilis

Docibilis II of Gaeta

Docibilis II was the ruler of Gaeta, in one capacity or another, from 906 until his death. He was the son of the hypatus John I, who made him co-ruler in 906 or thereabouts....

, and the duke of Naples and his, John

John II of Naples

John II was the duke of Naples from 915 to his death. He succeeded his father Gregory IV on the latter's death late in 915.He had accompanied his father to the Battle of the Garigliano under Nicholas Picingli, where the Christian coalition defeated the Moslems of the fortress on the Garigliano....

, were made patricians. This large force united with armies led by Alberic I of Spoleto

Alberic I of Spoleto

Alberic I was the Lombard duke of Spoleto from between 896 and 900 until 920, 922, or thereabouts. He first appears as a page to Guy III of Spoleto at the Battle on the Trebbia in 889 He may have later been the count of Fermo or margrave of Camerino, but whatever the case, he succeeded to Spoleto...

 and Pope John X

Pope John X

Pope John X, Pope from March 914 to May 928, was deacon at Bologna when he attracted the attention of Theodora, the wife of Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, the most powerful noble in Rome, through whose influence he was elevated first to the see of Bologna and then to the archbishopric of...

, who was personally leading an army of Latins

Latium

Lazio is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.7 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the third most populated and the second richest region of Italy...

 and Romans

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. They met the Saracens in June and the battle was a Muslim rout.

He was relieved of his post in 921 during the usurpation of Romanos I

Romanos I

Romanos I Lekapenos was Byzantine Emperor from 920 until his deposition on December 16, 944.-Origin:...

.

Sources

• Gwatkin, H.M., Whitney, J.P. (ed) et al. The Cambridge Medieval History: Volume III. Cambridge University Press
  Cambridge University Press
  Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
  
  , 1926.