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Military Achievments
The failure of Nicephorus' domestic policies did not cast a shadow on his military achievement, which made his reign one of the Byzantine Empire's most glorious. In the words of C. Schlumberger, his most exhaustive biographer, he inaugurated the Byzantine era in the East. In fact, though known primarily for his exploits against the infidel, Nicephorus also carried the imperial frontier beyond the Euphrates to Syria. Nor did he neglect the other imperial frontiers in the conception of Byzantine grandeur. To counteract the Bulgar menace he spurred Russian intervention in the Danubian area, a policy that was not without danger for Byzantium, especially after his death. Also, to stop expansionist plans of the Germanic sovereign Otto I, who was re-creating the Carolingian heritage, Nicephorus opposed Otto's title of emperor, while trying with more or less success to consolidate the Byzantine presence in Italy. Nicephorus II's policies, seen in their entirety, indicate that his purpose was to assure Byzantium of its place as international arbiter, which he accomplished through the use of arms.
