Lightning as a hurricane

1137. After his conquest of Armenian Cilicia, John II marched on Antioch in northern Syria. First he sent his son, Alexios, to secure the gateway to Syria by capturing the fortress of Baghras, known as Gaston Castle during the Crusader era.

Baghras (Gaston) castle today

Alexios apparently succeeded, which was no mean feat. Probably built by the Romans in the tenth century, Gaston sits on a rocky peak with steep slopes in an isolated valley. It guards the main route to Antioch through the Belen Pass (also called the Syrian Gates) and the flat plains of Syria beyond the Nur Mountains. 

By the early 12th century the castle was in the hands of the Crusader principality of Antioch. Sometime before 1153 it was transferred to the Templars, who may well have been in possession when Alexis marched up with one part of his father's army. Not much is known of how the young co-emperor took the castle; the poet Italikos praises him for capturing it from the 'Kelts', by which he presumably meant Franks.

The capture of Gaston enabled the emperor to advance on Antioch, and by early summer his forces were blockading the city. Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch, was absent campaigning against Imad ad-Din Zengi, the Seljuk Turkish ruler or atabeg, who had besieged the King of Jerusalem and his followers at the castle of Montferrand. While Raymond hurried off with a relief army to rescue his king, the Roman emperor descended upon his city.

A ruler in Turkic military dress

As soon as Raymond heard of John's arrival, he turned about and dashed back to Antioch with all speed. Along the way he blundered into some Roman scouts, who almost captured or killed him. More bitter skirmishing followed between imperial troops and the Antiochenes, who barred their gates against the emperor. 

These fights provided some colourful anecdotes. On one occasion, John's men were picking from fruit in the orchards outside Antioch, when the defenders suddenly attacked them. When Roman reinforcements arrived, the Franks fled back inside the city, leaving the Romans to begin siege operations. John's war engines, which had battered down so many Armenian fortresses, hammered the walls with giant stones. At the same time his archers and slingers scoured the walls with missiles as they looked for places to undermine the walls.

John II besieging a city

This barrage was terrifying; Italikos said that John did 'throw lightning as a hurricane' against the Franks, causing them to run and hide. As the storm of missiles rained down, Raymond went to the emperor and begged for a compromise.