The Battle of Caltavuturo was fought in 881 or 882 between the Byzantine Empire and the Aghlabid emirate of Ifriqiya, during the Muslim conquest of Sicily. It was a major Byzantine victory, although it could not reverse the Muslim conquest of Sicily.
In 880, a succession of naval successes under the admiral Nasar allowed the Byzantine emperor Basil I to envisage a counter-offensive against the Aghlabid dynasty in southern Italy and Sicily. In Sicily, however, the Aghlabids still held the upper hand: in spring 881, the Aghlabid governor al-Hasan ibn al-Abbas raided the remaining Byzantine territories and in the process defeated the local commander, Barsakios, near Taormina.
In the next year, however, AH 268 (881/2 CE), according to the Ibn al-Athir (The Complete History, VII.370.5–7), the Byzantines had their revanche, defeating an Aghlabid army under Abu Thawr so completely that reportedly only seven men survived. The victorious Byzantine commander is identified by modern historians with Mosilikes, who is known to have served in the area in the early 880s.
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