Nikulitsa was a Greek noble from Larissa, governor of Servia during the reign of Samuil

Samuil of Bulgaria

Samuel was the Emperor of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 6 October 1014. From 980 to 997, he was a general under Roman I of Bulgaria, the second surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria, and co-ruled with him, as Roman bestowed upon him the command of the army and the effective royal...

. He received his name ("little Nicholas") because of his short height. In 1001 the Byzantines

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...

 led by Basil II

Basil II

Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...

 besieged the city and after a long siege they managed to break through despite the garrison's desperate defence. To secure the fortress, the entire Bulgarian population deported in the area called Boleron between the rivers Nestos and Hebros (Maritsa

Maritsa

The Maritsa or Evros , ) is, with a length of 480 km, the longest river that runs solely in the interior of the Balkans. It has its origin in the Rila Mountains in Western Bulgaria, flowing southeast between the Balkan and Rhodope Mountains, past Plovdiv and Parvomay to Edirne, Turkey...

).

Nikulitsa was taken to Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 and given the title patrikios. Soon however Nikulitsa fled Constantinople and rejoined Samuil's forces, who were trying to take back Servia. Basil II reacted quickly, heading to the town with an army and repulsing the Bulgarians. Samuil and Nikulitsa retreated but soon after the latter was ambushed and captured again. He was taken back to the Byzantine capital where he was imprisoned.

He managed to escape once more and continued to fight. After the death of Emperor Ivan Vladislav

Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria

Ivan Vladislav ruled as emperor of Bulgaria from August or September 1015 to February 1018. The year of his birth is unknown, but he was born at least a decade before 987, but probably not much earlier than that....

 in 1018 he was among the nobles who continued the resistance in the mountainous areas of the country. After his troops were surrounded by a Byzantine army he understood that further resistance was pointless and surrendered to Basil II with the rest of his troops. Basil II sent him in Thessalonica under arrest.