Romanos IV
Encyclopedia
Romanos IV Diogenes (Greek
: Ρωμανός Δ΄ Διογένης, Rōmanos IV Diogenēs) was a member of the Byzantine
military aristocracy who, after his marriage to the widowed empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa
was crowned Byzantine emperor and reigned from 1068 to 1071. During his reign he was determined to halt the decline of the Byzantine military and stop Turkish incursions into the Byzantine Empire, but in 1071 he was captured and his army routed at the Battle of Manzikert
. While still captive he was overthrown in a palace coup, and when released he was quickly defeated and detained by members of the Doukas
family. In 1072, he was blinded and sent to a monastery where he died of his wounds.
and a member of a prominent and powerful Cappadocia
n family, connected by birth to most of the great aristocratic nobles in Asia Minor
. His mother was an anonymous daughter of Basil Argyros
, brother of the emperor Romanos III
.
Courageous and generous, but also quite impetuous, Romanos's military talents had seen him rise with distinction in the army, including serving on the Danubian frontier but he was eventually convicted of attempting to usurp the throne of the sons of Constantine X Doukas in 1067. While waiting to receive his sentence from the regent Eudokia Makrembolitissa
, he was summoned into her presence and advised that she had pardoned him and that furthermore she had chosen him to be her husband and the guardian of her sons as emperor. She took this course of action firstly due to her concern that unless she managed to find a powerful husband, she could easily lose the regency to any unscrupulous noble, and secondly because she was infatuated with the popular Romanus. Her decision was met with little protest as the Seljuk
Turks had overrun much of Cappadocia and had even taken the important city of Caesarea
, meaning that the army needed to be placed under the command of an able and energetic general.
The problem Romanus and Eudokia had in executing this plan was that Eudokia's deceased husband, Constantine X, had made her swear an oath never to remarry. She approached the Patriarch
John Xiphilinos
and convinced him both to hand over the written oath she had signed to this effect, and to have him pronounce that he was in favour of a second marriage for the good of the state. The Senate
agreed, and on January 1, 1068 Romanus married the empress and was crowned Emperor of the Romans.
, and Andronikos Doukas
. However, his elevation had antagonised not only the Doukas
family, in particular the Caesar
, John Doukas
who led the opposition of the palace officials to Romanos' authority, but also the Varangian Guard
, who openly expressed their discontent at the marriage of Eudokia. Romanos therefore decided that he could only exercise his authority by placing himself at the head of the army in the field, thereby focusing the whole government's attention on the war against the Turks.
By 1067, the Turks had been making incursions at will into Mesopotamia
, Melitene, Syria
, Cilicia
and Cappadocia, culminating with the sack of Caesarea and the plundering of the Church of St Basil. That winter they camped on the frontiers of the empire, and waited for the next year's campaigning season. Romanos was confident of Byzantine superiority on the field of battle, looking on the Turks as little more than hordes of robbers who would melt away at the first encounter. He did not take into account the degraded state of the Byzantine forces which had suffered years of neglect from his predecessors, in particular Constantine X. His forces, mostly composed of Sclavonia
n, Armenia
n, Bulgaria
n, and Frankish
mercenaries, were ill-disciplined, disorganised and uncoordinated, and he was not prepared to spend time in upgrading the arms, armour or tactics of the once feared Byzantine army. It was soon evident that while Romanos was not devoid of military talent, his main flaw was his impetuosity.
was exposed to the Saracens of Aleppo
who, with help from Turkish troops, began an attempt to reconquer the Byzantine province of Syria. Romanos began marching to the southeastern frontier of the empire to deal with this threat, but as he was advancing towards Lykandos
, he received word that a Seljuk army had made an incursion into Pontus
and plundered Neocaesarea
. Immediately he selected a small mobile force and quickly raced through Sebaste
and the mountains of Tephrike to encounter the Turks on the road, forcing them to abandon their plunder and release their prisoners, though a large number of the Turkish troops managed to escape.
Returning south, Romanos rejoined the main army and they continued their advance through the passes of Mount Taurus to the north of Germanicia and proceeded to invade the Emirate
of Aleppo. Romanos captured Hierapolis which he fortified to provide protection against further incursions into the south-eastern provinces of the empire. He then engaged in further fighting against the Saracens of Aleppo but neither side managed a decisive victory. With the campaigning season reaching its end, Romanos returned north via Alexandretta and the Cilician Gates
to Podandos. Here he was advised of another Seljuk raid into Asia Minor
which saw them sack Amorium
, but they had returned to their base so fast that Romanos was in no position to give chase, and he eventually reached Constantinople
by January 1069.
Plans for the following year's campaigning were initially thrown into chaos by a rebellion by one of Romanos' Norman mercenaries, Crispin, who led a contingent of Frankish troops in the pay of the empire. Possibly due to Romanos not paying them on time, they began plundering the countryside near where they were stationed, and attacking the imperial tax collectors. Although Crispin was captured and exiled to Abydos, the Franks continued to ravage the Armeniac Theme
for some time. In the meantime, the land around Caesarea was again overrun by the Turks, forcing Romanos to spend precious time and energy in expelling the Turks from Cappadocia. Desperate to begin his campaign proper, he ordered the execution of all prisoners, even a Seljuk chieftain who offered to pay an immense ransom for his life. Having brought a measure of peace to the province, Romanos marched towards the Euphrates
via Melitene, and crossed the river at Romanopolis, hoping to take Akhlat on Lake Van
and thus protect the Armenian frontier.
Romanos placed himself at the head of a substantial body of troops, and began his march towards Akhlat, leaving the bulk of the army under the command of Philaretos Brachamios
with orders to defend the Mesopotamian frontier. Philaretos was soon defeated by the Turks, whose sack of Iconium
forced Romanos to abandon his plans and return to Sebaste. He sent orders to the Dux
of Antioch to secure the passes at Mopsuestia
, while he attempted to run down the Turks at Heracleia
. The Turks were soon hemmed in the mountains of Cilicia
, but managed to escape to Aleppo after abandoning their plunder. Romanos once again returned to Constantinople without the great victory he was hoping for.
into Norman hands. They had been besieging it since 1068, but it had taken Romanos two years to finally get around to doing anything about it. He ordered a relief fleet to set sail, containing sufficient provisions and troops to enable them to hold out for much longer. But the fleet was intercepted and defeated by a Norman squadron under the command of Roger
, the younger brother of Robert Guiscard
, forcing the final remaining outpost of Byzantine authority in Italy
to surrender on April 15, 1071.
While this was playing out, Romanos was undertaking a number of unpopular reforms at home. He reduced a great deal of unnecessary public expenditure that was wasted on useless court ceremonials and beautifying the capital. He reduced the public salaries that were paid to much of the court nobility, as well as reducing the profits of tradesmen. His preoccupation with the military had also made him unpopular with the provincial governors and the military hierarchy, as he was determined to ensure they could not abuse their positions, especially through corrupt practices. He incurred the displeasure of the mercenaries by enforcing much needed discipline. Romanos was also deeply unpopular with the common people, as he neglected to entertain them with games at the hippodrome
, nor did he alleviate the burdens of the peasants in the provinces. All this animosity would help his enemies when the time came that they moved against him.
Nevertheless, he did not forget his principal target, the Turks. Being unable to go on campaign himself, he entrusted the imperial army to one of his generals, Manuel Komnenos, nephew of the former emperor Isaac I, and elder brother to the future emperor Alexios
. He managed to engage the Turks in battle, but was defeated and taken prisoner by a Turkish general named Khroudj. Manuel convinced Khroudj to go to Constantinople and see Romanos in person to conclude an alliance, which was soon completed. This act motivated the Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan
to attack the Byzantine Empire, besieging and capturing the important Byzantine fortresses of Manzikert and Archesh. Romanos, in return, offered to officially exchange Manzikert and Archesh for Hieropolis in Syria
, which Romanos had taken three years previously.
Early in the spring of 1071, whilst conducting negotiations with Alp Arslan over Manzikert, Romanos marched at the head of a large army with the intent of recovering the fortress. It was soon evident that the army had a serious discipline problem, with soldiers regularly pillaging the area around their nightly camps. When Romanos attempted to enforce some stricter discipline, a whole regiment of German mercenaries mutinied, which the emperor only managed to control with the greatest difficulty.
Believing that Alp Arslan was nowhere near Manzikert, he decided to divide his army. One part of the army he dispatched to attack Akhlat, at that time in possession of the Turks. Romanos himself advanced with the main body of the army on Manzikert, which he soon recaptured. At this point his advance guard met the Seljuk army which was rapidly approaching Manzikert. Romanos ordered the forces attacking Akhlat to rejoin the army, but their portion of the army unexpectedly came across another large Turkish army, forcing their retreat back into Mesopotamia. Already under strength, Romanos' army was further weakened when his Uzes mercenaries deserted to the Turks.
Arslan had no desire to take on the Byzantine army, and so proposed a peace treaty with favourable terms for Romanos. The emperor, eager for a decisive military victory, rejected the offer, and both armies lined up for a battle, which took place on August 26, 1071. The battle lasted all day without either side gaining any decisive advantage, until the emperor ordered a part of his centre to return to camp; the order was misunderstood by the right wing, and Andronikos Doukas, who commanded the reserves, and was the son of Caesar John Doukas, took advantage of the confusion to betray Romanos. Claiming that Romanos was dead, he marched away from the battle with some 30,000 men, instead of covering the emperor's retreat. The Turks now began to press in on the Byzantine army.
When Romanos discovered what had happened, he tried to recover the situation by making a defiant stand. He fought on valiantly after his horse was killed under him, but receiving a wound in the hand which prevented him from wielding a sword, he was soon taken prisoner.
According to a number of Byzantine historians, including John Skylitzes
, Arslan at first had difficulty believing the dusty and tattered warrior brought before him was the Roman Emperor. He then stepped down from his seat and placed his foot on Romanos' neck. But after this sign of ritual humiliation, Arslan raised Romanos from the ground, and ordered him to be treated like a king. From then on he treated him with extreme kindness, never saying a cruel word to him in the Emperor's eight-day stay in his camp, and then released him in exchange for a treaty and the promise of a hefty ransom. At first Alp Arslan suggested a ransom of 10,000,000 nomismata to Romanos IV, but he later reduced it to 1,500,000 nomismata with a further 360,000 nomismata annually.
forced Eudokia to retire to a monastery, and easily prevailed upon Michael VII to declare Romanos IV deposed. They then refused to honor the agreement made between Arslan and the former emperor. Romanos soon returned and he and the Doukas family gathered troops. A battle was fought at Dokeia between Constantine and Andronikos Doukas and Romanos, in which the army of Romanos was defeated, forcing him to retreat to the fortress of Tyropoion, and from there to Adana
in Cilicia. Pursued by Andronikos, he was eventually forced to surrender by the garrison at Adana upon receiving assurances of his personal safety. Before leaving the fortress, he collected all the money he could lay his hands on and sent it to the Sultan as proof of his good faith, along with a message: "As emperor, I promised you a ransom of a million and a half. Dethroned, and about to become dependent upon others, I send you all I possess as proof of my gratitude".
Andronikos stipulated that his life would be spared if he resigned the purple and retired into a monastery. Romanos agreed, and this agreement was ratified at Constantinople. However, John Doukas reneged on the agreement, and sent men to have Romanos cruelly blinded
on June 29, 1072, before sending him into exile to Prote
in the Sea of Marmara
. Without medical assistance, his wound became infected, and he soon endured a painfully lingering death. The final insult was given a few days before his death, when Romanos received a letter from Michael Psellos, congratulating him on the loss of his eyes. He finally died, praying for the forgiveness of his sins, and his wife Eudokia was permitted to honor his remains with a magnificent funeral.
, Romanos IV Diogenes had at least one son:
By his second wife, the Empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa
, he had:
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: Ρωμανός Δ΄ Διογένης, Rōmanos IV Diogenēs) was a member of the Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
military aristocracy who, after his marriage to the widowed empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa
Eudokia Makrembolitissa
Eudokia Makrembolitissa was the second wife of the Byzantine emperor Constantine X Doukas. After his death she acted as regent and became the wife of Romanos IV Diogenes...
was crowned Byzantine emperor and reigned from 1068 to 1071. During his reign he was determined to halt the decline of the Byzantine military and stop Turkish incursions into the Byzantine Empire, but in 1071 he was captured and his army routed at the Battle of Manzikert
Battle of Manzikert
The Battle of Manzikert , was fought between the Byzantine Empire and Seljuq Turks led by Alp Arslan on August 26, 1071 near Manzikert...
. While still captive he was overthrown in a palace coup, and when released he was quickly defeated and detained by members of the Doukas
Doukas
Doukas, latinized as Ducas , from the Latin tile dux , is the name of a Byzantine Greek noble family, whose branches provided several notable generals and rulers to the Byzantine Empire...
family. In 1072, he was blinded and sent to a monastery where he died of his wounds.
Accession to the throne
Romanos Diogenes was the son of Constantine DiogenesConstantine Diogenes
Constantine Diogenes was a prominent Byzantine Greek general of the early 11th century, active in the Balkans.Constantine Diogenes is the first notable member of the noble Cappadocian Diogenes family, which played an important role in 11th-century Byzantium. Constantine began his career as a...
and a member of a prominent and powerful Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
n family, connected by birth to most of the great aristocratic nobles in Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
. His mother was an anonymous daughter of Basil Argyros
Basil Argyros
Agent of Byzantium is a collection of short stories by Harry Turtledove, centred around the exploits of the eponymous Basil Argyros, a Byzantine secret agent...
, brother of the emperor Romanos III
Romanos III
Romanos III Argyros was Byzantine emperor from 15 November 1028 until his death.-Biography:...
.
Courageous and generous, but also quite impetuous, Romanos's military talents had seen him rise with distinction in the army, including serving on the Danubian frontier but he was eventually convicted of attempting to usurp the throne of the sons of Constantine X Doukas in 1067. While waiting to receive his sentence from the regent Eudokia Makrembolitissa
Eudokia Makrembolitissa
Eudokia Makrembolitissa was the second wife of the Byzantine emperor Constantine X Doukas. After his death she acted as regent and became the wife of Romanos IV Diogenes...
, he was summoned into her presence and advised that she had pardoned him and that furthermore she had chosen him to be her husband and the guardian of her sons as emperor. She took this course of action firstly due to her concern that unless she managed to find a powerful husband, she could easily lose the regency to any unscrupulous noble, and secondly because she was infatuated with the popular Romanus. Her decision was met with little protest as the Seljuk
Great Seljuq Empire
The Great Seljuq Empire was a medieval Persianate, Turko-Persian Sunni Muslim empire, originating from the Qynyq branch of Oghuz Turks. The Seljuq Empire controlled a vast area stretching from the Hindu Kush to eastern Anatolia and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf...
Turks had overrun much of Cappadocia and had even taken the important city of Caesarea
Kayseri
Kayseri is a large and industrialized city in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Kayseri Province. The city of Kayseri, as defined by the boundaries of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality, is structurally composed of five metropolitan districts, the two core districts of Kocasinan and...
, meaning that the army needed to be placed under the command of an able and energetic general.
The problem Romanus and Eudokia had in executing this plan was that Eudokia's deceased husband, Constantine X, had made her swear an oath never to remarry. She approached the Patriarch
Patriarch of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarch is the Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome – ranking as primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which is seen by followers as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church....
John Xiphilinos
Patriarch John VIII of Constantinople
John VIII Xiphilinus , a native of Trebizond, was patriarch of Constantinople from 1064-1075. He was the uncle of John Xiphilinus the Epimator. John VIII also wrote a hagiography of Saint Eugenios of Trebizond....
and convinced him both to hand over the written oath she had signed to this effect, and to have him pronounce that he was in favour of a second marriage for the good of the state. The Senate
Byzantine Senate
The Byzantine Senate or Eastern Roman Senate was the continuation of the Roman Senate, established in the 4th century by Constantine I. It survived for centuries but was increasingly irrelevant until its eventual disappearance in the 13th century....
agreed, and on January 1, 1068 Romanus married the empress and was crowned Emperor of the Romans.
Campaigns against the Turks
Romanus IV was now the senior emperor and guardian of his stepsons and junior co-emperors, Michael VII, Konstantios DoukasKonstantios Doukas
Konstantios Doukas , Latinized as Constantius Ducas, was the son of Byzantine Emperor Constantine X Doukas and younger brother of Byzantine Emperor Michael VII Doukas...
, and Andronikos Doukas
Andronikos Doukas (co-emperor)
Andronikos Doukas , Latinized as Andronicus Ducas, was the third son of Byzantine Emperor Constantine X Doukas and younger brother of Byzantine Emperor Michael VII Doukas . Unlike his other brothers, he was not named junior co-emperor by his father, and was raised to the dignity only by Romanos IV...
. However, his elevation had antagonised not only the Doukas
Doukas
Doukas, latinized as Ducas , from the Latin tile dux , is the name of a Byzantine Greek noble family, whose branches provided several notable generals and rulers to the Byzantine Empire...
family, in particular the Caesar
Caesar (title)
Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator...
, John Doukas
John Doukas, Caesar
John Doukas was the son of Andronikos Doukas, a Paphlagonian nobleman who may have served as governor of the theme of Moesia and younger brother of Emperor Constantine X Doukas...
who led the opposition of the palace officials to Romanos' authority, but also the Varangian Guard
Varangian Guard
The Varangian Guard was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army in 10th to the 14th centuries, whose members served as personal bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperors....
, who openly expressed their discontent at the marriage of Eudokia. Romanos therefore decided that he could only exercise his authority by placing himself at the head of the army in the field, thereby focusing the whole government's attention on the war against the Turks.
By 1067, the Turks had been making incursions at will into Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
, Melitene, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Cilicia
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
and Cappadocia, culminating with the sack of Caesarea and the plundering of the Church of St Basil. That winter they camped on the frontiers of the empire, and waited for the next year's campaigning season. Romanos was confident of Byzantine superiority on the field of battle, looking on the Turks as little more than hordes of robbers who would melt away at the first encounter. He did not take into account the degraded state of the Byzantine forces which had suffered years of neglect from his predecessors, in particular Constantine X. His forces, mostly composed of Sclavonia
Slavonia
Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...
n, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n, and Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
mercenaries, were ill-disciplined, disorganised and uncoordinated, and he was not prepared to spend time in upgrading the arms, armour or tactics of the once feared Byzantine army. It was soon evident that while Romanos was not devoid of military talent, his main flaw was his impetuosity.
Campaign of 1068
The first military operations of Romanos did achieve a measure of success, reinforcing his opinions about the outcome of the war. AntiochAntioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
was exposed to the Saracens of Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
who, with help from Turkish troops, began an attempt to reconquer the Byzantine province of Syria. Romanos began marching to the southeastern frontier of the empire to deal with this threat, but as he was advancing towards Lykandos
Lykandos
Lykandos or Lycandus was the name of a Byzantine fortress and military-civilian province , known as the Theme of Lykandos, in the 10th–11th centuries.-History:...
, he received word that a Seljuk army had made an incursion into Pontus
Pontus
Pontus or Pontos is a historical Greek designation for a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in modern-day northeastern Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region in antiquity by the Greeks who colonized the area, and derived from the Greek name of the Black Sea: Πόντος...
and plundered Neocaesarea
Niksar
Niksar is a city in Tokat Province, Turkey. It has been settled by many empires over the centuries, and it was once the capital city of the province.At 350 m...
. Immediately he selected a small mobile force and quickly raced through Sebaste
Elaiussa Sebaste
Elaiussa Sebaste or Elaeousa Sebaste was an ancient Roman town located from Mersin in the direction of Silifke in Cilicia on the southern coast of Anatolia . Elaiussa, meaning olive, was founded in the 2nd century B.C...
and the mountains of Tephrike to encounter the Turks on the road, forcing them to abandon their plunder and release their prisoners, though a large number of the Turkish troops managed to escape.
Returning south, Romanos rejoined the main army and they continued their advance through the passes of Mount Taurus to the north of Germanicia and proceeded to invade the Emirate
Emirate
An emirate is a political territory that is ruled by a dynastic Muslim monarch styled emir.-Etymology:Etymologically emirate or amirate is the quality, dignity, office or territorial competence of any emir ....
of Aleppo. Romanos captured Hierapolis which he fortified to provide protection against further incursions into the south-eastern provinces of the empire. He then engaged in further fighting against the Saracens of Aleppo but neither side managed a decisive victory. With the campaigning season reaching its end, Romanos returned north via Alexandretta and the Cilician Gates
Cilician Gates
The Cilician Gates or Gülek Pass is a pass through the Taurus Mountains connecting the low plains of Cilicia to the Anatolian Plateau, by way of the narrow gorge of the Gökoluk River. Its highest elevation is about 1000m....
to Podandos. Here he was advised of another Seljuk raid into Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
which saw them sack Amorium
Amorium
Amorium was a city in Phrygia, Asia Minor which was founded in the Hellenistic period, flourished under the Byzantine Empire, and declined after the Arab sack of 838. Its ruins are located near the village of Hisarköy, Turkey....
, but they had returned to their base so fast that Romanos was in no position to give chase, and he eventually reached 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:...
by January 1069.
Campaign of 1069
Armeniac Theme
The Armeniac Theme , more properly the Theme of the Armeniacs was a Byzantine theme located in northeastern Asia Minor .-History:...
for some time. In the meantime, the land around Caesarea was again overrun by the Turks, forcing Romanos to spend precious time and energy in expelling the Turks from Cappadocia. Desperate to begin his campaign proper, he ordered the execution of all prisoners, even a Seljuk chieftain who offered to pay an immense ransom for his life. Having brought a measure of peace to the province, Romanos marched towards the Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
via Melitene, and crossed the river at Romanopolis, hoping to take Akhlat on Lake Van
Lake Van
Lake Van is the largest lake in Turkey, located in the far east of the country in Van district. It is a saline and soda lake, receiving water from numerous small streams that descend from the surrounding mountains. Lake Van is one of the world's largest endorheic lakes . The original outlet from...
and thus protect the Armenian frontier.
Romanos placed himself at the head of a substantial body of troops, and began his march towards Akhlat, leaving the bulk of the army under the command of Philaretos Brachamios
Philaretos Brachamios
Philaretos Brachamios was a distinguished Byzantine general and warlord of Armenian heritage, and for a time was a usurper against emperor Michael VII...
with orders to defend the Mesopotamian frontier. Philaretos was soon defeated by the Turks, whose sack of Iconium
Konya
Konya is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. The metropolitan area in the entire Konya Province had a population of 1,036,027 as of 2010, making the city seventh most populous in Turkey.-Etymology:...
forced Romanos to abandon his plans and return to Sebaste. He sent orders to the Dux
Dux
Dux is Latin for leader and later for Duke and its variant forms ....
of Antioch to secure the passes at Mopsuestia
Mopsuestia
Mopsuestia , later Mamistra, is the ancient city of Cilicia Campestris on the Pyramus river located approximately 20 km east of ancient Antiochia in Cilicia .The founding of this city is attributed in legend to the soothsayer, Mopsus, who lived before the Trojan war, although...
, while he attempted to run down the Turks at Heracleia
Heraclea Cybistra
Heraclea Cybistra , under the name Cybistra, had some importance in Hellenistic times owing to its position near the point where the road to the Cilician Gates enters the hills. It lay in the way of armies and was more than once sacked by the Arab invaders of Asia Minor...
. The Turks were soon hemmed in the mountains of Cilicia
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
, but managed to escape to Aleppo after abandoning their plunder. Romanos once again returned to Constantinople without the great victory he was hoping for.
Affairs at Constantinople
1070 saw Romanos detained at Constantinople while he dealt with many outstanding administrative issues, including the imminent fall of BariBari
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...
into Norman hands. They had been besieging it since 1068, but it had taken Romanos two years to finally get around to doing anything about it. He ordered a relief fleet to set sail, containing sufficient provisions and troops to enable them to hold out for much longer. But the fleet was intercepted and defeated by a Norman squadron under the command of Roger
Roger I of Sicily
Roger I , called Bosso and the Great Count, was the Norman Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101. He was the last great leader of the Norman conquest of southern Italy.-Conquest of Calabria and Sicily:...
, the younger brother of Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard
Robert d'Hauteville, known as Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, from Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, the Fox, or the Weasel was a Norman adventurer conspicuous in the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily...
, forcing the final remaining outpost of Byzantine authority in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to surrender on April 15, 1071.
While this was playing out, Romanos was undertaking a number of unpopular reforms at home. He reduced a great deal of unnecessary public expenditure that was wasted on useless court ceremonials and beautifying the capital. He reduced the public salaries that were paid to much of the court nobility, as well as reducing the profits of tradesmen. His preoccupation with the military had also made him unpopular with the provincial governors and the military hierarchy, as he was determined to ensure they could not abuse their positions, especially through corrupt practices. He incurred the displeasure of the mercenaries by enforcing much needed discipline. Romanos was also deeply unpopular with the common people, as he neglected to entertain them with games at the hippodrome
Hippodrome of Constantinople
The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydanı in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with only a few fragments of the original structure surviving...
, nor did he alleviate the burdens of the peasants in the provinces. All this animosity would help his enemies when the time came that they moved against him.
Nevertheless, he did not forget his principal target, the Turks. Being unable to go on campaign himself, he entrusted the imperial army to one of his generals, Manuel Komnenos, nephew of the former emperor Isaac I, and elder brother to the future emperor Alexios
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus , was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and although he was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power. The title 'Nobilissimus' was given to senior army commanders,...
. He managed to engage the Turks in battle, but was defeated and taken prisoner by a Turkish general named Khroudj. Manuel convinced Khroudj to go to Constantinople and see Romanos in person to conclude an alliance, which was soon completed. This act motivated the Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan
Alp Arslan
Alp Arslan was the third sultan of the Seljuq dynasty and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty...
to attack the Byzantine Empire, besieging and capturing the important Byzantine fortresses of Manzikert and Archesh. Romanos, in return, offered to officially exchange Manzikert and Archesh for Hieropolis in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, which Romanos had taken three years previously.
Battle of Manzikert and capture by Alp Arslan
Believing that Alp Arslan was nowhere near Manzikert, he decided to divide his army. One part of the army he dispatched to attack Akhlat, at that time in possession of the Turks. Romanos himself advanced with the main body of the army on Manzikert, which he soon recaptured. At this point his advance guard met the Seljuk army which was rapidly approaching Manzikert. Romanos ordered the forces attacking Akhlat to rejoin the army, but their portion of the army unexpectedly came across another large Turkish army, forcing their retreat back into Mesopotamia. Already under strength, Romanos' army was further weakened when his Uzes mercenaries deserted to the Turks.
Arslan had no desire to take on the Byzantine army, and so proposed a peace treaty with favourable terms for Romanos. The emperor, eager for a decisive military victory, rejected the offer, and both armies lined up for a battle, which took place on August 26, 1071. The battle lasted all day without either side gaining any decisive advantage, until the emperor ordered a part of his centre to return to camp; the order was misunderstood by the right wing, and Andronikos Doukas, who commanded the reserves, and was the son of Caesar John Doukas, took advantage of the confusion to betray Romanos. Claiming that Romanos was dead, he marched away from the battle with some 30,000 men, instead of covering the emperor's retreat. The Turks now began to press in on the Byzantine army.
When Romanos discovered what had happened, he tried to recover the situation by making a defiant stand. He fought on valiantly after his horse was killed under him, but receiving a wound in the hand which prevented him from wielding a sword, he was soon taken prisoner.
According to a number of Byzantine historians, including John Skylitzes
John Skylitzes
John Skylitzes, latinized as Ioannes Scylitzes was a Greek historian of the late 11th century. He was born in the beginning of 1040's and died after 1101.- Life :Very little is known about his life...
, Arslan at first had difficulty believing the dusty and tattered warrior brought before him was the Roman Emperor. He then stepped down from his seat and placed his foot on Romanos' neck. But after this sign of ritual humiliation, Arslan raised Romanos from the ground, and ordered him to be treated like a king. From then on he treated him with extreme kindness, never saying a cruel word to him in the Emperor's eight-day stay in his camp, and then released him in exchange for a treaty and the promise of a hefty ransom. At first Alp Arslan suggested a ransom of 10,000,000 nomismata to Romanos IV, but he later reduced it to 1,500,000 nomismata with a further 360,000 nomismata annually.
Betrayal
In the meantime, the opposition faction scheming against Romanos IV decided to exploit the situation. The Caesar John Doukas and Michael PsellosMichael Psellos
Michael Psellos or Psellus was a Byzantine monk, writer, philosopher, politician and historian...
forced Eudokia to retire to a monastery, and easily prevailed upon Michael VII to declare Romanos IV deposed. They then refused to honor the agreement made between Arslan and the former emperor. Romanos soon returned and he and the Doukas family gathered troops. A battle was fought at Dokeia between Constantine and Andronikos Doukas and Romanos, in which the army of Romanos was defeated, forcing him to retreat to the fortress of Tyropoion, and from there to Adana
Adana
Adana is a city in southern Turkey and a major agricultural and commercial center. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, 30 kilometres inland from the Mediterranean, in south-central Anatolia...
in Cilicia. Pursued by Andronikos, he was eventually forced to surrender by the garrison at Adana upon receiving assurances of his personal safety. Before leaving the fortress, he collected all the money he could lay his hands on and sent it to the Sultan as proof of his good faith, along with a message: "As emperor, I promised you a ransom of a million and a half. Dethroned, and about to become dependent upon others, I send you all I possess as proof of my gratitude".
Andronikos stipulated that his life would be spared if he resigned the purple and retired into a monastery. Romanos agreed, and this agreement was ratified at Constantinople. However, John Doukas reneged on the agreement, and sent men to have Romanos cruelly blinded
Political mutilation in Byzantine culture
Mutilation in the Byzantine Empire was a common method of punishment for criminals of the era but it also had a role in the Empire's political life. The mutilation of political rivals by the Emperor was deemed an effective way of sidelining from the line of succession a person who was seen as a...
on June 29, 1072, before sending him into exile to Prote
Kinaliada
Kınalıada is an island in the Sea of Marmara; it is the closest of the Princes' Islands to Istanbul, Turkey, about south. Administratively, it is a neighbourhood in the Adalar district of Istanbul....
in the Sea of Marmara
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis , is the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's Asian and European parts. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black...
. Without medical assistance, his wound became infected, and he soon endured a painfully lingering death. The final insult was given a few days before his death, when Romanos received a letter from Michael Psellos, congratulating him on the loss of his eyes. He finally died, praying for the forgiveness of his sins, and his wife Eudokia was permitted to honor his remains with a magnificent funeral.
Family
By his first wife Anna, a daughter of Alusian of BulgariaAlusian of Bulgaria
Alusian was a Bulgarian and Byzantine noble who ruled as emperor of Bulgaria for a short time in 1041.-Life:Alusian was the second son of Emperor Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria by his wife Maria...
, Romanos IV Diogenes had at least one son:
- Constantine Diogenes, who was married to Theodora, sister of Alexios I Komnenos. This marriage was arranged by Anna DalassenaAnna DalassenaAnna Dalassene was an important Byzantine noblewoman who played a significant role in the rise of the Komnenoi in the eleventh century. As Augusta, a title bestowed upon her rather than the empress by her son, Alexios I Komnenos, she guided the empire during his many absences for long military...
after the death of Romanos IV, but it was short-lived, as Constantine perished under the walls of AntiochAntiochAntioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
in 1073 while serving with his brother-in-law Isaac Komnenos.
By his second wife, the Empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa
Eudokia Makrembolitissa
Eudokia Makrembolitissa was the second wife of the Byzantine emperor Constantine X Doukas. After his death she acted as regent and became the wife of Romanos IV Diogenes...
, he had:
- Leo DiogenesLeo DiogenesLeo Diogenes was the son of Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes and Eudokia Makrembolitissa. Crowned co-emperor during his father's reign, he later served in the armies of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.- Life :...
– born in 1069, and according to Anna Comnena was made co-emperor during his father's reign. In the reign of Alexius I, he was taken into the imperial palace and given various high commands. He died in Alexius's campaigns against the Pechenegs in 1087. - Nikephoros DiogenesNikephoros DiogenesNikephoros Diogenes , latinized as Nicephorus Diogenes, was the son of Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes and Eudokia Makrembolitissa. Crowned co-emperor during his father's reign, he later served as a general during the reign of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, scoring successes in the Byzantine...
– born in 1070.
Primary Sources
- (primary source) Michael Psellus, Chronographia.
- Anna Comnena, The Alexiad
Secondary Sources
- George Finlay, History of the Byzantine and Greek Empires from 1057–1453, Volume 2, William Blackwood & Sons, 1854
- Lynda Garland, 'Anna Dalassena, Mother of Alexius I Comnenus (1081–1118)', DIR http://www.roman-emperors.org/annadal.htm Cheynet, J.C. & Vannier, J.F. Les Argyroi. Zbornik Radova Vizantološkog Instituta40 (2003): 57-90