Romanos IV.

Parisian diptych with Romanos IV and Empress Eudokia (identification uncertain)

Alp Arslan humiliates Romanos IV, manuscript 15th century

Romanos IV. Diogenes ( Middle Greek Ρωμανὸς Δʹ Διογένης ; † 1072 ) was Byzantine emperor ( Basileus ) from 1068 to 1071 .

Life

Romanos came from a respected Anatolian aristocratic family and was governor of Serdica (today: Sofia ). His military career began under Emperor Constantine X , where he distinguished himself in the fight against the Pechenegs . In 1067 he was charged with taking part in a conspiracy against Constantine X, summoned to Constantinople (now Istanbul) and sentenced to death. The sentence was converted into exile and overturned on May 21, 1067 after Constantine's death.

In his first marriage he was married to Anna, daughter of Alusian , Tsar of the Bulgarians from the Komitopuli family. With her he had a son, Constantine Diogenes , who died in 1074 in a battle near Antioch against the Seljuks . After the death of Constantine X, he married his widow Eudokia in 1068 and was made co-emperor. The three sons of Constantine, Michael , Andronikos and Konstantios , were formally involved in the government, while the influential Dukas family headed by Emperor Johannes Dukas stood in opposition to him. Two other sons of the imperial couple, Leon and Nikephoros Diogenes , who were born in 1069 and 1070, also advanced to become co-emperors.

Romanos initially fought victoriously against the Seljuks in Asia Minor , but was defeated and captured by Sultan Alp Arslan in the Battle of Mantzikert in 1071 (after Valerian he was the second emperor in Roman-Byzantine history to suffer this). He was released against payment of a ransom and a peace treaty. The following dialogue between the two rulers has been handed down:

Alp Arslan : "What would you do if I were brought to you as a prisoner?"

Romanos : "Maybe I would have killed you or exhibited you in the streets of Constantinople."

Alp Arslan : “My punishment is much harder. I forgive you and set you free. "

In the meantime, his political opponents had put the son of Constantine X, Michael VII , on the throne. Romanos tried to take action against him but was defeated and captured. He was tortured and blinded in late June 1072; a red-hot iron was thrust into his eye socket three times. According to a report by Michael Attaleiates , the wound became infected and was infected with maggots that "fell from his face". Romanos was exiled to the island of Proti , the fourth largest of the Princes' Islands off Constantinople, where he died a few days later as a result of the injury.

The treaty concluded by Romanos was no longer recognized by the Seljuks after his fall. As a result, the Seljuks under Sultan Malik Shah I , the son of Alp Arslan, conquered large parts of Byzantine Anatolia .

sources

• Dimitris Krallis, Anthony Kaldellis (eds.): Michael Attaleiates: The History (= Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library. 16). Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA et al. 2012, ISBN 978-0-674-05799-9 (original text and English translation).
• Diether Roderich Reinsch (Ed.): Michaelis Pselli chronographia (= Millennium Studies , Vol. 51). De Gruyter, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-11-034548-3 .

Remarks

1. ↑ Michael Neumann-Adrian, Christoph K. Neumann : Turkey. One country and 9,000 years of history. List, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-471-78225-7 , p. 148.

literature

• Charles M. Brand, Anthony Cutler: Romanos IV Diogenes. In: Alexander P. Kazhdan (Ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford University Press, New York NY et al. 1991, ISBN 0-19-504652-8 .
• Wolfram Brandes : Romanos IV. Diogenes . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA) . tape 7 . LexMA-Verlag, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-7608-8907-7 , Sp. 1000 f .
• Jean-Claude Cheynet: Pouvoir et contestations à Byzance (963-1210) (= Publications de la Sorbonne. Série Byzantina Sorbonensia. Vol. 9). Reimpression. Publications de la Sorbonne Center de Recherches d'Histoire et de Civilization Byzantines, Paris 1996, ISBN 2-85944-168-5 , pp. 74-75 No. 91, pp. 76-77 No. 95.
• Николай А. Скабаланович: Византійское государство и церковь въ ХІ вѣкѣ. Тип. Ф.Елеонского, Санкт-Петербург 1884, pp. 98-109.

predecessor	government office	successor
Constantine X.	Emperor of Byzantium 1068-1071	Michael VII