Romanos III Argyros

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Romanos III Argyros
Zoë Porphyrogenita
Issueby Helena
A daughter[citation needed]
DynastyMacedonian/Argyros
FatherMarianos Argyros

Romanos III Argyros (

Zoë
. Upon Constantine's death three days later, Romanos took the throne.

Romanos has been recorded as a well-meaning but ineffective emperor. He disorganised the tax system and undermined the military, personally leading a disastrous military expedition against Aleppo. He fell out with his wife and foiled several attempts on his throne, including two which revolved around his sister-in-law Theodora. He spent large amounts on the construction and repair of churches and monasteries. He died after six years on the throne, allegedly murdered, and was succeeded by his wife's young lover, Michael IV.

Life

Family and early career

Tetarteron of Romanos III.

Romanos Argyros, born in 968,[3] was probably the son of Mariano, a member of the Argyros family. Other candidates for his father are Pothos Argyros who defeated a Magyar raid in 958 (identified by some scholars with an older namesake), and Eustathios Argyros, known only for commissioning a poem in honour of Romanos II in 950.[4] Romanos' father, Marianos, was the son of another Romanos Argyros, who had married Agatha, a daughter of Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (r. 919–944).[5]

Romanos had several siblings:

magistros Basil Skleros;[3] a sister who married Constantine Karantenos, who served as doux of Antioch under Romanos;[7] and Maria Argyropoulina, who married Giovanni Orseolo, son of Doge Pietro II Orseolo.[7]

He served as krites (judge) in

urban prefect of Constantinople, which made him the formal head of the Senate and one of the emperor's chief lieutenants.[10]

Reign

Mosaic of Zoë at the Hagia Sophia.[a]

Late in 1028, Constantine VIII lay on his deathbed. Wishing to secure the Macedonian dynasty, but having no son, he summoned

Zoë. Dalassenos, the doux of Antioch, was an experienced military commander, influential patrician, and unswervingly loyal to the ruling house. The emperor's advisors preferred not to have a strong military figure as the new emperor, and persuaded the Emperor to choose Romanos instead, as a potentially more pliable and certainly less travelled candidate.[12][13] Constantine VIII forced Romanos to divorce his wife (who was sent to a monastery) and to marry Zoë, aged 50 at the time; Romanos was 60.[14] The marriage took place on 9 November 1028, and on the same ceremony Romanos was proclaimed caesar. Three days later, on 11 November, Constantine died of illness.[15][b]

The new emperor was eager to make his mark as a ruler, but was mostly ineffectual in his enterprises. He idealised Marcus Aurelius, aspiring to be a new philosopher king, and similarly sought to imitate the military prowess of Trajan.[1] He spent large sums on new buildings and in endowing churches and monasteries.[1] He endeavoured to relieve the pressure of taxation on the aristocracy, which undermined the finances of the state. Previous emperors had attempted to control the privileges of the nobles over the common people. Coming from the aristocracy himself, Romanos III abandoned this policy. This failure to stand up to the aristocrats allowed them to exploit the rural mass of landed peasantry, who increasingly fell into a condition of serfdom. This in turn undermined the traditional recruiting base of the Byzantine army. The combination of a reduced tax base and fewer native-born troops had long-term consequences. As revenue declined, the subsequent impoverishment of the state weakened the military's recruitment power still further.[18]

George Maniakes sends the letter of Christ to Romanos III.

In 1030 he resolved to lead an army in person against the

Mirdasids of Aleppo, despite their having accepted the Byzantines as overlords, with disastrous results.[19] The army camped at a waterless site and its scouts were ambushed. An attack by the Byzantine cavalry was defeated.[20] That night Romanos held an imperial council at which the demoralised Byzantines resolved to abandon the campaign and return to Byzantine territory. Romanos also ordered his siege engines to be burned.[21] On 10 August 1030 the army departed its camp and made for Antioch. Discipline broke down in the Byzantine army, with Armenian mercenaries using the withdrawal as an opportunity to pillage the camp's stores.[21] The Emir of Aleppo launched an attack and the imperial army broke and fled. Only the imperial bodyguard, the Hetaireia, held firm, but Romanos was nearly captured.[22] Accounts vary on the battle losses: John Skylitzes wrote that the Byzantines suffered a "terrible rout" and that some troops were killed in a chaotic stampede by their fellow soldiers,[20] Yahya of Antioch wrote that the Byzantines suffered remarkably few casualties.[23][24][20] According to Yahya, two high ranking Byzantine officers were among the fatalities, and another officer was captured by the Arabs.[20] After this defeat the army became a "laughing-stock".[22][19]

Arab cavalry pursue fleeing Byzantines after the Battle of Azaz

Despite his victory, the Emir of Aleppo opened negotiations and signed a treaty that made Aleppo an Imperial tributary and allowed for a Greek governor to preside over the city.

George Maniakes[26] and the sound defeat of a Saracen fleet in the Adriatic
did little to restore Romanos' early popularity.

After capturing Edessa, the army under George Maniakes defends the city from a counter-attack by the Saracens.
Arab captives, taken after the victory of Nikephoros Karantenos over an Arab fleet, are brought before Emperor Romanos III.

Romanos faced several conspiracies, mostly centred on his sister-in-law Theodora. In 1029 she planned to marry the Bulgarian prince Presian and to usurp the throne. The plot was discovered, Presian was blinded and tonsured as a monk but Theodora was not punished.[27] In 1031 she was implicated in another conspiracy, this time with Constantine Diogenes, the Archon of Sirmium,[23] and was forcibly confined in the monastery of Petrion.[28]

Empress Zoe tonsures Theodora after another failed conspiracy.

In a vain attempt to reduce expenditure, Romanos limited his wife's expenses, which merely exacerbated the alienation between the two.[18] Romanos took a mistress. Zoë in turn fell in love with Michael, the brother of high-ranking court eunuch John the Orphanotrophos. Romanos, unaware, allowed Michael to become one of his personal servants.[29] Having survived the attempts on his throne by Theodora, his death on 11 April 1034 was supposed to have been due to poison administered by his wife.[14][30] There is also speculation that he was drowned in a bath on his wife's orders.[14] He was buried in the Church of St. Mary Peribleptos, which he built.[31]

The murder of Romanos III Argyros in a bath, from the Chronicle of John Skylitzes.

Zoë and Michael were married on the same day that Romanos III died.

Alexios I to officiate in the coronation of the new emperor.[33] Although he initially refused to co-operate, the payment of 50 pounds of gold helped change his mind.[32] He proceeded to crown Michael IV as the new emperor of the Romans.[34][35]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Zoë's mosaic originally portrayed her alongside Romanos III, but was later reworked to portray Constantine IX Monomachos.[11]
  2. ^ Some sources give 11 November.[16][17]

References

  1. ^ a b c Ostrogorsky 1969, p. 322.
  2. ^ Kazhdan 1991, p. 1807.
  3. ^ a b Cheynet & Vannier 2003, p. 68.
  4. ^ Cheynet & Vannier 2003, pp. 64–65.
  5. ^ Cheynet & Vannier 2003, pp. 63–64, 68.
  6. ^ Cheynet & Vannier 2003, pp. 72–73.
  7. ^ a b c Cheynet & Vannier 2003, p. 73.
  8. ^ Cheynet & Vannier 2003, p. 69.
  9. ^ Cheynet & Vannier 2003, pp. 69–70.
  10. ^ a b Cheynet & Vannier 2003, p. 70.
  11. ^ Duggan 2002, pp. 141–142.
  12. ^ Patlagean 2007, pp. 131–132.
  13. ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 584.
  14. ^ a b c Duggan 2002, p. 145.
  15. Georgius Cedrenus − CSHB 9: 484–485
    .
  16. ^ Lupus Protospatharius; 1029. "On the eve of Martin of Tours", that is, the day before 12 November (unless it's referring to the very same day).
  17. ^ The Chronicle 15/7 of the Chronica byzantina breviora gives 11 November, although it also gives Basil II death as 12 December.
  18. ^ a b Ostrogorsky 1957, p. 286.
  19. ^ a b Shepard 2010, p. 102.
  20. ^ a b c d Wortley 2010, pp. 359–360.
  21. ^ a b Zakkar 1971, p. 116.
  22. ^ a b Norwich 1991, p. 273.
  23. ^ a b Kazhdan, p. 1807.
  24. ^ Sewter 1966, p. 43.
  25. ^ Stevenson 1968, p. 256.
  26. ^ Angold 2004, p. 224.
  27. ^ Garland 1999, pp. 161–162.
  28. ^ Finlay 1853, p. 471.
  29. ^ Norwich 1991, p. 276.
  30. Kedrenos used, erroneously gives 15 April, although it actually fell on 11 April, as the Lupus Protospatharius
    correctly reports."
  31. ^ Norwich 1991, pp. 279–280.
  32. ^ a b Garland, Zoë Porphyrogenita
  33. ^ Norwich, p. 279
  34. ^ Treadgold, p. 586
  35. ^ Finlay, p. 478

Sources

Further reading

External links
Romanos III Argyros
Born: 968 Died: 11 April 1034
Regnal titles
Preceded by Byzantine emperor
12 November 1028 – 11 April 1034 		Succeeded by
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