This mutual
warranty
was an old legacy from the Roman law as to the
сн.
сн.
Cambridge Medieval History - v4 - Eastern Roman Empire
It
was also the scene of his last triumph.
While Sclerus was gaining this brilliant success, his fleet under
the Admiral Curticius was being defeated and annihilated by the
imperial admiral, Theodore Carantenus. Nevertheless, the imperial pre-
tender advanced upon Constantinople, which was in a state of terror.
The situation was rendered graver by a revolt of the Bulgarians and a
Scarcity of soldiers. But once again the aged Basil saved the Empire,
this time by making an appeal to one of his former enemies, Bardas
Phocas, himself once a leader of revolt, who had been reduced to
impotence by the very Bardas Sclerus whom he was now about to meet
and overthrow. Bardas Phocas, having received full powers, did not
CH
. .
## p. 86 (#128) #############################################
86
Defeat of Sclerus: fall of the eunuch Basil
spend time over the defence of Constantinople. He threw himself into
Caesarea, where the broken remains of the imperial army lay under the
command of Maleinus, in order to take the army of Sclerus in the rear,
and oblige him to retrace his way into Asia Minor. This, in fact, was what
happened. Sclerus was forced to retreat from before Constantinople in
order to meet the danger from Phocas, whom he encountered not far from
Amorium in the plain of Pancalia. Here Phocas was defeated on 19 June
978, but was able to retire in good order to Charsianum, where he was
again beaten by Sclerus. Nevertheless, the game was not lost for the
imperialists. During the winter of 978-979 they obtained help from the
Curopalates of Iberia, and in the spring of 979, on 24 March, a fresh
battle was fought at Pancalia, ending, after a single combat between the
two namesakes, in the complete triumph of Phocas, the final defeat of the
rebel army, and the flight of the defeated pretender to Saracen soil.
Constantinople was thus saved.
Bardas Sclerus took refuge at Amida, and soon afterwards in the
summer of 979 was imprisoned at Baghdad with his family by the order
of the Caliph. At Constantinople it was desired that the rebel should be
handed over, and to obtain this object the parakoimomenos sent an embassy
to Baghdad headed by Nicephorus Uranus. It was unsuccessful. The
Caliph would not relax his hold on the prisoner, and Sclerus remained
in durance up to December 986. As to his followers, they were granted
an amnesty as early as 979 or 980.
But now it was the turn of the eunuch Basil. Hardly had the
Empire been momentarily saved from the revolt of Bardas Sclerus,
when the military conspirators within its borders, unmindful of the very
serious position of affairs in Italy, Bulgaria, and Syria, began plotting
anew as they had done under preceding Emperors. The parakoimo-
menos Basil, on the one hand, to whose energy the defeat of Sclerus was
due, felt himself, in spite of his immense services, more and more de-
serted by Basil II, who was becoming eager to govern in person; while on
the other hand, the great military leaders, Bardas Phocas and Leo Melis-
senus, were dreaming of a military dictatorship and looking back to their
illustrious predecessors such as Nicephorus and Tzimisces. They wanted a
part to play, and thought the rôle assigned them by the Emperor alto-
gether inadequate. For these reasons, and many others of which we are
ignorant, the whole body of great officers resolved to join hands in order
to rid themselves of Basil II. The conspiracy was hatched at Constanti-
nople, and appears to have had its ramifications in Syria and Bulgaria.
Unluckily for the plotters, the Emperor received timely warning, and the
latent antagonism between him and his old minister burst forth with
startling suddenness and violence (985). Roughly and without warning,
Basil snatched power from the hands of the parakoimomenos, drove him
from the palace, confined him to his house, and then banished him to
Bosphorus. The rest of the conspirators were now reduced to impotence,
## p. 87 (#129) #############################################
Conspiracy of Phocas and Sclerus
87
90
but the Emperor was not yet strong enough to punish all his enemies.
Melissenus and Phocas were spared. As to the parakoimomenos, his
immense fortune was confiscated, and he died soon after his fall, stripped
of everything and in a mental state bordering upon madness. Once again
plotting bad ended in a fiasco. It had served no other end than to
make the Emperor sure of himself, and to transform him wholly and
completely. “Basil,” says Zonaras, “became haughty, reserved, suspi-
cious, implacable in his anger. He finally abandoned his former life of
pleasure.
Basil II had not seen the last of ill-fortune with the fall of his minister.
Hardly was he set free from the arbitrary domination of the eunuch Basil,
when he was called upon to face fresh dangers. In the autumn of 986 he
had just returned to Constantinople, after having been defeated by the
Bulgarians on 17 August owing to lack of zeal on the part of his lieu-
tenants. Suddenly, while the Byzantine generals, Bardas Phocas at their
head, were plotting against their sovereign, the news came that Sclerus
had escaped from Baghdad, and for the second time had put forward his
pretensions at Malațīyah. It was the beginning of the year 987. Whether
he would or no, in order to win over Bardas Phocas, Basil was forced to
restore him in April to his dignity of Domestic of the Anatolian Scholae,
from which he had been dismissed after the plot of 985, and to despatch
him against Sclerus. Unfortunately, Phocas was devoid of scruples. In-
stead of doing the duty imposed on him, he betrayed his master and
entered into negotiations with Sclerus. This shews us in what peril Basil
stood. His position was further made worse by the fact that Phocas also
on 15 August 987 had himself proclaimed Emperor for the second time
with great pomp at Chresianus, nearly all the military officers rallying
round him! . Again civil war divided the Empire, while on the frontiers
the Bulgarians were making ready to invade its territory. Basil II could
not have escaped ruin had the two pretenders acted loyally towards one
another. Like professional thieves, they had agreed to march together
upon Constantinople and there to divide the Empire. Phocas was to have
the capital and the European provinces, Sclerus Asia Minor. But the
following incident intervened. More discerning than his father, young
Romanus Sclerus, divining Phocas' bad faith, refused to agree to the
proposed treaty, and going straight to Constantinople opened the
Emperor's eyes to the true state of affairs. And in truth he was right in
his suspicions, for during an interview between the two pretenders on
1 This shews what strange revulsions of fortune might be seen within a few years
at Constantinople. In 971 Bardas Phocas had himself proclaimed Emperor in OPP0-
sition to Tzimisces. Sclerus opposed and defeated him, and he retired into a convent
as a monk. In 976–977 it was Sclerus who broke out into revolt, while Phocas was
despatched against him. Ten years passed, and the two hostile leaders were again
on the scene, but this time they were acting in concert, both pretending to the
throne and both declared Emperors.
CH. IV.
## p. 88 (#130) #############################################
88
Collapse of rebellion
14 September 987, Phocas had Sclerus seized and deprived of his imperial
dignity, after which he was sent under a strong guard into confinement
at the castle of Tyropaeum in custody of Phocas' wife.
Phocas, now left to be the only pretender, at once hastened to ad-
vance upon Constantinople, nearly all Asia Minor being in his favour.
He arrived under the city walls probably in the early days of 988.
Part of his army encamped at Chrysopolis, the other half going to
besiege Abydos in order to seize at once upon the Straits, the fleet,
and the convoys which secured the food-supply of Constantinople.
Basil II faced ill-fortune with splendid energy. He had recourse to
Russia, and signed a treaty at Kiev which brought him the help of 6000
Varangians. The famous druzhina arrived during the spring of 988,
probably in April, and a few months later, in the summer, crossing over
to the coast of Asia Minor under Basil II, it met the enemy's forces in
the terrible battle of Chrysopolis, where victory remained with Basil.
Meanwhile, in the direction of Trebizond, a member of the princely
Armenian family of Taron was causing disquiet to the eastern wing of
Phocas' army, and forced the pretender to despatch his Iberian con-
tingents to the defence of their homes, while he himself hurried to
the help of his lieutenant, Leo Melissenus, at Abydos. It was around
this town that the final act in the drama took place. Constantine, Basil's
brother, was the first to set out for Abydos. He was soon followed by
Basil with the Russians, and in the spring of 989 the two armies met. The
decisive action took place on 13 April. By some accident which has
been explained, Phocas suddenly hurled himself in person against Basil, and
narrowly missing him fell dead without ever having been wounded. The
battle was now won. The rebel troops dispersed, and were cut in pieces
by the imperialists. Many prisoners were taken, and the leaders of the
revolt, with the exception of Melissenus, were executed. Basil II had
definitely triumphed over all rivals. Bardas Sclerus, it is true, was set at
liberty by Phocas' wife as soon as she learned the fate of her husband,
but his release profited him little. The new rebellion, begun in the
summer of 989, was quickly ended by a reconciliation between Basil II
and Sclerus. The latter secured his pardon, and the title of Curopalates.
All his adherents were also pardoned. The pacification was sealed by an
interview between Basil II and Sclerus in October 989. Sclerus, however,
did not long survive his fall. He died blind and in semi-captivity at
Didymotichus on 6 March 991.
During the thirteen years from 976 to 989 contemporary records,
which by the way are extremely meagre, speak of little beyond the
civil strife which dyed the Empire with blood. It is probable indeed
that all other administrative concerns were thrust into the background
by the ever fresh perils which menaced the Empire, for the few events
that are mentioned during the period all have a close connexion with
the civil war. One of the most important was unquestionably the resig-
never
## p. 89 (#131) #############################################
Ecclesiastical affairs
89
nation of the Patriarch, Anthony of Studion, in 980. We do not know
what caused his retirement from the Patriarchate, nor have we any
explanation of the fact that his successor, Nicholas Chrysoberges, was
not elected until 984. It seems, however, that the reason must be sought
in the revolt of Sclerus. Numerous small coincidences, indeed, lead
us to conjecture that Sclerus, who was brother-in-law of Tzimisces and
was chosen by him on his death-bed to be his successor, was always the
favourite candidate of the clergy, as Bardas Phocas was of the army. Now
as we know that it was on the occasion of the first defeat of Sclerus in
980 that Anthony was obliged to abdicate, we may conjecture the cause of
this event to have been the zeal displayed by the Patriarch and his clergy
in the cause of the pretender. For the rest, Anthony died soon after his ab-
dication in 980. But it was not until 984 that he was succeeded by Nicholas
Chrysoberges, who governed until 996, and of whom we know nothing
except that it was under his pontificate that the baptism of Vladímir and
his Russian subjects took place,
Another bishop, Agapius of Aleppo, distinguished himself at this
time by his share in the Sclerian revolt. On 28 May 986 Theodore of
Colonea, Patriarch of Antioch, died at Tarsus, as he was journey-
ing by sea to Constantinople. His city had fallen into the hands of
Sclerus, and the government desired above all things to regain pos-
session of so important a place. Agapius, Bishop of Aleppo, promised
that if he were appointed Patriarch he would bring about the return of
the town to its allegiance. He was consequently nominated and made
his entry into Antioch on 23 November 977. Thanks to his connivance
and that of the governor, ‘Ubaid-Allāh, a Saracen who had become Chris-
tian, the town did in fact come again into the Emperor's possession. This
state of affairs continued up to the time of the revolt of Bardas Phocas,
who succeeded in seizing upon Antioch. It is probable that the Patriarch
received the new pretender amicably, for after the victory of Abydos he
sought to approach the Emperor with explanations of his conduct
. At
all events, in consequence of his machinations, he was exiled by order of
Phocas in March 980, and, on the other hand, was unable to regain
favour with the Emperor. Summoned to Constantinople at the end of
989 or the beginning of 990, he was imprisoned in a monastery, and in
September 996, in exchange for a large pension, he signed his abdication.
He died a little later, in September 997.
We have only one law belonging to this part of the reign of Basil.
It is dated 4 April 988, and deals with religious matters, being the
famous Novel which abrogated the anti-clerical legislation of Nicephorus
Phocas. It is more than likely, as the preamble states, that Basil put
forth this Novel, menaced as he was by imminent danger, with the
idea that he was performing an act of piety, and thinking to assuage
the Divine anger by restoring to the monks the right of acquiring and
erecting new monasteries; but it also appears highly probable that the
CH. v.
## p. 90 (#132) #############################################
90
Conversion of Russia
Novel had besides a political bearing. In publishing it at the moment
when he was preparing to attack Bardas Phocas at Abydos, Basil judged
it well to recall to the minds of the clergy what Nicephorus had been to
them, and to convince them that the rightful Emperor had no intention
of maintaining or imitating the religious policy of his earliest guardian.
Finally, it is worth noting as a curious circumstance that it was just at
the time when the Empire was convulsed by civil war and when misery
was rife on every side, that the most vigorous renascence of the monastic
life took place. It was from Mount Athos, whither they had retired, that
John and Tornicius, hearing the news of the civil war, came forth to
intervene in arms on behalf of the Emperor. Tornicius (or Tornig) and
John fought valiantly at Pancalia in 979, and with the booty that he
won Tornicius built the famous convent of Iviron, which Basil II by his
golden bull of 980 considerably enriched. Already in 978 the Emperor
had made royal gifts to the Laura of St Athanasius, and about 972 had
authorised the founding of Vatopedi. Thus it is not surprising, after
this, that apart from any other considerations he should have meditated the
abrogation of laws which he had not scrupled to be the first to contravene.
The great transaction, half political and half religious, which marks
this period of Basil II's reign was unquestionably his treaty of alliance
with Vladímir of Russia, and the baptism of the Russians to which
it led. The negotiations arose over the visit to Constantinople of
an embassy from the great Russian Prince of Kiev, sent to collect in-
formation touching the Orthodox religion. The Emperor at the mo-
ment was in the thick of the civil struggle, in want of both men and
money. He used the opportunity to attempt to bring about with the
Russians, heretofore his enemies, an understanding which should supply
him with the help of which he stood in need. It was accordingly arranged
that the Prince of Kiev should send six thousand Varangians to Constan-
tinople, and in exchange should receive in marriage the princess Anne,
Basil's sister (born March 961), the bridegroom becoming a Christian.
This was carried out. The Varangians arrived, and were instrumental in
saving the Empire, but Basil showed less promptness in handing over his
sister. It needed an attack upon the Crimea by the Russians in the
summer of 989 to bring him to the point. It was about the end of that
year, indeed, that Anne set out for Kiev and that Vladímir received
baptism, thus bringing Russia permanently within the circle of the poli-
tical and religious influence of Constantinople.
Rule of Basil II (989-1025).
In the reign of Basil II, the year 989 stands for the complete end of
civil strife, and the unquestioned victory of the imperial authority as
well as of the legitimist principle. For the future, his only task was to
consolidate his power and to make head against the two great enemies of
## p. 91 (#133) #############################################
Religious controversies with the Latins
91
his empire, the Bulgarians and the Saracens. This implies that the reign
of the “Bulgaroctonus” was primarily a military one. Nevertheless, in
the course of home affairs, there are several events of the first import-
ance to be noted.
On the death of Nicholas Chrysoberges the court named as his suc-
cessor Sisinnius. His consecration took place on 12 April 996. This
Sisinnius was a layman of the high rank of magister. He was also a
physician, and was besides deeply versed in letters and endowed with
many virtues. Yet he did not seem to be marked out for so distin-
guished an office, and it is probable that the Emperor was actuated
by political motives. However this may be, one thing seems certain,
that during his very brief pontificate Sisinnius came to a more or less
complete breach with Rome. The grounds of this fresh quarrel were
doubtless quite unconnected with theology. They were, in fact, purely
personal. The Pope, Gregory V, was a nominee of Otto III of Germany,
while Basil's candidate for the Papacy, a Greek named Philagathus, had
been defeated in spite of having had the support of Crescentius the
Patrician of Rome. In enmity to Gregory, Crescentius set up the Greek
as anti-Pope, and in due course, at the beginning of 998, Gregory excom-
municated his rival. Hence came the rupture. The pontificate of Sisin-
nius was, however, signalised by other measures. Reverting to the ever-
irritating question of second marriages, he issued a regulation concerning
unlawful unions between persons related in various degrees, and another
which condemned even second marriages. This was at the same time a
direct attack upon Rome, which had sanctioned the fourth marriage of
Leo VI. Sisinnius had not time to go further. He died about the month
of August 998. One encyclical letter of his has come down to us,
addressed to the bishops of Asia Minor and treating of the Procession of
the Holy Ghost.
His short pontificate ended, a successor to Sisinnius was sought,
according to the traditional practice, in the ranks of the clergy. The
Emperor's choice, in fact, fell upon an aged monk of distinguished birth
named Sergius, Igumen of the Manuel Monastery. Hardly anything is
known of his pontificate or of the events which took place within it, but
dissensions broke out between Constantinople and Rome about 1009,
which were caused in all probability by the Emperor's policy in Italy,
and which ended in schism? . We feel, indeed, that we are approaching the
days of Michael Cerularius, for, monk as he was, Sergius certainly appears
to have carried on the struggle initiated by Sisinnius. Several of our
authorities, questionable it is true, tell us that the Patriarch assembled
a synod in 1009 at Constantinople, and that he resumed the policy
formerly inaugurated by Photius, procured the confirmation of his
pro-
nouncements against Latin innovations, and struck out the Pope's
1 But cf. infra, Chapter 1x, pp. 261-62.
CH. IV.
## p. 92 (#134) #############################################
92
Attempt at a compromise
name from the diptychs. In fact, at this time separation and schism
were put on an official footing. Apart from this event, which does not
appear to have had any immediate consequences, we find that Sergius very
courageously attempted to induce the Emperor to abolish the tax which
he had just re-imposed, the allelengyon, but without success. Basil re-
fused his consent. It was also during this pontificate that a certain
number of liturgical and canonical books were translated from the Greek
into Russian for the use of the recently-founded Church, and that the
monastery of St Anne was founded on Mount Athos. Finally we have an
ordinance of Sergius dated in May 1016 authorising devout persons to
give donations to churches and monasteries.
The successor of Sergius was a eunuch named Eustathius, almoner of
the imperial chapel, elected on 12 April 1020. The appointment was
dictated solely by political reasons. Relations between Rome and Con-
stantinople were much strained, if not wholly broken off. In Italy things
were not going prosperously for the Empire; German influence was pre-
ponderant there, and Benedict VIII had not hesitated to employ the
Normans against the Byzantines. It will readily be understood that, in
these circumstances, Basil's whole idea would be to countermine papal
influence at Constantinople. But a Western chronicler tells us that
in 1024, immediately on the death of Benedict VIII, Eustathius asked
for the title of Ecumenical Patriarch from John XIX, and in this way
resumed spiritual relations with Rome. John XIX was about to concede
the privilege, which would have been tantamount to granting autonomy
to the Church of Constantinople, when the protests of Western Europe
compelled him to draw back. Matters had reached this stage when
Eustathius and Basil II died, within a few days of each other, in December
1025. The successor to the dead Patriarch was at once chosen. He was
Alexius, Igumen of the Studion.
The reign of Basil II is notable for a certain number of laws
of importance. Some are concerned merely with gifts made to the
great monasteries; others have a more general significance. It was in
January 996 that Basil issued his famous Novel against the continual
encroachments of the great territorial proprietors. If this question had
been, as we have seen, a constant preoccupation of the Emperors of
the preceding century, it had become for Basil II a matter of life and
death. For it was the great landholders who had raised the standard of
revolt, and they it was who, with their money and their men, had main-
tained the cause of the rebel pretenders. It was of the utmost importance,
then, for Basil to carry out the advice which had been given him (it is
said, by Bardas Sclerus after his defeat), to break down this formidable
power,
the source that fed it, territorial wealth. This he did
by means of the Novel of January 996,"condemning those who enriched
themselves at the expense of the poor. ” This provision in fact merely
confirms and gives precision to that of Romanus Lecapenus, and extends
and dry up
## p. 93 (#135) #############################################
Legislation against the “powerful”
93
its scope. Prescription, even for forty years, was now to avail nothing
against the right of redemption; the power to reclaim property was
declared inalienable by any lapse of time. Any estate acquired by its
owner before the date of the Novel of Lecapenus was to remain in the
hands of its actual proprietor, provided that he could furnish authentic
documentary proof that his rights dated from a time anterior to the
ordinance. The title to any estate illegally acquired since the publication
of the Lecapenian Novels was declared null, and the peasants might at
once reclaim their original property, which would be restored to them
without the payment of any compensation. Estates unjustly come by,
even if their possession had been sanctioned by a golden bull from the
Emperor, were subject to the same provision, any such bulls being
declared null.
Special provisions gave precision also to the Novel of 4 April 988
concerning ecclesiastical property, and finally very severe penalties were
decreed against high officials who used their position to enrich themselves
outrageously at the expense of the crown lands. The principle underlying
all this formidable legislation was that any estate, whether noble, eccle-
siastical, or burgher, should remain permanently what it was, and that thus
commoners' lands were never to pass to either of the other two classes.
This Draconian law was, in truth, only justice, for the “powerful”
had in the end agreed that they were rightful possessors of land taken
from the poor only if, by any means or methods whatsoever, they had
debarred their victims for a period of forty years from lodging a com-
plaint in due legal form. The injustice of the practice is clear, and so is
the social danger to which it led. It was by such means that the fortunes
of the great feudal houses had been founded, such as those of Phocas,
Maleinus, Tzimisces, Sclerus, and of the parakoimomenos Basil; it was
by such means too that the exchequer was depleted, for all these great
nobles, like convents, were privileged with regard to taxation.
The new laws appear to have met with no great success. The penalties
were irregularly applied, even if we take it that they were capable of
being enforced. In 1002 the Emperor, having paid him a visit, did indeed
disgrace Eustathius Maleinus, whom he carried prisoner to Constantinople,
awaiting the opportunity of his death to confiscate his estates to the
profit of the crown. But this was an isolated instance, which goes to
shew how difficult, slow, and inefficacious was the application of the Novel
of 996. It was moreover in these circumstances that Basil II, in order to
provide for the enormous cost of the war with Bulgaria, as well, probably,
as to pursue his controversy with the great feudal lords, re-imposed the
famous tax called the allelengyon, by which the rich and the poor were
declared jointly and separately liable with respect to all obligations,
whether financial or military, and the rich were required, in default of the
poor, to discharge for them both their taxes and their service in the field.
This mutual warranty was an old legacy from the Roman law as to the
сн. IV.
## p. 94 (#136) #############################################
94
Secular relations with the West
curiales, which had no other result than to ruin the mass of the great
landholders and to stir up the bitterest of social hatreds. Thus Basil's
work had no element of permanence. If for a time the Emperor found
some profit in exacting the tax, his successors were before long forced to
repeal it.
If Constantinople was on far from amicable terms with Rome, and
if Italian affairs were frequently the cause of disputes with the Saxon
Emperors, yet from 983 onwards, the date at which Theophano took
power into her own hands, the relations between the two imperial courts
were excellent. Otto III had been educated by his mother in great
reverence for Constantinople and according to Greek ideas, and, as soon
as he was old enough, he hastened in May 996 to send an embassy to
Basil II asking for the hand of one of his imperial cousins, no doubt
Zoë or Theodora. We know nothing of the results of this first embassy,
but apparently it was warmly received, for in 1001 a fresh mission left
Italy, headed by Arnulf, Archbishop of Milan, charged on this oc-
casion to bring back the promised princess. This second embassy was
received by Basil II with honours such as in themselves shew how cordial
were the relations between the two courts. Unfortunately neither had
laid its account with death. When the wedding cortège reached Bari, the
news came that Otto III had died in January 1002, and all dreams, dip-
lomatic and matrimonial, vanished like smoke. The Byzantine princess
who had been about to assume the imperial crown of the West must
needs return to Constantinople, and before long be a witness of the ruin
of the Byzantine power in Italy, which her marriage would perhaps have
hindered or at any rate delayed.
At Venice, in contrast to the Italian mainland, the Doge Peter
Orseolo II. (elected 991) made every effort to maintain a thoroughly good
understanding with Basil. In 991 or 992 he sent ambassadors to Con-
stantinople, who were very well received, and by a chrysobull of March
992 secured valuable commercial privileges. Later on, relations became
even more intimate. In 998 the Doge's son John spent some time at
Constantinople, and some few years afterwards, in 1004, Basil gave him
as his wife a young Greek of illustrious race, Maria Argyrus, sister of
Romanus Argyrus, the future Emperor of Constantinople. Unfortunately
both husband and wife died of the plague in 1007.
One of the most important of Basil's diplomatic achievements was
the political and religious organisation which he imposed upon Bulgaria
after his final victory in 1018. We are to some extent acquainted with
this work of his through three Novels addressed by the Emperor to
John, Archbishop of Ochrida, which have been discovered in a golden
bull of Michael Palaeologus dated 1272. By these Novels Basil set up an
autonomous Church in Bulgaria, having as its sphere the ancient Bulgarian
Patriarchate as it existed from 927-968, with the addition of a whole
series of bishoprics taken from various metropolitan sees of Macedonia,
## p. 95 (#137) #############################################
Recurrence of revolt
95
Epirus, Thessaly, Serbia, etc. It is probable that in this he was influenced
by political motives, but on this point we have very little information'.
The reign of Basil II, full of importance from the domestic point
of view, was even more so in a military sense. An Emperor who strove so
energetically and successfully to enable Byzantium to triumph over her
foreign enemies, after having bravely contended for his own rights against
his personal foes, was naturally, during the greater part of his reign, often
absent from Constantinople. While going forth on his military expeditions
and while returning to his capital he had, what was very rare for an Em-
peror, an opportunity of visiting every part of his vast dominions, and his
sojourn at Athens in 1018 has always been famous. His military triumphs,
celebrated at Constantinopleafter his great victories, were also magnificent,
as beseemed the reward which his warlike achievements had deservedly
earned.
Yet before his death Basil, about 1022, was called upon once again to
experience the anxieties of his younger days, through the revolt of two
of his generals, Nicephorus Xiphias and Nicephorus Phocas, son of Bardas.
The Emperor was at Trebizond, about to set forth on an expedition to
Iberia, when he learned in rapid succession that in his rear the two
generals had broken out into revolt, that a conspiracy had been formed to
dethrone him, that the traitors had probably an understanding with one
of his worst enemies, the King of the Abasgians, and that an army was
gathering together against him in Cappadocia. The situation was likely
to become even more threatening, for Phocas was proclaimed Emperor.
But, as before, Basil profited by the rivalry which soon declared itself
between the two rebels. Xiphias, jealous of Phocas, drew the crowned pre-
tender into an ambush on 15 August 1022, and had him assassinated. It
was now all over with the revolt, and also with the family of Phocas, which
with this Nicephorus disappears from the pages of history. As to Xiphias,
he was made prisoner, tonsured, and sent into exile on one of the Princes
Islands, his property being confiscated. The Emperor, thus delivered,
was able to continue his march to Iberia.
A reign so essentially military as Basil's was unfavourable to letters and
the arts, which indeed the Emperor always looked upon with indifference
or contempt. Nevertheless, whatever the period to which the work of
Simeon Metaphrastes should be assigned, hagiographical compilation
was actively carried on, as we see from the famous Menologium of Basil
dedicated to that sovereign, a marvellous illuminated manuscript now
preserved in the Vatican Library. Basil's name is also associated with
another great work, this time an architectural one. In the night of the
25-26 October 989 Constantinople was visited by a fearful earthquake.
The destruction was enormous. The cupola of St Sophia and the eastern
apse gave way. It was necessary that they should be at once repaired,
1 See also, infru, Chapter vur, p. 243.
сн. IV.
## p. 96 (#138) #############################################
96
Death of Basil II
and also that the ramparts and the aqueduct of Valens which had been
partially destroyed should be reconstructed. An Armenian architect,
Tiridates, was entrusted with the work at St Sophia, fine mosaics being
executed for the adornment of the western arch. The same was the case
with the Baths of Blachernae, which Basil caused to be re-built and
re-decorated in sumptuous fashion. Commerce, especially, seems to have
prospered during this reign, and the great silk manufactories seem to
have been always at work. The industrial museum at Düsseldorf pre-
serves a superb silk stuff, dating from the reign of Basil and the year
1000, into which are woven figures of lions facing one another.
From the time of Basil's return from his campaign in Iberia nothing
is recorded of him until his death. We only know that as the con-
queror of Musulmans, Russians, and Bulgarians he had extended his
empire as far as the Caucasus, when at the age of sixty-eight he de-
sired, in spite of the glories which already made his reign illustrious,
to accomplish still more and to go in person to carry the war into Sicily.
He was prevented only by death, which cut him off on 15 December 1025
after a reign of forty-nine years and eleven months. As he left no direct
heirs, he named his brother Constantine to succeed him, and to take
up
the
splendid inheritance which his own energy and valour had enabled him
to leave behind. Never, indeed, had the Empire been stronger, wider, or
more prosperous than in this year 1025, the high-water mark in the history
of the Macedonian House and, in fact, of the Byzantine Empire. With
Basil II's death a period of miserable decadence was to set in.
Constantine VIII (1025-1028).
The new Emperor, to whom Basil in dying had committed the im-
perial crown, was already an old man, sixty-four or sixty-five years of age,
having first seen the light in 960 or 961. Unlike his brother, he had
spent his life almost wholly within the palace precincts, amidst all the re-
finements of luxury and lowest excesses of debauchery. As we have seen, he
was crowned on 7 April 961, and associated in the Empire as the honorary
colleague of Basil in 976. When he succeeded to the throne he had a
wife, Helena, and three daughters, Eudocia, Zoë, and Theodora. The
eldest daughter makes no figure in history. Disfigured from her early
days by small-pox, she entered a convent and died before 1042. The
other two were to have their names in all men's mouths and to represent
the Macedonian dynasty up to 1056.
The Emperor Constantine VIII bore the worst possible reputation at
Constantinople, and unfortunately with only too much reason. Psellus
has left us an unflattering portrait of him, which, however, seems to
be fairly accurate. Inheriting, as he did, the blood of Michael III and
Alexander, during his reign of three years his one object seemed to
be to empty the treasury, and, as Scylitzes says, “ to do a vast amount
## p. 97 (#139) #############################################
Constantine VIII
97
of mischief in a very short time, to pursue his merely voluptuous way of
life as the absolute slave of gluttony and lust, and to indulge without
reflection in the amusements of the Hippodrome, the table, the chase,
and
games of hazard. ” His first measures were taken solely with a view
to getting rid of the whole of the late Emperor's staff, and to dealing out
offices and honours to the habitual companions of his debauches, men of
base origin, several of whom were pagans and barbarians. The government
was handed over to six eunuchs, and in order, no doubt, to found his
authority on terror, the new Emperor disgraced a certain number of men
of mark such as Constantine Burtzes and Nicephorus Comnenus, Bardas
Phocas and the Metropolitan of Naupactus, all of whom he caused to be
blinded. Then, notwithstanding the enormous sums left in the imperial
treasury by Basil, Constantine VIII demanded with covetous insistence
not only the strict and yearly exaction of the taxes in full, but also
the arrears of two years, which Basil had not exacted. This was a
grievous burden for the whole Empire and spelt ruin to many families. .
But such considerations were powerless to disturb the equanimity of
Constantine VIII.
Except for these few incidents, the reign of three years was marked
by no event of importance, unless it be the marriage of Zoë. How-
ever, the military and political conditions which Constantine, quite apart
from any will of his own, inherited of necessity from his brother in
Armenia, Iberia, and Italy, brought embassies to Constantinople of
which an account has been preserved. In 1026 the Katholikos of Iberia
came to appeal for the protection of the Emperor for his Church. At
the beginning of 1028 came the embassy sent by Conrad II with the
ostensible object of proposing a marriage of ridiculous disparity between
his son, aged ten, and one of the two princesses born in the purple, but
in reality to attempt to conclude an alliance between East and West
which might have restored the ancient unity of the Roman Empire, as
the Macedonian House had now no male heirs. Werner, Bishop of Stras-
bourg, and Count Manegold were received with great splendour at Con-
stantinople, but the negotiations led to no practical result, and that for
several reasons: in the first place, because they aimed at the impossible,
and in the second, because on 28 October 1028 Werner died, as did a fort-
night later the Emperor himself. Nevertheless, some good effect seems
to have come of the mission, for from this time onwards the relations
between Germans and Greeks were, temporarily at least, marked by a
genuine cordiality.
We have a somewhat curious new departure dating from the reign
of Constantine VIII and the year 1027, described by the Arab writer,
Maqrizī
. It was actually agreed upon by treaty between the Emperor
and the Fățimite Caliph Zāhir that for the future the Egyptian ruler's
name should be mentioned in all the prayers offered in mosques situated
in the imperial territory, and that the mosque in Constantinople should
7
C. MED, U, VOL. IV. CH. IV.
## p. 98 (#140) #############################################
98
Accession of Zoë
be restored and a muezzin established there. On his part, the Caliph
agreed to the rebuilding of the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem,
which had been destroyed in 1009, and to the return to the orthodox faith
of those Christians who through force or fear had become Mohammedans.
There is besides in existence a Novel of Constantine VIII dated June
1026 anathematizing seditions.
When on 9 November 1028 Constantine fell dangerously ill, he
bethought himself of settling the succession. He had near him only
his two younger daughters, neither of whom was married. A solu-
tion of the question had to be found without delay. It was resolved
that Zöe should be married on the spot, and the Emperor made choice
of Constantine Dalassenus, but at the last moment palace jealousies
caused him to be set aside, and the final choice fell on Romanus Argyrus.
But he was married. By the order of the Emperor and by threats of the
most horrible punishments, Romanus was brought to consent to a divorce,
and his wife to retire from the world into a convent. There she died in
1032. Romanus was at once proclaimed Caesar and heir to the Empire.
In spite of the existence of his real wife and the nearness of relationship
between the two', the Patriarch made no objection to solemnising this
remarkable union, on account, it would seem, of the State interests in-
volved, and in order to avert a political crisis. At all events, nobody
seems to have raised any protest against the morals displayed, and
Constantine tranquilly expired on 11 November 1028, aged seventy.
Zoë and Romanus III Argyrus (1028-1034).
Zoë, when in right of her birth she ascended the Byzantine throne,
was forty-eight years old, having been born in 980. “Of a haughty temper
and great personal beauty, with a brilliant mind," says Psellus, she had
languished into old age in the women's apartments of the palace, imperial
policy having been neither able nor willing to find her a husband. Her
marriage with Romanus Argyrus meant to her emancipation and liberty,
and she was to make use of her position to recall into being, nay, to
unite in her own person and display to the world, all that had brought
shame
upon
and to give herself up to the worst excesses. There
is something in Zoë of Theodora, something of Romanus II, and again
something of Constantine VIII. Her accession began the hopeless decline
of her dynasty.
The husband whom accident had given her was in himself a worthy
man. Up to the day of his unwelcome marriage, he had lived at Con-
stantinople as a great noble, deeply attached to his affectionate wife,
her race,
i Constantine VII, grandfather of Constantine VIII, and Romanus Argyropulus,
great-grandfather of Romanus Argyrus, had married sisters, Helen and Agatha,
daughters of Romanus Lecapenus. It was probably for this reason that Romanus
was chosen for Zoë's husband and for future Emperor.
## p. 99 (#141) #############################################
Character and government of Romanus III
99
much given to works of piety, and to study as understood by a man of
the world, that is to say, of a rather superficial description. He was a man
of ability, but unfortunately not a little vain, and as Emperor during his
six years' reign he strove to govern well, and dreamed (a strange dream,
considering the age which both he and Zoë had reached) of establishing
an Argyrus dynasty at Constantinople. Unluckily his intelligence did not
keep pace with his good intentions, and owing to his self-deception as to
his own military qualifications and to his too eager appetite for glory,
he ended by bringing the worst calamities upon Constantinople, and upon
himself the most bitter disillusionment.
On his accession, the first measures taken were fortunate, and shew
the importance which Romanus always attached to being on good terms
with the clergy. The first Novel which he issued on his accession in-
creased the contribution made by the imperial exchequer to relieve the
strain on the very limited resources of St Sophia. He then abolished
the famous tax known as the allelengyon which Basil II had re-imposed,
and bestowed lavish alms on all who had been ruined by the late reign.
Going further, he flung open the prison doors and set free those who
were detained for debt, himself paying a great part of what was due
to private creditors and remitting what was claimed by the State. He
restored to liberty numberless victims of the late reign, replacing them
in their old positions, and, when feasible, bestowing great offices on them.
These first steps, however, unfortunately led nowhere. Hardly had
the edicts gone forth, when a series of calamities fell upon the Empire
which changed not only the aspect which Romanus had given to his
government but the very character of the sovereign himself. The account
of the disasters experienced by the Emperor and his army in Syria
must be omitted here. They did not come alone. Soon money began
to fail, and Romanus was forced to concentrate all his energy upon
the financial side of the administration, and from having been liberal
and munificent, he became, except where the clergy and his buildings
were concerned, severe, harsh, and even, it was said, avaricious, to a degree
which brought him many enemies. He was compelled to raise the money
needed by fresh taxes, and it happened further that under his govern-
ment the Empire passed through a time of fearful crisis. In the winter
of 1031-1032 there was an awful famine in Asia Minor accompanied by
prodigious mortality; with the spring came the plague, then an army of
locusts which made havoc of the crops, and then, as though all this
had not been enough, on 13 August Constantinople was shaken by a
terrific earthquake which destroyed numberless houses, hospitals, and
aqueducts. Romanus III was forced to come to the relief of all the un-
fortunate sufferers with money. He did it on a generous scale, but the
finances felt the effects grievously.
In spite of the emptiness of the treasury, of which, indeed, his pro-
pensities were partly the cause, Romanus III was a great builder. Like
CH. v.
7-2
## p. 100 (#142) ############################################
100
Foreign affairs and conspiracies
Justinian and Basil I, he desired to erect at Constantinople a new archi-
tectural marvel, a worthy rival of St Sophia and the New Church. This was
the church of St Mary Peribleptos, and he added to it a large laura for
men. He endowed both church and monastery richly, alienating lands of
considerable extent and unusual fertility. But he went further. Not con-
tent with building the Peribleptos church, he adorned St Sophia with costly
decorations in gold and silver, while at Jerusalem he began the rebuilding
of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was not finished till 1048.
In 1030 or 1031, from purely political motives, Romanus III, having
no children of his own, arranged marriages for two of his nieces. One
of them, Helena, was married to Parakat IV, King of Iberia, and the
other to John-Sempad, King of Greater Armenia. The former of these
marriages gave occasion for a visit to Constantinople of Queen Mariam,
Parakat's mother, and for a treaty of alliance between the two sove-
reigns, a treaty, however, which proved of small importance, for
Romanus at the first opportunity tore it up; Helena, in fact, had died
not long after her marriage.
The chroniclers preserve the remembrance of another embassy which
also made its appearance in 1031. This was the Saracen mission, headed
by the son of the Mirdāsid Emir of Aleppo, Shibl-ad-daulah. He, also,
came to request the renewal by treaty of peaceful relations. His pro-
posal, which was accepted, was to go back to the convention signed after
the victories of Nicephorus Phocas, in fact to the payment of a tribute.
A treaty on much the same lines resulted, also at this date, from a visit
paid by the Emir of Tripolis to Constantinople.
When Zoë ascended the throne, it necessarily happened that her
younger sister Theodora was left somewhat neglected and forgotten
in the women's apartments of the palace. This did not suit her at all,
however devout she may have been, and, debarred from ruling, she
betook herself to plotting. Even in 1031 a first conspiracy broke out
against Romanus III, the moving spirit of which, Fruyin, or Prusianus,
was no other than the eldest son of the last Bulgarian sovereign. He was
accused, and apparently the charge was proved, of having had designs
upon the throne of Constantinople and perhaps upon the hand of Theo-
dora. In any case, it is fairly plain that the future Empress took a hand
in the game. But the plot was discovered, and Prusianus was blinded.
Theodora, on this first occasion, was not proceeded against, but her im-
munity did not last long, for soon afterwards another affair arose which
led to more serious consequences. This was the conspiracy of Constantine
Diogenes, Romanus III's own nephew. We know nothing of this plot
except its results. Some of the highest personages in the State were so
deeply implicated in it that they were subjected to the worst outrages,
and then imprisoned for the remainder of their lives. Nor did Theodora
herself go unpunished. She was sent to expiate her guilt at the convent
of Petrion.
## p. 101 (#143) ############################################
Michael IV succeeds Romanus
101
Meanwhile Zoë was pursuing her new way of life without measure or
restraint at the palace. Romanus III, when he had to give up all hope
of children, began to neglect his wife and turn his attention to the
government, while Zoë rushed from one adventure to another. Friction
soon made itself felt between the elderly couple. Zoë was exasperated
by the Emperor's neglect, by the strong influence which his sister Pulcheria
exercised over his mind, and by the limits set to her mad extravagance.
She found the means of vengeance by attracting the love of a younger
brother of the man whose name was soon to become fainous throughout
the Empire, John the Orphanotrophos, a Paphlagonian eunuch of low
birth, who had become the friend, confidant, and only favourite of
Romanus. The brother's name was Michael ; he was young and hand-
some. Thanks to his elder brother, Michael had exchanged his business
of a money-changer, perhaps a coiner, for the post of “Archon of the
Pantheon. ” He soon, in his turn, became a special favourite with
Romanus, and was even more acceptable to Zoë. In course of time the
disgraceful passion of Michael and the Empress became public property,
and Zoë herself ventured to predict the speedy elevation of her lover to
the throne.
Her prophecy was verified on 12 April 1034. Romanus was in his
bath when in the night of 11-12 April he was murdered, apparently
by some of his suite. Exactly what took place was never known. After
having probably been poisoned, he was in some mysterious fashion
drowned. However this may have been, no one at Constantinople
doubted that Zoë and Michael were indirectly the chief movers in a
crime which was to give the imperial crown to Michael IV, the Paphla-
gonian.
Zoë and Michael IV (1034-1041).
The Empress Zoë's satisfaction was brief. In gaining her new hus-
band by a crime she had at the same time found a master. Cunningly acted
upon by John Orphanotrophos, who was already the real ruler of the
Empire, she determined to have Michael proclaimed at once, and, within
a few hours of her husband's death, to marry him publicly. The Patriarch
was hastily summoned to the palace, where he learned at one and the
same time the death of Romanus and the service expected of him. It
was no light thing. It was in fact that he should proceed without
parley to bless the union, on a Good Friday, of a woman stained with
crime, fifty-four or fifty-five years of age, and widowed only a few hours,
with a young man of no family, thirty years her junior. How came
the Patriarch Alexius to lend himself to the accomplishment of any-
thing so infamous ? We cannot tell. Scylitzes only relates that he was
won over by bribes to do the will of the Empress. At all events, no one
at Constantinople made any protest against this exhibition of imperial
CB. IV.
## p. 102 (#144) ############################################
102
Character of Michael IV
morals. The city, it appears, was delighted to greet the new sovereign,
and on the day of Romanus funeral there were no lamentations for
the dead Emperor, who had not been popular with the inhabitants
of Constantinople.
And yet, strange to relate, once seated upon the throne, this un-
trained man, with no claims to govern, and already tormented by
the epileptic fits which a few years later were to carry him off in his
turn, proved a good ruler, careful of the public interest, attentive to
the defence of the Empire, and courageous when the situation in
Bulgaria made demands upon his energy. The character given of him by
one who knew him personally and intimately, Psellus, should be studied
in order to gain an idea of what Michael was upon the throne. “Such
was the conduct of the Emperor," he says, “ that setting aside his crime
against Romanus III, his treasonable adultery with Zoë, and the cruelty
with which he sent several illustrious persons into exile on mere sus-
picion, and setting aside, further, his disreputable family, for whom after
all he was not responsible, one cannot do otherwise than place him
among the elect of sovereigns in all ages. ” He wisely declined to make
any hasty innovations, any sweeping changes in the imperial administra-
tion. If there was favouritism, if the Senate found itself invaded by the
creatures of the new régime, this was the doing of Michael's brother.
But there is more to be said. Michael proved to be extremely devout;
hardly was he seated on the throne when he began to realise the crime
he had committed, to regret it, and to do penance. He would now have
no companions but monks, and no anxiety save to do good and to expiate
his sins. His life was that of an ascetic, and the whole of the imperial
treasure went to build convents, a home for the poor, the Ptochotropheion, ,
and even a refuge for fallen women.
Meanwhile, what was Zoë doing ? She had not taken long to realise
how grossly she had deceived herself. Devoid of gratitude towards a
woman whom he had never really loved, Michael broke off relations with
the Empress and refused to see her. Under the influence of his brother
and of his religious impressions, dreading too lest he should meet with
the fate of Romanus, he kept her in retirement and had her carefully
watched.
was also the scene of his last triumph.
While Sclerus was gaining this brilliant success, his fleet under
the Admiral Curticius was being defeated and annihilated by the
imperial admiral, Theodore Carantenus. Nevertheless, the imperial pre-
tender advanced upon Constantinople, which was in a state of terror.
The situation was rendered graver by a revolt of the Bulgarians and a
Scarcity of soldiers. But once again the aged Basil saved the Empire,
this time by making an appeal to one of his former enemies, Bardas
Phocas, himself once a leader of revolt, who had been reduced to
impotence by the very Bardas Sclerus whom he was now about to meet
and overthrow. Bardas Phocas, having received full powers, did not
CH
. .
## p. 86 (#128) #############################################
86
Defeat of Sclerus: fall of the eunuch Basil
spend time over the defence of Constantinople. He threw himself into
Caesarea, where the broken remains of the imperial army lay under the
command of Maleinus, in order to take the army of Sclerus in the rear,
and oblige him to retrace his way into Asia Minor. This, in fact, was what
happened. Sclerus was forced to retreat from before Constantinople in
order to meet the danger from Phocas, whom he encountered not far from
Amorium in the plain of Pancalia. Here Phocas was defeated on 19 June
978, but was able to retire in good order to Charsianum, where he was
again beaten by Sclerus. Nevertheless, the game was not lost for the
imperialists. During the winter of 978-979 they obtained help from the
Curopalates of Iberia, and in the spring of 979, on 24 March, a fresh
battle was fought at Pancalia, ending, after a single combat between the
two namesakes, in the complete triumph of Phocas, the final defeat of the
rebel army, and the flight of the defeated pretender to Saracen soil.
Constantinople was thus saved.
Bardas Sclerus took refuge at Amida, and soon afterwards in the
summer of 979 was imprisoned at Baghdad with his family by the order
of the Caliph. At Constantinople it was desired that the rebel should be
handed over, and to obtain this object the parakoimomenos sent an embassy
to Baghdad headed by Nicephorus Uranus. It was unsuccessful. The
Caliph would not relax his hold on the prisoner, and Sclerus remained
in durance up to December 986. As to his followers, they were granted
an amnesty as early as 979 or 980.
But now it was the turn of the eunuch Basil. Hardly had the
Empire been momentarily saved from the revolt of Bardas Sclerus,
when the military conspirators within its borders, unmindful of the very
serious position of affairs in Italy, Bulgaria, and Syria, began plotting
anew as they had done under preceding Emperors. The parakoimo-
menos Basil, on the one hand, to whose energy the defeat of Sclerus was
due, felt himself, in spite of his immense services, more and more de-
serted by Basil II, who was becoming eager to govern in person; while on
the other hand, the great military leaders, Bardas Phocas and Leo Melis-
senus, were dreaming of a military dictatorship and looking back to their
illustrious predecessors such as Nicephorus and Tzimisces. They wanted a
part to play, and thought the rôle assigned them by the Emperor alto-
gether inadequate. For these reasons, and many others of which we are
ignorant, the whole body of great officers resolved to join hands in order
to rid themselves of Basil II. The conspiracy was hatched at Constanti-
nople, and appears to have had its ramifications in Syria and Bulgaria.
Unluckily for the plotters, the Emperor received timely warning, and the
latent antagonism between him and his old minister burst forth with
startling suddenness and violence (985). Roughly and without warning,
Basil snatched power from the hands of the parakoimomenos, drove him
from the palace, confined him to his house, and then banished him to
Bosphorus. The rest of the conspirators were now reduced to impotence,
## p. 87 (#129) #############################################
Conspiracy of Phocas and Sclerus
87
90
but the Emperor was not yet strong enough to punish all his enemies.
Melissenus and Phocas were spared. As to the parakoimomenos, his
immense fortune was confiscated, and he died soon after his fall, stripped
of everything and in a mental state bordering upon madness. Once again
plotting bad ended in a fiasco. It had served no other end than to
make the Emperor sure of himself, and to transform him wholly and
completely. “Basil,” says Zonaras, “became haughty, reserved, suspi-
cious, implacable in his anger. He finally abandoned his former life of
pleasure.
Basil II had not seen the last of ill-fortune with the fall of his minister.
Hardly was he set free from the arbitrary domination of the eunuch Basil,
when he was called upon to face fresh dangers. In the autumn of 986 he
had just returned to Constantinople, after having been defeated by the
Bulgarians on 17 August owing to lack of zeal on the part of his lieu-
tenants. Suddenly, while the Byzantine generals, Bardas Phocas at their
head, were plotting against their sovereign, the news came that Sclerus
had escaped from Baghdad, and for the second time had put forward his
pretensions at Malațīyah. It was the beginning of the year 987. Whether
he would or no, in order to win over Bardas Phocas, Basil was forced to
restore him in April to his dignity of Domestic of the Anatolian Scholae,
from which he had been dismissed after the plot of 985, and to despatch
him against Sclerus. Unfortunately, Phocas was devoid of scruples. In-
stead of doing the duty imposed on him, he betrayed his master and
entered into negotiations with Sclerus. This shews us in what peril Basil
stood. His position was further made worse by the fact that Phocas also
on 15 August 987 had himself proclaimed Emperor for the second time
with great pomp at Chresianus, nearly all the military officers rallying
round him! . Again civil war divided the Empire, while on the frontiers
the Bulgarians were making ready to invade its territory. Basil II could
not have escaped ruin had the two pretenders acted loyally towards one
another. Like professional thieves, they had agreed to march together
upon Constantinople and there to divide the Empire. Phocas was to have
the capital and the European provinces, Sclerus Asia Minor. But the
following incident intervened. More discerning than his father, young
Romanus Sclerus, divining Phocas' bad faith, refused to agree to the
proposed treaty, and going straight to Constantinople opened the
Emperor's eyes to the true state of affairs. And in truth he was right in
his suspicions, for during an interview between the two pretenders on
1 This shews what strange revulsions of fortune might be seen within a few years
at Constantinople. In 971 Bardas Phocas had himself proclaimed Emperor in OPP0-
sition to Tzimisces. Sclerus opposed and defeated him, and he retired into a convent
as a monk. In 976–977 it was Sclerus who broke out into revolt, while Phocas was
despatched against him. Ten years passed, and the two hostile leaders were again
on the scene, but this time they were acting in concert, both pretending to the
throne and both declared Emperors.
CH. IV.
## p. 88 (#130) #############################################
88
Collapse of rebellion
14 September 987, Phocas had Sclerus seized and deprived of his imperial
dignity, after which he was sent under a strong guard into confinement
at the castle of Tyropaeum in custody of Phocas' wife.
Phocas, now left to be the only pretender, at once hastened to ad-
vance upon Constantinople, nearly all Asia Minor being in his favour.
He arrived under the city walls probably in the early days of 988.
Part of his army encamped at Chrysopolis, the other half going to
besiege Abydos in order to seize at once upon the Straits, the fleet,
and the convoys which secured the food-supply of Constantinople.
Basil II faced ill-fortune with splendid energy. He had recourse to
Russia, and signed a treaty at Kiev which brought him the help of 6000
Varangians. The famous druzhina arrived during the spring of 988,
probably in April, and a few months later, in the summer, crossing over
to the coast of Asia Minor under Basil II, it met the enemy's forces in
the terrible battle of Chrysopolis, where victory remained with Basil.
Meanwhile, in the direction of Trebizond, a member of the princely
Armenian family of Taron was causing disquiet to the eastern wing of
Phocas' army, and forced the pretender to despatch his Iberian con-
tingents to the defence of their homes, while he himself hurried to
the help of his lieutenant, Leo Melissenus, at Abydos. It was around
this town that the final act in the drama took place. Constantine, Basil's
brother, was the first to set out for Abydos. He was soon followed by
Basil with the Russians, and in the spring of 989 the two armies met. The
decisive action took place on 13 April. By some accident which has
been explained, Phocas suddenly hurled himself in person against Basil, and
narrowly missing him fell dead without ever having been wounded. The
battle was now won. The rebel troops dispersed, and were cut in pieces
by the imperialists. Many prisoners were taken, and the leaders of the
revolt, with the exception of Melissenus, were executed. Basil II had
definitely triumphed over all rivals. Bardas Sclerus, it is true, was set at
liberty by Phocas' wife as soon as she learned the fate of her husband,
but his release profited him little. The new rebellion, begun in the
summer of 989, was quickly ended by a reconciliation between Basil II
and Sclerus. The latter secured his pardon, and the title of Curopalates.
All his adherents were also pardoned. The pacification was sealed by an
interview between Basil II and Sclerus in October 989. Sclerus, however,
did not long survive his fall. He died blind and in semi-captivity at
Didymotichus on 6 March 991.
During the thirteen years from 976 to 989 contemporary records,
which by the way are extremely meagre, speak of little beyond the
civil strife which dyed the Empire with blood. It is probable indeed
that all other administrative concerns were thrust into the background
by the ever fresh perils which menaced the Empire, for the few events
that are mentioned during the period all have a close connexion with
the civil war. One of the most important was unquestionably the resig-
never
## p. 89 (#131) #############################################
Ecclesiastical affairs
89
nation of the Patriarch, Anthony of Studion, in 980. We do not know
what caused his retirement from the Patriarchate, nor have we any
explanation of the fact that his successor, Nicholas Chrysoberges, was
not elected until 984. It seems, however, that the reason must be sought
in the revolt of Sclerus. Numerous small coincidences, indeed, lead
us to conjecture that Sclerus, who was brother-in-law of Tzimisces and
was chosen by him on his death-bed to be his successor, was always the
favourite candidate of the clergy, as Bardas Phocas was of the army. Now
as we know that it was on the occasion of the first defeat of Sclerus in
980 that Anthony was obliged to abdicate, we may conjecture the cause of
this event to have been the zeal displayed by the Patriarch and his clergy
in the cause of the pretender. For the rest, Anthony died soon after his ab-
dication in 980. But it was not until 984 that he was succeeded by Nicholas
Chrysoberges, who governed until 996, and of whom we know nothing
except that it was under his pontificate that the baptism of Vladímir and
his Russian subjects took place,
Another bishop, Agapius of Aleppo, distinguished himself at this
time by his share in the Sclerian revolt. On 28 May 986 Theodore of
Colonea, Patriarch of Antioch, died at Tarsus, as he was journey-
ing by sea to Constantinople. His city had fallen into the hands of
Sclerus, and the government desired above all things to regain pos-
session of so important a place. Agapius, Bishop of Aleppo, promised
that if he were appointed Patriarch he would bring about the return of
the town to its allegiance. He was consequently nominated and made
his entry into Antioch on 23 November 977. Thanks to his connivance
and that of the governor, ‘Ubaid-Allāh, a Saracen who had become Chris-
tian, the town did in fact come again into the Emperor's possession. This
state of affairs continued up to the time of the revolt of Bardas Phocas,
who succeeded in seizing upon Antioch. It is probable that the Patriarch
received the new pretender amicably, for after the victory of Abydos he
sought to approach the Emperor with explanations of his conduct
. At
all events, in consequence of his machinations, he was exiled by order of
Phocas in March 980, and, on the other hand, was unable to regain
favour with the Emperor. Summoned to Constantinople at the end of
989 or the beginning of 990, he was imprisoned in a monastery, and in
September 996, in exchange for a large pension, he signed his abdication.
He died a little later, in September 997.
We have only one law belonging to this part of the reign of Basil.
It is dated 4 April 988, and deals with religious matters, being the
famous Novel which abrogated the anti-clerical legislation of Nicephorus
Phocas. It is more than likely, as the preamble states, that Basil put
forth this Novel, menaced as he was by imminent danger, with the
idea that he was performing an act of piety, and thinking to assuage
the Divine anger by restoring to the monks the right of acquiring and
erecting new monasteries; but it also appears highly probable that the
CH. v.
## p. 90 (#132) #############################################
90
Conversion of Russia
Novel had besides a political bearing. In publishing it at the moment
when he was preparing to attack Bardas Phocas at Abydos, Basil judged
it well to recall to the minds of the clergy what Nicephorus had been to
them, and to convince them that the rightful Emperor had no intention
of maintaining or imitating the religious policy of his earliest guardian.
Finally, it is worth noting as a curious circumstance that it was just at
the time when the Empire was convulsed by civil war and when misery
was rife on every side, that the most vigorous renascence of the monastic
life took place. It was from Mount Athos, whither they had retired, that
John and Tornicius, hearing the news of the civil war, came forth to
intervene in arms on behalf of the Emperor. Tornicius (or Tornig) and
John fought valiantly at Pancalia in 979, and with the booty that he
won Tornicius built the famous convent of Iviron, which Basil II by his
golden bull of 980 considerably enriched. Already in 978 the Emperor
had made royal gifts to the Laura of St Athanasius, and about 972 had
authorised the founding of Vatopedi. Thus it is not surprising, after
this, that apart from any other considerations he should have meditated the
abrogation of laws which he had not scrupled to be the first to contravene.
The great transaction, half political and half religious, which marks
this period of Basil II's reign was unquestionably his treaty of alliance
with Vladímir of Russia, and the baptism of the Russians to which
it led. The negotiations arose over the visit to Constantinople of
an embassy from the great Russian Prince of Kiev, sent to collect in-
formation touching the Orthodox religion. The Emperor at the mo-
ment was in the thick of the civil struggle, in want of both men and
money. He used the opportunity to attempt to bring about with the
Russians, heretofore his enemies, an understanding which should supply
him with the help of which he stood in need. It was accordingly arranged
that the Prince of Kiev should send six thousand Varangians to Constan-
tinople, and in exchange should receive in marriage the princess Anne,
Basil's sister (born March 961), the bridegroom becoming a Christian.
This was carried out. The Varangians arrived, and were instrumental in
saving the Empire, but Basil showed less promptness in handing over his
sister. It needed an attack upon the Crimea by the Russians in the
summer of 989 to bring him to the point. It was about the end of that
year, indeed, that Anne set out for Kiev and that Vladímir received
baptism, thus bringing Russia permanently within the circle of the poli-
tical and religious influence of Constantinople.
Rule of Basil II (989-1025).
In the reign of Basil II, the year 989 stands for the complete end of
civil strife, and the unquestioned victory of the imperial authority as
well as of the legitimist principle. For the future, his only task was to
consolidate his power and to make head against the two great enemies of
## p. 91 (#133) #############################################
Religious controversies with the Latins
91
his empire, the Bulgarians and the Saracens. This implies that the reign
of the “Bulgaroctonus” was primarily a military one. Nevertheless, in
the course of home affairs, there are several events of the first import-
ance to be noted.
On the death of Nicholas Chrysoberges the court named as his suc-
cessor Sisinnius. His consecration took place on 12 April 996. This
Sisinnius was a layman of the high rank of magister. He was also a
physician, and was besides deeply versed in letters and endowed with
many virtues. Yet he did not seem to be marked out for so distin-
guished an office, and it is probable that the Emperor was actuated
by political motives. However this may be, one thing seems certain,
that during his very brief pontificate Sisinnius came to a more or less
complete breach with Rome. The grounds of this fresh quarrel were
doubtless quite unconnected with theology. They were, in fact, purely
personal. The Pope, Gregory V, was a nominee of Otto III of Germany,
while Basil's candidate for the Papacy, a Greek named Philagathus, had
been defeated in spite of having had the support of Crescentius the
Patrician of Rome. In enmity to Gregory, Crescentius set up the Greek
as anti-Pope, and in due course, at the beginning of 998, Gregory excom-
municated his rival. Hence came the rupture. The pontificate of Sisin-
nius was, however, signalised by other measures. Reverting to the ever-
irritating question of second marriages, he issued a regulation concerning
unlawful unions between persons related in various degrees, and another
which condemned even second marriages. This was at the same time a
direct attack upon Rome, which had sanctioned the fourth marriage of
Leo VI. Sisinnius had not time to go further. He died about the month
of August 998. One encyclical letter of his has come down to us,
addressed to the bishops of Asia Minor and treating of the Procession of
the Holy Ghost.
His short pontificate ended, a successor to Sisinnius was sought,
according to the traditional practice, in the ranks of the clergy. The
Emperor's choice, in fact, fell upon an aged monk of distinguished birth
named Sergius, Igumen of the Manuel Monastery. Hardly anything is
known of his pontificate or of the events which took place within it, but
dissensions broke out between Constantinople and Rome about 1009,
which were caused in all probability by the Emperor's policy in Italy,
and which ended in schism? . We feel, indeed, that we are approaching the
days of Michael Cerularius, for, monk as he was, Sergius certainly appears
to have carried on the struggle initiated by Sisinnius. Several of our
authorities, questionable it is true, tell us that the Patriarch assembled
a synod in 1009 at Constantinople, and that he resumed the policy
formerly inaugurated by Photius, procured the confirmation of his
pro-
nouncements against Latin innovations, and struck out the Pope's
1 But cf. infra, Chapter 1x, pp. 261-62.
CH. IV.
## p. 92 (#134) #############################################
92
Attempt at a compromise
name from the diptychs. In fact, at this time separation and schism
were put on an official footing. Apart from this event, which does not
appear to have had any immediate consequences, we find that Sergius very
courageously attempted to induce the Emperor to abolish the tax which
he had just re-imposed, the allelengyon, but without success. Basil re-
fused his consent. It was also during this pontificate that a certain
number of liturgical and canonical books were translated from the Greek
into Russian for the use of the recently-founded Church, and that the
monastery of St Anne was founded on Mount Athos. Finally we have an
ordinance of Sergius dated in May 1016 authorising devout persons to
give donations to churches and monasteries.
The successor of Sergius was a eunuch named Eustathius, almoner of
the imperial chapel, elected on 12 April 1020. The appointment was
dictated solely by political reasons. Relations between Rome and Con-
stantinople were much strained, if not wholly broken off. In Italy things
were not going prosperously for the Empire; German influence was pre-
ponderant there, and Benedict VIII had not hesitated to employ the
Normans against the Byzantines. It will readily be understood that, in
these circumstances, Basil's whole idea would be to countermine papal
influence at Constantinople. But a Western chronicler tells us that
in 1024, immediately on the death of Benedict VIII, Eustathius asked
for the title of Ecumenical Patriarch from John XIX, and in this way
resumed spiritual relations with Rome. John XIX was about to concede
the privilege, which would have been tantamount to granting autonomy
to the Church of Constantinople, when the protests of Western Europe
compelled him to draw back. Matters had reached this stage when
Eustathius and Basil II died, within a few days of each other, in December
1025. The successor to the dead Patriarch was at once chosen. He was
Alexius, Igumen of the Studion.
The reign of Basil II is notable for a certain number of laws
of importance. Some are concerned merely with gifts made to the
great monasteries; others have a more general significance. It was in
January 996 that Basil issued his famous Novel against the continual
encroachments of the great territorial proprietors. If this question had
been, as we have seen, a constant preoccupation of the Emperors of
the preceding century, it had become for Basil II a matter of life and
death. For it was the great landholders who had raised the standard of
revolt, and they it was who, with their money and their men, had main-
tained the cause of the rebel pretenders. It was of the utmost importance,
then, for Basil to carry out the advice which had been given him (it is
said, by Bardas Sclerus after his defeat), to break down this formidable
power,
the source that fed it, territorial wealth. This he did
by means of the Novel of January 996,"condemning those who enriched
themselves at the expense of the poor. ” This provision in fact merely
confirms and gives precision to that of Romanus Lecapenus, and extends
and dry up
## p. 93 (#135) #############################################
Legislation against the “powerful”
93
its scope. Prescription, even for forty years, was now to avail nothing
against the right of redemption; the power to reclaim property was
declared inalienable by any lapse of time. Any estate acquired by its
owner before the date of the Novel of Lecapenus was to remain in the
hands of its actual proprietor, provided that he could furnish authentic
documentary proof that his rights dated from a time anterior to the
ordinance. The title to any estate illegally acquired since the publication
of the Lecapenian Novels was declared null, and the peasants might at
once reclaim their original property, which would be restored to them
without the payment of any compensation. Estates unjustly come by,
even if their possession had been sanctioned by a golden bull from the
Emperor, were subject to the same provision, any such bulls being
declared null.
Special provisions gave precision also to the Novel of 4 April 988
concerning ecclesiastical property, and finally very severe penalties were
decreed against high officials who used their position to enrich themselves
outrageously at the expense of the crown lands. The principle underlying
all this formidable legislation was that any estate, whether noble, eccle-
siastical, or burgher, should remain permanently what it was, and that thus
commoners' lands were never to pass to either of the other two classes.
This Draconian law was, in truth, only justice, for the “powerful”
had in the end agreed that they were rightful possessors of land taken
from the poor only if, by any means or methods whatsoever, they had
debarred their victims for a period of forty years from lodging a com-
plaint in due legal form. The injustice of the practice is clear, and so is
the social danger to which it led. It was by such means that the fortunes
of the great feudal houses had been founded, such as those of Phocas,
Maleinus, Tzimisces, Sclerus, and of the parakoimomenos Basil; it was
by such means too that the exchequer was depleted, for all these great
nobles, like convents, were privileged with regard to taxation.
The new laws appear to have met with no great success. The penalties
were irregularly applied, even if we take it that they were capable of
being enforced. In 1002 the Emperor, having paid him a visit, did indeed
disgrace Eustathius Maleinus, whom he carried prisoner to Constantinople,
awaiting the opportunity of his death to confiscate his estates to the
profit of the crown. But this was an isolated instance, which goes to
shew how difficult, slow, and inefficacious was the application of the Novel
of 996. It was moreover in these circumstances that Basil II, in order to
provide for the enormous cost of the war with Bulgaria, as well, probably,
as to pursue his controversy with the great feudal lords, re-imposed the
famous tax called the allelengyon, by which the rich and the poor were
declared jointly and separately liable with respect to all obligations,
whether financial or military, and the rich were required, in default of the
poor, to discharge for them both their taxes and their service in the field.
This mutual warranty was an old legacy from the Roman law as to the
сн. IV.
## p. 94 (#136) #############################################
94
Secular relations with the West
curiales, which had no other result than to ruin the mass of the great
landholders and to stir up the bitterest of social hatreds. Thus Basil's
work had no element of permanence. If for a time the Emperor found
some profit in exacting the tax, his successors were before long forced to
repeal it.
If Constantinople was on far from amicable terms with Rome, and
if Italian affairs were frequently the cause of disputes with the Saxon
Emperors, yet from 983 onwards, the date at which Theophano took
power into her own hands, the relations between the two imperial courts
were excellent. Otto III had been educated by his mother in great
reverence for Constantinople and according to Greek ideas, and, as soon
as he was old enough, he hastened in May 996 to send an embassy to
Basil II asking for the hand of one of his imperial cousins, no doubt
Zoë or Theodora. We know nothing of the results of this first embassy,
but apparently it was warmly received, for in 1001 a fresh mission left
Italy, headed by Arnulf, Archbishop of Milan, charged on this oc-
casion to bring back the promised princess. This second embassy was
received by Basil II with honours such as in themselves shew how cordial
were the relations between the two courts. Unfortunately neither had
laid its account with death. When the wedding cortège reached Bari, the
news came that Otto III had died in January 1002, and all dreams, dip-
lomatic and matrimonial, vanished like smoke. The Byzantine princess
who had been about to assume the imperial crown of the West must
needs return to Constantinople, and before long be a witness of the ruin
of the Byzantine power in Italy, which her marriage would perhaps have
hindered or at any rate delayed.
At Venice, in contrast to the Italian mainland, the Doge Peter
Orseolo II. (elected 991) made every effort to maintain a thoroughly good
understanding with Basil. In 991 or 992 he sent ambassadors to Con-
stantinople, who were very well received, and by a chrysobull of March
992 secured valuable commercial privileges. Later on, relations became
even more intimate. In 998 the Doge's son John spent some time at
Constantinople, and some few years afterwards, in 1004, Basil gave him
as his wife a young Greek of illustrious race, Maria Argyrus, sister of
Romanus Argyrus, the future Emperor of Constantinople. Unfortunately
both husband and wife died of the plague in 1007.
One of the most important of Basil's diplomatic achievements was
the political and religious organisation which he imposed upon Bulgaria
after his final victory in 1018. We are to some extent acquainted with
this work of his through three Novels addressed by the Emperor to
John, Archbishop of Ochrida, which have been discovered in a golden
bull of Michael Palaeologus dated 1272. By these Novels Basil set up an
autonomous Church in Bulgaria, having as its sphere the ancient Bulgarian
Patriarchate as it existed from 927-968, with the addition of a whole
series of bishoprics taken from various metropolitan sees of Macedonia,
## p. 95 (#137) #############################################
Recurrence of revolt
95
Epirus, Thessaly, Serbia, etc. It is probable that in this he was influenced
by political motives, but on this point we have very little information'.
The reign of Basil II, full of importance from the domestic point
of view, was even more so in a military sense. An Emperor who strove so
energetically and successfully to enable Byzantium to triumph over her
foreign enemies, after having bravely contended for his own rights against
his personal foes, was naturally, during the greater part of his reign, often
absent from Constantinople. While going forth on his military expeditions
and while returning to his capital he had, what was very rare for an Em-
peror, an opportunity of visiting every part of his vast dominions, and his
sojourn at Athens in 1018 has always been famous. His military triumphs,
celebrated at Constantinopleafter his great victories, were also magnificent,
as beseemed the reward which his warlike achievements had deservedly
earned.
Yet before his death Basil, about 1022, was called upon once again to
experience the anxieties of his younger days, through the revolt of two
of his generals, Nicephorus Xiphias and Nicephorus Phocas, son of Bardas.
The Emperor was at Trebizond, about to set forth on an expedition to
Iberia, when he learned in rapid succession that in his rear the two
generals had broken out into revolt, that a conspiracy had been formed to
dethrone him, that the traitors had probably an understanding with one
of his worst enemies, the King of the Abasgians, and that an army was
gathering together against him in Cappadocia. The situation was likely
to become even more threatening, for Phocas was proclaimed Emperor.
But, as before, Basil profited by the rivalry which soon declared itself
between the two rebels. Xiphias, jealous of Phocas, drew the crowned pre-
tender into an ambush on 15 August 1022, and had him assassinated. It
was now all over with the revolt, and also with the family of Phocas, which
with this Nicephorus disappears from the pages of history. As to Xiphias,
he was made prisoner, tonsured, and sent into exile on one of the Princes
Islands, his property being confiscated. The Emperor, thus delivered,
was able to continue his march to Iberia.
A reign so essentially military as Basil's was unfavourable to letters and
the arts, which indeed the Emperor always looked upon with indifference
or contempt. Nevertheless, whatever the period to which the work of
Simeon Metaphrastes should be assigned, hagiographical compilation
was actively carried on, as we see from the famous Menologium of Basil
dedicated to that sovereign, a marvellous illuminated manuscript now
preserved in the Vatican Library. Basil's name is also associated with
another great work, this time an architectural one. In the night of the
25-26 October 989 Constantinople was visited by a fearful earthquake.
The destruction was enormous. The cupola of St Sophia and the eastern
apse gave way. It was necessary that they should be at once repaired,
1 See also, infru, Chapter vur, p. 243.
сн. IV.
## p. 96 (#138) #############################################
96
Death of Basil II
and also that the ramparts and the aqueduct of Valens which had been
partially destroyed should be reconstructed. An Armenian architect,
Tiridates, was entrusted with the work at St Sophia, fine mosaics being
executed for the adornment of the western arch. The same was the case
with the Baths of Blachernae, which Basil caused to be re-built and
re-decorated in sumptuous fashion. Commerce, especially, seems to have
prospered during this reign, and the great silk manufactories seem to
have been always at work. The industrial museum at Düsseldorf pre-
serves a superb silk stuff, dating from the reign of Basil and the year
1000, into which are woven figures of lions facing one another.
From the time of Basil's return from his campaign in Iberia nothing
is recorded of him until his death. We only know that as the con-
queror of Musulmans, Russians, and Bulgarians he had extended his
empire as far as the Caucasus, when at the age of sixty-eight he de-
sired, in spite of the glories which already made his reign illustrious,
to accomplish still more and to go in person to carry the war into Sicily.
He was prevented only by death, which cut him off on 15 December 1025
after a reign of forty-nine years and eleven months. As he left no direct
heirs, he named his brother Constantine to succeed him, and to take
up
the
splendid inheritance which his own energy and valour had enabled him
to leave behind. Never, indeed, had the Empire been stronger, wider, or
more prosperous than in this year 1025, the high-water mark in the history
of the Macedonian House and, in fact, of the Byzantine Empire. With
Basil II's death a period of miserable decadence was to set in.
Constantine VIII (1025-1028).
The new Emperor, to whom Basil in dying had committed the im-
perial crown, was already an old man, sixty-four or sixty-five years of age,
having first seen the light in 960 or 961. Unlike his brother, he had
spent his life almost wholly within the palace precincts, amidst all the re-
finements of luxury and lowest excesses of debauchery. As we have seen, he
was crowned on 7 April 961, and associated in the Empire as the honorary
colleague of Basil in 976. When he succeeded to the throne he had a
wife, Helena, and three daughters, Eudocia, Zoë, and Theodora. The
eldest daughter makes no figure in history. Disfigured from her early
days by small-pox, she entered a convent and died before 1042. The
other two were to have their names in all men's mouths and to represent
the Macedonian dynasty up to 1056.
The Emperor Constantine VIII bore the worst possible reputation at
Constantinople, and unfortunately with only too much reason. Psellus
has left us an unflattering portrait of him, which, however, seems to
be fairly accurate. Inheriting, as he did, the blood of Michael III and
Alexander, during his reign of three years his one object seemed to
be to empty the treasury, and, as Scylitzes says, “ to do a vast amount
## p. 97 (#139) #############################################
Constantine VIII
97
of mischief in a very short time, to pursue his merely voluptuous way of
life as the absolute slave of gluttony and lust, and to indulge without
reflection in the amusements of the Hippodrome, the table, the chase,
and
games of hazard. ” His first measures were taken solely with a view
to getting rid of the whole of the late Emperor's staff, and to dealing out
offices and honours to the habitual companions of his debauches, men of
base origin, several of whom were pagans and barbarians. The government
was handed over to six eunuchs, and in order, no doubt, to found his
authority on terror, the new Emperor disgraced a certain number of men
of mark such as Constantine Burtzes and Nicephorus Comnenus, Bardas
Phocas and the Metropolitan of Naupactus, all of whom he caused to be
blinded. Then, notwithstanding the enormous sums left in the imperial
treasury by Basil, Constantine VIII demanded with covetous insistence
not only the strict and yearly exaction of the taxes in full, but also
the arrears of two years, which Basil had not exacted. This was a
grievous burden for the whole Empire and spelt ruin to many families. .
But such considerations were powerless to disturb the equanimity of
Constantine VIII.
Except for these few incidents, the reign of three years was marked
by no event of importance, unless it be the marriage of Zoë. How-
ever, the military and political conditions which Constantine, quite apart
from any will of his own, inherited of necessity from his brother in
Armenia, Iberia, and Italy, brought embassies to Constantinople of
which an account has been preserved. In 1026 the Katholikos of Iberia
came to appeal for the protection of the Emperor for his Church. At
the beginning of 1028 came the embassy sent by Conrad II with the
ostensible object of proposing a marriage of ridiculous disparity between
his son, aged ten, and one of the two princesses born in the purple, but
in reality to attempt to conclude an alliance between East and West
which might have restored the ancient unity of the Roman Empire, as
the Macedonian House had now no male heirs. Werner, Bishop of Stras-
bourg, and Count Manegold were received with great splendour at Con-
stantinople, but the negotiations led to no practical result, and that for
several reasons: in the first place, because they aimed at the impossible,
and in the second, because on 28 October 1028 Werner died, as did a fort-
night later the Emperor himself. Nevertheless, some good effect seems
to have come of the mission, for from this time onwards the relations
between Germans and Greeks were, temporarily at least, marked by a
genuine cordiality.
We have a somewhat curious new departure dating from the reign
of Constantine VIII and the year 1027, described by the Arab writer,
Maqrizī
. It was actually agreed upon by treaty between the Emperor
and the Fățimite Caliph Zāhir that for the future the Egyptian ruler's
name should be mentioned in all the prayers offered in mosques situated
in the imperial territory, and that the mosque in Constantinople should
7
C. MED, U, VOL. IV. CH. IV.
## p. 98 (#140) #############################################
98
Accession of Zoë
be restored and a muezzin established there. On his part, the Caliph
agreed to the rebuilding of the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem,
which had been destroyed in 1009, and to the return to the orthodox faith
of those Christians who through force or fear had become Mohammedans.
There is besides in existence a Novel of Constantine VIII dated June
1026 anathematizing seditions.
When on 9 November 1028 Constantine fell dangerously ill, he
bethought himself of settling the succession. He had near him only
his two younger daughters, neither of whom was married. A solu-
tion of the question had to be found without delay. It was resolved
that Zöe should be married on the spot, and the Emperor made choice
of Constantine Dalassenus, but at the last moment palace jealousies
caused him to be set aside, and the final choice fell on Romanus Argyrus.
But he was married. By the order of the Emperor and by threats of the
most horrible punishments, Romanus was brought to consent to a divorce,
and his wife to retire from the world into a convent. There she died in
1032. Romanus was at once proclaimed Caesar and heir to the Empire.
In spite of the existence of his real wife and the nearness of relationship
between the two', the Patriarch made no objection to solemnising this
remarkable union, on account, it would seem, of the State interests in-
volved, and in order to avert a political crisis. At all events, nobody
seems to have raised any protest against the morals displayed, and
Constantine tranquilly expired on 11 November 1028, aged seventy.
Zoë and Romanus III Argyrus (1028-1034).
Zoë, when in right of her birth she ascended the Byzantine throne,
was forty-eight years old, having been born in 980. “Of a haughty temper
and great personal beauty, with a brilliant mind," says Psellus, she had
languished into old age in the women's apartments of the palace, imperial
policy having been neither able nor willing to find her a husband. Her
marriage with Romanus Argyrus meant to her emancipation and liberty,
and she was to make use of her position to recall into being, nay, to
unite in her own person and display to the world, all that had brought
shame
upon
and to give herself up to the worst excesses. There
is something in Zoë of Theodora, something of Romanus II, and again
something of Constantine VIII. Her accession began the hopeless decline
of her dynasty.
The husband whom accident had given her was in himself a worthy
man. Up to the day of his unwelcome marriage, he had lived at Con-
stantinople as a great noble, deeply attached to his affectionate wife,
her race,
i Constantine VII, grandfather of Constantine VIII, and Romanus Argyropulus,
great-grandfather of Romanus Argyrus, had married sisters, Helen and Agatha,
daughters of Romanus Lecapenus. It was probably for this reason that Romanus
was chosen for Zoë's husband and for future Emperor.
## p. 99 (#141) #############################################
Character and government of Romanus III
99
much given to works of piety, and to study as understood by a man of
the world, that is to say, of a rather superficial description. He was a man
of ability, but unfortunately not a little vain, and as Emperor during his
six years' reign he strove to govern well, and dreamed (a strange dream,
considering the age which both he and Zoë had reached) of establishing
an Argyrus dynasty at Constantinople. Unluckily his intelligence did not
keep pace with his good intentions, and owing to his self-deception as to
his own military qualifications and to his too eager appetite for glory,
he ended by bringing the worst calamities upon Constantinople, and upon
himself the most bitter disillusionment.
On his accession, the first measures taken were fortunate, and shew
the importance which Romanus always attached to being on good terms
with the clergy. The first Novel which he issued on his accession in-
creased the contribution made by the imperial exchequer to relieve the
strain on the very limited resources of St Sophia. He then abolished
the famous tax known as the allelengyon which Basil II had re-imposed,
and bestowed lavish alms on all who had been ruined by the late reign.
Going further, he flung open the prison doors and set free those who
were detained for debt, himself paying a great part of what was due
to private creditors and remitting what was claimed by the State. He
restored to liberty numberless victims of the late reign, replacing them
in their old positions, and, when feasible, bestowing great offices on them.
These first steps, however, unfortunately led nowhere. Hardly had
the edicts gone forth, when a series of calamities fell upon the Empire
which changed not only the aspect which Romanus had given to his
government but the very character of the sovereign himself. The account
of the disasters experienced by the Emperor and his army in Syria
must be omitted here. They did not come alone. Soon money began
to fail, and Romanus was forced to concentrate all his energy upon
the financial side of the administration, and from having been liberal
and munificent, he became, except where the clergy and his buildings
were concerned, severe, harsh, and even, it was said, avaricious, to a degree
which brought him many enemies. He was compelled to raise the money
needed by fresh taxes, and it happened further that under his govern-
ment the Empire passed through a time of fearful crisis. In the winter
of 1031-1032 there was an awful famine in Asia Minor accompanied by
prodigious mortality; with the spring came the plague, then an army of
locusts which made havoc of the crops, and then, as though all this
had not been enough, on 13 August Constantinople was shaken by a
terrific earthquake which destroyed numberless houses, hospitals, and
aqueducts. Romanus III was forced to come to the relief of all the un-
fortunate sufferers with money. He did it on a generous scale, but the
finances felt the effects grievously.
In spite of the emptiness of the treasury, of which, indeed, his pro-
pensities were partly the cause, Romanus III was a great builder. Like
CH. v.
7-2
## p. 100 (#142) ############################################
100
Foreign affairs and conspiracies
Justinian and Basil I, he desired to erect at Constantinople a new archi-
tectural marvel, a worthy rival of St Sophia and the New Church. This was
the church of St Mary Peribleptos, and he added to it a large laura for
men. He endowed both church and monastery richly, alienating lands of
considerable extent and unusual fertility. But he went further. Not con-
tent with building the Peribleptos church, he adorned St Sophia with costly
decorations in gold and silver, while at Jerusalem he began the rebuilding
of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was not finished till 1048.
In 1030 or 1031, from purely political motives, Romanus III, having
no children of his own, arranged marriages for two of his nieces. One
of them, Helena, was married to Parakat IV, King of Iberia, and the
other to John-Sempad, King of Greater Armenia. The former of these
marriages gave occasion for a visit to Constantinople of Queen Mariam,
Parakat's mother, and for a treaty of alliance between the two sove-
reigns, a treaty, however, which proved of small importance, for
Romanus at the first opportunity tore it up; Helena, in fact, had died
not long after her marriage.
The chroniclers preserve the remembrance of another embassy which
also made its appearance in 1031. This was the Saracen mission, headed
by the son of the Mirdāsid Emir of Aleppo, Shibl-ad-daulah. He, also,
came to request the renewal by treaty of peaceful relations. His pro-
posal, which was accepted, was to go back to the convention signed after
the victories of Nicephorus Phocas, in fact to the payment of a tribute.
A treaty on much the same lines resulted, also at this date, from a visit
paid by the Emir of Tripolis to Constantinople.
When Zoë ascended the throne, it necessarily happened that her
younger sister Theodora was left somewhat neglected and forgotten
in the women's apartments of the palace. This did not suit her at all,
however devout she may have been, and, debarred from ruling, she
betook herself to plotting. Even in 1031 a first conspiracy broke out
against Romanus III, the moving spirit of which, Fruyin, or Prusianus,
was no other than the eldest son of the last Bulgarian sovereign. He was
accused, and apparently the charge was proved, of having had designs
upon the throne of Constantinople and perhaps upon the hand of Theo-
dora. In any case, it is fairly plain that the future Empress took a hand
in the game. But the plot was discovered, and Prusianus was blinded.
Theodora, on this first occasion, was not proceeded against, but her im-
munity did not last long, for soon afterwards another affair arose which
led to more serious consequences. This was the conspiracy of Constantine
Diogenes, Romanus III's own nephew. We know nothing of this plot
except its results. Some of the highest personages in the State were so
deeply implicated in it that they were subjected to the worst outrages,
and then imprisoned for the remainder of their lives. Nor did Theodora
herself go unpunished. She was sent to expiate her guilt at the convent
of Petrion.
## p. 101 (#143) ############################################
Michael IV succeeds Romanus
101
Meanwhile Zoë was pursuing her new way of life without measure or
restraint at the palace. Romanus III, when he had to give up all hope
of children, began to neglect his wife and turn his attention to the
government, while Zoë rushed from one adventure to another. Friction
soon made itself felt between the elderly couple. Zoë was exasperated
by the Emperor's neglect, by the strong influence which his sister Pulcheria
exercised over his mind, and by the limits set to her mad extravagance.
She found the means of vengeance by attracting the love of a younger
brother of the man whose name was soon to become fainous throughout
the Empire, John the Orphanotrophos, a Paphlagonian eunuch of low
birth, who had become the friend, confidant, and only favourite of
Romanus. The brother's name was Michael ; he was young and hand-
some. Thanks to his elder brother, Michael had exchanged his business
of a money-changer, perhaps a coiner, for the post of “Archon of the
Pantheon. ” He soon, in his turn, became a special favourite with
Romanus, and was even more acceptable to Zoë. In course of time the
disgraceful passion of Michael and the Empress became public property,
and Zoë herself ventured to predict the speedy elevation of her lover to
the throne.
Her prophecy was verified on 12 April 1034. Romanus was in his
bath when in the night of 11-12 April he was murdered, apparently
by some of his suite. Exactly what took place was never known. After
having probably been poisoned, he was in some mysterious fashion
drowned. However this may have been, no one at Constantinople
doubted that Zoë and Michael were indirectly the chief movers in a
crime which was to give the imperial crown to Michael IV, the Paphla-
gonian.
Zoë and Michael IV (1034-1041).
The Empress Zoë's satisfaction was brief. In gaining her new hus-
band by a crime she had at the same time found a master. Cunningly acted
upon by John Orphanotrophos, who was already the real ruler of the
Empire, she determined to have Michael proclaimed at once, and, within
a few hours of her husband's death, to marry him publicly. The Patriarch
was hastily summoned to the palace, where he learned at one and the
same time the death of Romanus and the service expected of him. It
was no light thing. It was in fact that he should proceed without
parley to bless the union, on a Good Friday, of a woman stained with
crime, fifty-four or fifty-five years of age, and widowed only a few hours,
with a young man of no family, thirty years her junior. How came
the Patriarch Alexius to lend himself to the accomplishment of any-
thing so infamous ? We cannot tell. Scylitzes only relates that he was
won over by bribes to do the will of the Empress. At all events, no one
at Constantinople made any protest against this exhibition of imperial
CB. IV.
## p. 102 (#144) ############################################
102
Character of Michael IV
morals. The city, it appears, was delighted to greet the new sovereign,
and on the day of Romanus funeral there were no lamentations for
the dead Emperor, who had not been popular with the inhabitants
of Constantinople.
And yet, strange to relate, once seated upon the throne, this un-
trained man, with no claims to govern, and already tormented by
the epileptic fits which a few years later were to carry him off in his
turn, proved a good ruler, careful of the public interest, attentive to
the defence of the Empire, and courageous when the situation in
Bulgaria made demands upon his energy. The character given of him by
one who knew him personally and intimately, Psellus, should be studied
in order to gain an idea of what Michael was upon the throne. “Such
was the conduct of the Emperor," he says, “ that setting aside his crime
against Romanus III, his treasonable adultery with Zoë, and the cruelty
with which he sent several illustrious persons into exile on mere sus-
picion, and setting aside, further, his disreputable family, for whom after
all he was not responsible, one cannot do otherwise than place him
among the elect of sovereigns in all ages. ” He wisely declined to make
any hasty innovations, any sweeping changes in the imperial administra-
tion. If there was favouritism, if the Senate found itself invaded by the
creatures of the new régime, this was the doing of Michael's brother.
But there is more to be said. Michael proved to be extremely devout;
hardly was he seated on the throne when he began to realise the crime
he had committed, to regret it, and to do penance. He would now have
no companions but monks, and no anxiety save to do good and to expiate
his sins. His life was that of an ascetic, and the whole of the imperial
treasure went to build convents, a home for the poor, the Ptochotropheion, ,
and even a refuge for fallen women.
Meanwhile, what was Zoë doing ? She had not taken long to realise
how grossly she had deceived herself. Devoid of gratitude towards a
woman whom he had never really loved, Michael broke off relations with
the Empress and refused to see her. Under the influence of his brother
and of his religious impressions, dreading too lest he should meet with
the fate of Romanus, he kept her in retirement and had her carefully
watched.
