Family and early career '' of Romanos III.|left Romanos Argyros, born in 968, was the son of Marianos, a member of the
Argyros family. Other hypotheses about his father are Pothos Argyros who defeated a
Magyar raid in 958 (identified by some scholars with an
older namesake), or Eustathios Argyros, known only for commissioning a poem in honour of
Romanos II in 950. Romanos' father, Marianos, was the son of another
Romanos Argyros, who had married Agatha, a daughter of Emperor
Romanos I Lekapenos (r. 919–944). Romanos had several siblings:
Basil Argyros, who served as general and governor under
Basil II (r. 976–1025); Leo, who served under Basil and was killed in Italy in 1017; Pulcheria Argyropoulina, who married the
magistros Basil Skleros and was reportedly a "woman of great spirit...who contributed not a little to her brother's success" by helping him to control Zoe's spending; a sister who married
Constantine Karantenos, who served as
doux of
Antioch under Romanos; and
Maria Argyropoulina, who married
Giovanni Orseolo, son of
Doge Pietro II Orseolo. He served as
krites (judge) in
Opsikion, with the rank of
protospatharios (one of the highest judicial ranks, usually awarded to senior generals and provincial governors). In this capacity he persecuted heretics at Akmoneia. He was then promoted to the post of
quaestor (the senior judicial official for the imperial capital, Constantinople) and became one of the judges of the
Hippodrome, the High Court of the Empire. In this role he is mentioned in the
Peira, a compendium of legal decisions compiled by the noted jurist
Eustathios Rhomaios. He was promoted further to the rank of
patrikios and the post of
oikonomos (administrator) of the
Great Church, while continuing to preside over the High Court. Under Emperor
Constantine VIII he held the post of
urban prefect of
Constantinople, which made him the formal head of the Senate and one of the emperor's chief lieutenants.
Reign Late in 1028, Constantine VIII lay on his deathbed. Wishing to secure the Macedonian dynasty, but having no son, he summoned
Constantine Dalassenos from Antioch to marry his oldest daughter,
Zoë. Dalassenos, the
doux of Antioch, was an experienced military commander, influential patrician, and unswervingly loyal to the ruling house. The emperor's advisors preferred not to have a strong military figure as the new emperor, and persuaded the Emperor to choose Romanos instead, as a potentially more pliable and certainly less travelled candidate. Constantine VIII forced Romanos to divorce his wife Helena, who was sent to a
monastery, and to marry Zoë, aged 50 at the time; Romanos was 60. The marriage took place on 9 November 1028, and on the same ceremony Romanos was proclaimed
caesar. Three days later, on 11 November, Constantine died of illness. The new emperor was eager to make his mark as a ruler, but was mostly ineffectual in his enterprises. He idealised
Marcus Aurelius, aspiring to be a new
philosopher king, and similarly sought to imitate the military prowess of
Trajan. He spent large sums on new buildings and in endowing churches and monasteries. He endeavoured to relieve the pressure of taxation on the aristocracy, which undermined the finances of the state. Previous emperors had attempted to control the privileges of the nobles over the common people. Coming from the aristocracy himself, Romanos III abandoned this policy. This failure to stand up to the aristocrats allowed them to exploit the rural mass of landed peasantry, who increasingly fell into a condition of serfdom. This in turn undermined the traditional recruiting base of the Byzantine army. The combination of a reduced tax base and fewer native-born troops had long-term consequences. As revenue declined, the subsequent impoverishment of the state weakened the military's recruitment power still further. In 1030 he resolved to lead an army in person against the
Mirdasids of
Aleppo, despite their having accepted the Byzantines as overlords, with disastrous results. The army camped at a waterless site and its scouts were ambushed. An attack by the Byzantine cavalry was defeated. That night Romanos held an imperial council at which the demoralised Byzantines resolved to abandon the campaign and return to Byzantine territory. Romanos also ordered his siege engines to be burned. On 10August 1030 the army departed its camp and made for Antioch. Discipline broke down in the Byzantine army, with Armenian mercenaries using the withdrawal as an opportunity to pillage the camp's stores. The Emir of Aleppo launched an attack and the
imperial army broke and fled. Only the imperial bodyguard, the
Hetaireia, held firm, but Romanos was nearly captured. Accounts vary on the battle losses:
John Skylitzes wrote that the Byzantines suffered a "terrible rout" and that some troops were killed in a chaotic stampede by their fellow soldiers,
Yahya of Antioch wrote that the Byzantines suffered remarkably few casualties. According to Yahya, two high ranking Byzantine officers were among the fatalities, and another officer was captured by the Arabs. After this defeat the army became a "laughing-stock". Despite his victory, the Emir of Aleppo opened negotiations and signed a treaty that made Aleppo an Imperial tributary and allowed for a Greek governor to preside over the city. In 1032 the capture and successful defence of
Edessa by
George Maniakes and the sound defeat of a
Saracen fleet in the
Adriatic did little to restore Romanos' early popularity. Romanos faced several conspiracies, mostly centred on his sister-in-law Theodora. In 1029 she planned to marry the Bulgarian prince
Presian and to usurp the throne. The plot was discovered, Presian was
blinded and
tonsured as a monk but Theodora was not punished. In 1031 she was implicated in another conspiracy, this time with Constantine Diogenes, the
Archon of
Sirmium, There is also speculation that he was drowned in a bath on his wife's orders. He was buried in the
Church of St. Mary Peribleptos, which he built. Zoë and Michael were married on the same day that Romanos III died. Although he initially refused to co-operate, the payment of 50 pounds of gold helped change his mind. He proceeded to crown Michael IV as the new emperor of the Romans. File:Zoe_mosaic_Hagia_Sophia.jpg|Mosaic of Zoë at the
Hagia Sophia. File:Georgios_Maniakes_sends_the_letter_of_Christ_to_Romanos_III.jpg|
George Maniakes sends the letter of Christ to Romanos III. File:The_Arabs_drive_the_Byzantines_to_flight_at_Azazion.jpg|Arab cavalry pursue fleeing Byzantines after the
Battle of Azaz File:The seizure of Edessa in Syria by the Byzantine army and the Arabic counterattack from the Chronicle of John Skylitzes.jpg|After capturing Edessa, the army under George Maniakes defends the city from a counter-attack by the Saracens. File:Empress Zoe tonsures her sister Theodora.jpg|Empress Zoe tonsures
Theodora after another failed conspiracy. File:The_murder_of_Romanos_III_in_his_bath.jpg|The murder of Romanos III Argyros in a bath, from the
Chronicle of
John Skylitzes. ==See also==