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| Romanos II | |
|---|---|
| Name | Romanos II |
| Birth date | 938 |
| Birth place | Constantinople |
| Death date | 15 March 963 |
| Death place | Constantinople |
| Reign | 15 November 959 – 15 March 963 |
| Predecessor | Constantine VII |
| Successor | Nikephoros II Phokas |
| Spouse | Theophano |
| Issue | Basil II; Constantine VIII; Anna Porphyrogenita |
| Dynasty | Macedonian dynasty |
Romanos II (938 – 15 March 963) was Byzantine Emperor from 959 until his death in 963. Son of Constantine VII and Helena Lekapene, he inherited the throne during the later phase of the Macedonian Renaissance and presided over a court shaped by powerful aristocratic families such as the Phokas family and the Lekapenos family. His short reign saw significant military successes against the Hamdanids and Abbasid Caliphate and internal power struggles culminating in accession by Nikephoros II Phokas.
Born in Constantinople in 938, Romanos was the eldest son of Emperor Constantine VII and Empress Helena Lekapene, herself daughter of Romanos I Lekapenos. From childhood he was enmeshed in the dynastic politics involving the Lekapenos family, the imperial court, and rival aristocratic houses such as the Phokas family and the Macedonian dynasty core. He was crowned co-emperor in 945 during the deposition of Romanos I, an event engineered by the senior imperial household and influential courtiers including Joseph Bringas and the eunuch Basil Lekapenos. Upon the death of Constantine VII on 9 November 959, Romanos became sole emperor amid competing claims from magnates and senior generals like Nikephoros Phokas the Elder and Leo Phokas.
Romanos’s administration relied heavily on trusted officials from the capital, notably the eunuch Basil Lekapenos who served as parakoimomenos and chief minister, and the chamberlain Joseph Bringas, whose rivalry with military aristocrats shaped policy. Fiscal oversight remained with fiscal officials such as the logothetes; the officeholders pursued taxation and revenue reforms influenced by precedents from Constantine VII’s treatises and the bureaucratic traditions of the Basilika. Court ceremonial followed models from De Ceremoniis, and Romanos maintained patronage ties with Constantinopolitan institutions including the Hagia Sophia clergy and metropolitan bishops. Urban elite families such as the Kantakouzenos family and provincial aristocrats including the Doukas family influenced appointments to provincial themes like the Anatolic Theme and the Opsikion Theme.
Military policy under Romanos saw decisive action against eastern adversaries. After accession he authorized campaigns under generals from the Phokas family and commanders like John Tzimiskes and Nikephoros Phokas against the Emirate of Aleppo ruled by the Hamdanid dynasty and against frontier emirates under the loose suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate. The capture and sack of key frontier fortresses and the recovery of territories in Cilicia and Cappadocia revived Byzantine presence in Syria and Mesopotamia. Naval operations were conducted in concert with fleets based at Mitylene and Crete, affecting commerce with Venice and confronting pirates from Sicily and Fatimid corsairs. On the Balkan front, diplomatic and military contacts involved the Bulgarian Empire and the principality of Kievan Rus'', where tributary relations and dynastic marriage politics played roles. Treaties and truces negotiated by envoys from Constantinople addressed relations with the Abbasid Caliphate and regional commanders such as Sayf al-Dawla of the Hamdanids.
Romanos married Theophano, a woman of contested origins who became a dominant figure in court politics; their union produced heirs including Basil II, Constantine VIII, and a daughter, Anna Porphyrogenita. The court factionalism between civilian ministers like Basil Lekapenos and military magnates such as the Phokas family intensified during his reign. Prominent generals elevated by Romanos—Nikephoros Phokas and John Tzimiskes—held extensive military commands and later contested for supreme power. The imperial household maintained dynastic links with foreign courts through marriages and fostered alliances with leading aristocratic clans including the Skleros family and the Makrembolites family in Constantinople. The succession arrangements envisioned his sons as heirs, but political realities enabled senior generals and palace courtiers to challenge dynastic continuity.
Romanos died suddenly in 963; contemporary sources variously imply illness or poisoning, with suspicion falling on rivals including court eunuchs and ambitious generals such as Nikephoros Phokas and John Tzimiskes. His death precipitated a power struggle whereby Theophano acted as regent for the minor heirs until Nikephoros II Phokas was proclaimed emperor, a transition that reshaped Byzantine military policy and led to further territorial reconquest in the east. Romanos’s legacy includes consolidation of preceding administrative reforms from Constantine VII, patronage of liturgical centers such as Hagia Sophia, and setting the stage for the later reign of Basil II that culminated in decisive victories against the Bulgarian Empire and expansion into Syria. Historiographical treatments by chroniclers like Leo the Deacon and Theophanes Continuatus and later scholars of the Macedonian dynasty evaluate his reign as pivotal in the interplay between the Constantinopolitan bureaucracy and the rising military aristocracy.
Category:Byzantine emperors Category:Macedonian dynasty Category:10th-century Byzantine emperors