Romanus I

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:Romanus1.jpg Romanus I Lecapenus (Romanos I Lakapenos, 870 - 948), who shared the throne of the Byzantine Empire with Constantine VII and exercised all the real power from 919 to 944, was admiral of the Byzantine fleet on the Danube River when, hearing of the defeat of the army at the Battle of Anchialus (917), he resolved to sail for Constantinople.

After the marriage of his daughter Helena to Constantine he was first proclaimed basileopator ("father of the emperor") in 919 and soon after, crowned colleague of his son-in-law. Romanus and his appointees made several noteworthy accomplishments. John Curcuas, a brilliant general appointed imperial Domestic by Romanus, settled a disturbance in Armenia in 924 caused by competing supporters of the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate. Curcuas also commanded the decisive Byzantine victory at Melitene, often considered the first major Byzantine territorial recovery from the Muslims. An imperial edict issued to stem the incorporation of land into large aristocratic estates is also attributed to Romanus's reign. Romanus himself played a major role in the defeat of Tsar Symeon of Bulgaria, whom he personally convinced to lift his 924 siege of Constantinople by criticizing the tsar's disregard for Orthodox Christian brotherhood. Romanus's later reign was marked by the old emperor's heightened interest in divine judgment and his increasing sense of guilt for his role in the usurpation of the throne from Constantine VII. When Romanus began to consider reinstating Constantine as his successor, his reign was terminated by two of his own sons, Stephen and Constantine Lecapenus, who in 944 carried him off to the Prince's Islands and compelled him to become a monk. When the people of Constantinople heard of their deeds, Stephen and Constantine Lecapenus were exiled with their father, and Constantine became emperor. Romanus died in 948.

[edit]