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| Romanos I Lekapenos | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Portrait of Romanos I on a contemporary seal, flanked byConstantine VII andStephen Lekapenos.Dumbarton Oaks collection. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Byzantine emperor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Basileus | 17 December 920 – 20 December 944 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Constantine VII (under regent rule) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Constantine VII (alone) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Co-emperors | See list
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| Caesar | 24 September 920 – 17 December 920 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | c. 870 Lakape (modern-dayTurkey) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 15 June 948 (aged 77–78) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Burial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Consort | Theodora | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issue more... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | Macedonian/Lekapenos | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Theophylaktos Abastaktos | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Romanos I Lakapenos orLekapenos (Greek:Ῥωμανός Λακαπηνός or Λεκαπηνός,romanized: Rōmanos Lakapēnos or Lekapēnos;c. 870 – 15 June 948),[1]Latinized asRomanus I Lacapenus orRomanus I Lecapenus, wasByzantine emperor from 920 until his deposition in 944, serving asregent for and senior co-ruler of the youngConstantine VII.
Romanos derived his epithetLekapenos, now usually treated as a family name, from his birthplace of Lakape (laterLaqabin) betweenMelitene andSamosata.[2] It is found mostly as Lakapenos in the sources, although English-language scholarship in particular prefers the form Lekapenos, in large part due to Sir Steven Runciman's 1928 study on the emperor.[3] He was the son of a peasant with the remarkable name of Theophylact "the Unbearable" (Theophylaktos Abaktistos orAbastaktos), who had rescued the EmperorBasil I from the enemy in battle atTephrike in 872, saving his life, and had been rewarded by a place in the Imperial Guard and received estates as a reward.[4] Theophylaktos is usually identified asArmenian.[5][6] ByzantinistAnthony Kaldellis contests this, saying that Armenian ancestry is not mentioned in the many Byzantine sources which discuss Romanos, and that Theophylaktos' alleged ethnicity is an assumption based on his being born in humble circumstances in theArmeniac Theme.[3] The assumption has been repeated so often in literature that it has acquired the status of a known fact, even though it is based on the most tenuous of indirect connections.[3]
Although he did not receive any refined education (for which he was later abused by his son-in-law Constantine VII), Romanos advanced through the ranks of the army during the reign of EmperorLeo VI the Wise. In 911 he was general of the naval theme ofSamos and later served as admiral of the fleet (droungarios tou ploimou). In this capacity he was supposed to participate in the Byzantine operations againstBulgaria on theDanube in 917, but he was unable to carry out his mission. In the aftermath of the disastrous Byzantine defeat at theBattle of Acheloos in 917 by the Bulgarians, Romanos sailed toConstantinople, where he gradually overcame the discredited regency of EmpressZoe Karvounopsina and her supporterLeo Phokas.
On 25 March 919, at the head of his fleet, Lekapenos seized theBoukoleon Palace and the reins of government. Initially, he was namedmagistros andmegas hetaireiarches, but he moved swiftly to consolidate his position: in April 919 his daughterHelena was married to Constantine VII, and Lekapenos assumed the new titlebasileopator. On 24 September 920, he was namedcaesar; and on 17 December, Romanoswas crowned senior emperor.[7][8]
In subsequent years Romanos crowned his own sons co-emperors,Christopher in 921,Stephen andConstantine in 924, although, for the time being, Constantine VII was regarded as first in rank after Romanos himself. It is notable that, as he left Constantine VII untouched, he was called 'the gentle usurper'.[by whom?] Romanos strengthened his position by marrying his daughters to members of the powerful aristocratic families of Argyros and Mouseles, by recalling the deposed patriarchNicholas Mystikos, and by putting an end to the conflict with thePapacy over the four marriages of Emperor Leo VI.
His early reign saw several conspiracies to topple him, which led to the successive dismissal of his firstparadynasteuontes,John the Rhaiktor andJohn Mystikos. From 925 and until the end of his reign, the post was occupied by the chamberlainTheophanes.
The first major challenge faced by the new emperor was thewar with Bulgaria, which had been re-ignited by the regency of Zoe. The rise to power of Romanos had curtailed the plans ofSimeon I of Bulgaria for a marital alliance with Constantine VII, and Romanos was determined to deny the unpopular concession of imperial recognition to Simeon, which had already toppled two imperial governments. Consequently, the first four years of Romanos' reign were spent in warfare against Bulgaria. Although Simeon generally had the upper hand, he was unable to gain a decisive advantage because of the impregnability of Constantinople's walls. In 924, when Simeon had once again blockaded the capital by land, Romanos succeeded in opening negotiations.
Meeting Simeon in person atKosmidion, Romanos criticized Simeon's disregard for tradition and Orthodox Christian brotherhood and supposedly shamed him into coming to terms and lifting the siege. In reality, this was accomplished by Romanos' tacit recognition of Simeon as emperor of Bulgaria. Relations were subsequently marred by continued wrangling over titles (Simeon called himself emperor of theRomans as well), but peace had been effectively established.
On the death of Simeon in May 927, Bulgaria's new emperor,Peter I, made a show of force by invading ByzantineThrace, but he showed himself ready to negotiate for a more permanent peace. Romanos seized the occasion and proposed a marriage alliance between the imperial houses of Byzantium and Bulgaria, at the same time renewing the Serbian-Byzantine alliance withČaslav of Serbia, returning independence the same year. In September 927 Peter arrived before Constantinople and marriedMaria (renamed Eirene, "Peace"), the daughter of Romanos' eldest son and co-emperor Christopher, and thus his granddaughter. On this occasion Christopher received precedence in rank over his brother-in-law Constantine VII, something which compounded the latter's resentment towards the Lekapenoi, the Bulgarians, and imperial marriages to outsiders (as documented in his compositionDe Administrando Imperio). From this point on, Romanos' government was free from direct military confrontation with Bulgaria. Although Byzantium would tacitly support aSerbian revolt against Bulgaria in 931, and the Bulgarians would allowMagyar raids across their territory into Byzantine possessions, Byzantium and Bulgaria remained at peace for 40 years, untilSviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria.
Romanos appointed the brilliant generalJohn Kourkouas commander of the field armies (domestikos ton scholon) in the East. John Kourkouas subdued a rebellion in the theme ofChaldia and intervened in Armenia in 924. From 926 Kourkouas campaigned across the eastern frontier against theAbbasids and their vassals, and won an important victory atMelitene in 934. The capture of this city is often considered the first major Byzantine territorial recovery from the Muslims.
In 941, while most of the army under Kourkouas was absent in the East, a fleet of 15 old ships under theprotovestiariosTheophanes had to defend Constantinople from aKievan raid. The invaderswere defeated at sea, through the use ofGreek fire, and again at land, when they landed inBithynia, by the returning army under Kourkouas. In 944 Romanosconcluded a treaty with PrinceIgor of Kiev. This crisis having passed, Kourkouas was free to return to the eastern frontier.
In 943 Kourkouas invaded northernMesopotamia and besieged the important city ofEdessa in 944. As the price for his withdrawal, Kourkouas obtained one of Byzantium's most prized relics, themandylion, the holy towel allegedly sent byJesusChrist to KingAbgar V of Edessa.
John Kourkouas, although considered by some of his contemporaries "a secondTrajan orBelisarius," was dismissed after the fall of the Lekapenoi in 945. Nevertheless, his campaigns in the East paved the way for the even more dramatic reconquests in the middle and the second half of the 10th century.
Romanos I Lekapenos attempted to strengthen the Byzantine Empire by seeking peace everywhere that it was possible—his dealings with Bulgaria and Kievan Rus' have been described above. To protect Byzantine Thrace from Magyar incursions (such as the ones in 934 and 943), Romanos paid them protection money and pursued diplomatic avenues. TheKhazars were the allies of the Byzantines until the reign of Romanos, when he started persecuting theJews of the empire. According to theSchechter Letter, the Khazar rulerJoseph responded to the persecution of Jews by "doing away with manyChristians", and Romanos retaliated by incitingOleg of Novgorod (calledHelgu in the letter) against Khazaria.[9]
Similarly, Romanos re-established peace within the church and overcame the new conflict betweenRome and Constantinople by promulgating theTomos of Union in 920. In 933 Romanos took advantage of a vacancy on the patriarchal throne to name his young sonTheophylaktospatriarch of Constantinople. The new patriarch did not achieve renown for his piety and spirituality, but he added theatrical elements to the Byzantine liturgy and was an avid horse-breeder, allegedly leaving mass to tend to one of his favorite mares when she was giving birth.
Romanos was active as a legislator, promulgating a series of laws to protect small landowners from being swallowed up by the estates of the land-owning nobility (dynatoi). The legislative reform may have been partly inspired by hardship caused by the famine of 927 and the subsequent semi-popular revolt ofBasil the Copper Hand. The emperor also managed to increase the taxes levied on the aristocracy and established the state on a more secure financial footing. Romanos was also able to effectively subdue revolts in several provinces of the empire, most notably in Chaldia, thePeloponnese, andSouthern Italy.
He incorporated the Armenian fortress ofCitharizum into the empire in 942 and renamed it Romanopolis (Ρωμανούπολις). In Constantinople, he built his palace in the place called Myrelaion, near theSea of Marmara. Beside it Romanos builta shrine which became the first example of a private burial church of a Byzantine emperor. Moreover, he erecteda chapel devoted toChrist Chalkites near theChalke Gate, the monumental entrance to theGreat Palace.
Romanos' 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. On the death of Christopher, by far his most competent son, in 931, Romanos did not advance his younger sons in precedence over Constantine VII. Fearing that Romanos would allow Constantine VII to succeed him instead of them, his younger sons Stephen and Constantine arrested their father on 20[7] (or 16)[10] December 944, carried him off to thePrinces' Islands and compelled him to become amonk. When they threatened the position of Constantine VII, however, the people of Constantinople revolted, and Stephen and Constantine were likewise stripped of their imperial rank and sent into exile to their father. Romanos died on 15 June 948,[7][11] and was buried as the other members of his family in the church of Myrelaion.
Having lived long under constant threat of deposition—or worse—by the Lekapenoi family,Constantine VII was extremely resentful of them. In hisDe Administrando Imperio manual written for his son and successor,Romanos II, he minces no words about his late father-in-law: "the lord Romanus the Emperor was an idiot and an illiterate man, neither bred in the high imperial manner, nor following Roman custom from the beginning, nor of imperial or noble descent, and therefore the more rude and authoritarian in doing most things ... for his beliefs were uncouth, obstinate, ignorant of what is good, and unwilling to adhere to what is right and proper."[12]
Romanos I's only named wife isTheodora, who died in 922.[13] However, genealogical and chronological considerations have led to the hypothesis that his three eldest children may have been born from an otherwise unattested first marriage.[14] Romanos had at least eight legitimate and at least one illegitimate children, leading to numerous aristocratic descendants and connections in the Middle Byzantine period, including every emperor for the next century.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Romanus".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 583–584.
Media related toRomanus I at Wikimedia CommonsRomanos I Lekapenos Born: c. 870 Died: 15 June 948 | ||
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| Preceded by | Byzantine emperor 920–944 withConstantine VII (913–959) Christopher Lekapenos (921–931) Stephen Lekapenos (924–945) Constantine Lekapenos (924–945) | Succeeded by |
