Roman I
Romano I Lecapenos (Romanos I Lakapenos, 870-948) was Byzantine emperor from the year 920 until his deposition on December 16, 944, jointly with Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogeneta (913-959).
Origin
Romano was the son of an Armenian peasant named Theophylact Asbastaktos (the unbearable), who as a soldier had rescued Emperor Basil I from the enemy at the Battle of Tephrike, and was rewarded for doing so with a post in the Imperial Guard. Romano was born in Lecape, hence the name "Lecapeno". Although he did not receive any refined education (which his son-in-law Constantine VII would later mock), Romanus rose through the ranks of the army during the reign of Emperor Leo VI the Wise, who was also of Armenian origin. In 911 he was a general of the naval theme of Samos and later served as admiral (droungarios ) of the imperial fleet. In the capacity of admiral of the fleet, he participated in the Byzantine operations against Bulgaria on the Danube in 917, but was unable to carry out his mission. After the Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Acheloos in 917 against the Bulgars, Romanus sailed to Constantinople, where he gradually overcame the discredited regency of Empress Zoe Karbonopsina and her supporter Leo Phocas.
Rise to power
Becoming increasingly influential in government, Romanus exiled his rivals and strengthened his connections with the underage Emperor Constantine VII. In May 919, he married his daughter Elena Lecapeno to Constantine, for which he was proclaimed basileopátor (& # 34; the Emperor's father & # 34;). In September 920, Romanus was appointed Caesar, and finally on December 17 of the same year, he became crowned co-emperor, making himself the true leader of the Byzantine Empire.
In the following years Roman I crowned his own sons as co-emperors: Christopher in 921, Stephen and Constantine in 924, although, for the time being, Constantine VII was considered first in line of succession after Roman I himself. It is notable that, because he did not physically assault Constantine, he was called "the mild usurper." Romano strengthened his position by marrying off his daughters into the powerful aristocratic families of Argyros and Mouseles. In addition, he deposed the Patriarch of Constantinople Nicholas the Mystic, and ended the conflict with the papacy over the four marriages of Emperor Leo VI.
War and peace with Bulgaria
The first major challenge faced by the new emperor was the war with Bulgaria, which had been reignited by Zoé's regency. Romano's rise to power had put an end to Simeon I's (King of Bulgaria's) marriage plans to marry his daughter to Constantine VII, and Romano was determined to deny Simeon I's unpopular grant of imperial recognition, that he had already brought down two imperial governments. Consequently, the first four years of the reign of Romano I were characterized by the war against Bulgaria.
Although Simeon was generally more powerful and had a greater number of soldiers, he was unable to gain a decisive advantage due to the strength of Constantinople's walls. In 924, when Simeon had again blockaded the capital by land, Romano managed to open negotiations with the Bulgars. Meeting Simeon in person at Kosmidion, Romanus criticized Simeon's disregard for tradition and orthodox Christian brotherhood, and allegedly shamed him so that Simeon would come to terms with the Empire and lift the siege.
In reality, peace was achieved by Romano's tacit recognition of Simeon as Emperor of Bulgaria. Relations were subsequently marred by continued argument over titles (Simeon proclaimed himself emperor of the Romans, a title equal to that of the Byzantine emperor), but peace had been effectively established.
After Simeon's death in May 927, the new Bulgarian Emperor Peter I made a show of force by invading Thrace, but was willing to negotiate for a more permanent peace. Romanus seized the occasion and proposed a marriage alliance between the imperial families of Byzantium and Bulgaria. In September 927 Pedro I married María, the daughter of the co-emperor Cristóbal Lecapeno, and granddaughter of Romano I. For this reason, Cristóbal received preference in the line of succession over his brother-in-law Constantine VII, which caused Constantine resentment. VII towards the Lecapenos, the Bulgars, and imperial marriages to foreigners (as documented in his book De Administrando Imperio).
From that peace agreement, the government of Romano I had managed to completely free itself from the threat of direct military confrontation with Bulgaria. Although the Empire tacitly supported a Serb rebellion against Bulgaria in 931, and the Bulgars allowed Magyar raids to cross their territory into Byzantine possessions, Byzantium and Bulgaria remained at peace with each other for 40 years.
Campaigns in the East
Romanos appointed the brilliant general Juan Curcuas commander of the field armies (domestikos ton skholon) in the East. Curcuas put down a rebellion in the Chaldian thema and intervened in Armenia in 924. In 926 Curcuas campaigned across the eastern frontier against the Abbasids and their vassals, and won a major victory at Melitene. in 934. The capture of this city is often regarded as the Byzantine Empire's first major recovery of territory from the Muslims.
In 941, a fleet of 15 old ships led by John Curcuas had to defend Constantinople from a Russian raid, and he defeated the invaders both on land (they had landed in Asia Minor) and at sea. In 944 Roman I agreed to a treaty with Prince Igor of kyiv. Having defeated this crisis, Curcuas was free to return to the eastern border of the Empire. In 943 Curcuas invaded northern Mesopotamia and besieged the important city of Edessa in 944. As the price for his withdrawal, Curcuas obtained one of Byzantium's most important relics: the mandylion, the supposed holy towel. sent by Jesus Christ to King Abgar V of Edessa, Edessa was besieged twice and gave the emperor a copy of the object; The deception was discovered and finally Edessa had to open its doors and gave the precious image printed on the canvas Juan Curcuas, although considered by some of his contemporaries & # 34; a second Trajan or Belisarius & # 34; he was sacked after the fall of Romanus I Lecapenus in 945. However, his campaigns in the East paved the way for even more dramatic reconquests during the mid- and second-century X.
Domestic politics
Romano I Lekapen tried to strengthen the Byzantine Empire by seeking peace on all the Empire's borders where possible, such as his aforementioned agreements with Bulgaria and the Kievan Rus'. To protect Thrace from Magyar raids (such as these in 934 and 943), Romanus paid them tribute and pursued diplomatic objectives.
The Khazars were allies of Byzantium until the reign of Romano, when he began to persecute the Jews of the Empire. According to the Schechter Letter, Khazarian ruler Yosef ben Aaron responded to the persecution of Jews by "getting rid of many Christians"; and Romanus I retaliated by inciting Oleg of Novgorod (called Helgu in the Charter) against the Khazar state.
He had also restored peace within the Church and ended the new conflict between Rome and Constantinople by promulgating the Tomes of Union in 920. In 933 Romano took advantage of a vacancy on the patriarchal throne to appoint his young son Theophylact of Constantinople patriarch. 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. Reportedly, he left mass to attend to one of his favorite mares when the mare was foaling.[citation needed]
Romanos was active as a legislator, promulgating a series of laws to protect small peasants from the danger of being swallowed up by the estates of the nobility (dynatoi). The legislative reform may have been partly inspired by the difficulties caused by the famine of 927. The emperor also succeeded in raising taxes on the aristocracy and established the state on a more secure financial footing. Romano was also able to effectively put down rebellions in various provinces of the Empire, especially in Chaldia, the Peloponnese, and southern Italy.
In Constantinople, he built his palace at a place called Myrelaion, near the Sea of Marmara. Next to the palace he built a holy place that would be the first private burial church of a Byzantine emperor.
End of reign
The later reign of Romanus I was marked by the old emperor's increased interest in divine judgment and his growing sense of guilt over his role in Constantine VII's usurpation of the throne. After the death of Christopher, his most competent son, in 931, Romanus did not advance his younger sons in preference to Constantine VII. Fearing that Romanus would allow Constantine VII to seize the throne on his death instead of them, his younger sons Stephen and Constantine rebelled against their father in December 944, exiled him to the Prince's Islands, and forced him to convert. in monk. When they threatened Constantine VII, this caused a popular rebellion in Constantinople in favor of Constantine VII and Stephen and Constantine were stripped of their rights to the throne and sent into exile with their father.
Romanus I died in June 948, and was buried like other members of his family in the church of Myrelaion. Having long lived under the constant threat of deposition - or worse - by the Lecapenus family, Constantine VII resented them greatly. In his manual De Administrando Imperio written for his son and successor, Romano II, he says a few late words about his father-in-law: "lord Romano the Emperor was an idiot and an illiterate man, never raised in the high imperial manner, neither following the principles of Roman customs, nor a descendant of emperors or nobles, and therefore the rudest and most authoritarian in doing most things... to their beliefs he was rude, obstinate, ignorant of what is right, and unwilling to adhere to what is right and proper".