Romanos IV Diogenes

Romanos IV Diogenes Ρωμανός Δ΄ Διογένης
Carved ivory plaque known as the "Romanos Ivory", thought by some scholars to be of the boy Emperor Romanus II and his child wife Bertha-Eudokia, the daughter of Hugh of Italy, c. 944-946. This piece is often used erroneously to show Emperor Romanus IV (Bibliothèque nationale de France).
Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Reign	1 January 1068 –24 October 1071
Predecessor	Constantine X
Successor	Michael VII
Born	c.1030
Died	1072 (aged 42)
Spouse	Unnamed daughter of Alusian Eudokia Makrembolitissa
Issue	Constantine Diogenes Nikephoros Diogenes Leo Diogenes
Dynasty	Doukid
Father	Constantine Diogenes (died 1032)

Romanos IV Diogenes (Greek: Ρωμανός Δʹ Διογένης, Rōmanós IV Diogénēs), also known as Romanus IV, was a member of the Byzantine military aristocracy who, after his marriage to the widowed empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa, was crowned Byzantine emperor and reigned from 1068 to 1071. During his reign he was determined to halt the decline of the Byzantine military and to stop Turkish incursions into the Byzantine Empire, but in 1071 he was captured and his army routed at the Battle of Manzikert. While still captive he was overthrown in a palace coup, and when released he was quickly defeated and detained by members of the Doukas family. In 1072, he was blinded and sent to a monastery, where he died of his wounds.

Romanos Diogenes was the son of Constantine Diogenes (died 1032) and a member of a prominent and powerful Cappadocian family, connected by birth to most of the great aristocratic nobles in Asia Minor. His mother was a daughter of Basil Argyros, brother of the emperor Romanos III. Courageous and generous, but also impetuous, Romanos rose with distinction in the army due to his military talents, and he served on the Danubian frontier. However, he was eventually convicted of attempting to usurp the throne of the sons of Constantine X Doukas in 1067. While waiting to receive his sentence from the regent Eudokia Makrembolitissa, he was summoned into her presence and advised that she had pardoned him and that she had furthermore chosen him to be her husband and the guardian of her sons as emperor. She took this course of action primarily due to her concern that unless she managed to find a powerful husband, she could easily lose the regency to any unscrupulous noble, and also because she was infatuated with the popular Romanos. Her decision was met with little protest as the Seljuk Turks had overrun much of Cappadocia and had even taken the important city of Caesarea, meaning that the army needed to be placed under the command of an able and energetic general.