Romanos III Argyros

968 – 1034 · Generation XXVI · Emperor (r. 1028–1034) · Macedonian

Romanos (AD 968 – 1034). Emperor (r. 1028–1034). Married Zoe around AD 1028. Grandson of Romanos Argyros (10th c.); married Zoe; died in his bath, allegedly poisoned. A senior official from a noble house, Romanos came to the purple by command: the dying Constantine VIII made him divorce his wife and marry the imperial daughter Zoe, and within days the old emperor was dead and Romanos wore the crown. Well-intentioned but out of his depth, he threw the tax system into disorder, let the army decay, and insisted on marching against Aleppo in person, a campaign that ended in humiliating rout. His marriage soured, and several plots against his throne — two of them turning on Zoe’s sister Theodora — came to nothing. His true passion was pious building, and he lavished money on churches and monasteries. He died in 1034 amid whispers of poison, and the man crowned in his place was his wife’s young lover.

One of 16 people of Macedonian (811–1057) in this archive. The empire’s widest reach — a house of soldier-emperors and scholars.

Partners

Married Zoe (978 – 1050) in 1028

Life

968 — Born
1028 — Married Zoe
1034 — Died