Romanus IV
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Romanus_IV.jpg
After his coronation he carried on three successful campaigns against the Saracens and Seljuk Turks, whom he drove beyond the Euphrates, but in a fourth he was disastrously defeated by Alp Arslan in 1071 on the banks of the Araxes at the Battle of Manzikert and taken prisoner.
After releasing himself by the promise of a large ransom and the conclusion of a peace, he turned his arms against the pretender Michael VII, but was compelled after a defeat to resign the empire and retire to the island of Prote, where he soon died in great misery.
It was during his reign that, when the Normans captured Bari in 1071, the Byzantine Empire lost its last hold upon Italy.
Bibliography
- Michael Psellus the Younger. Chronographia.
| Preceded by: Michael VII | Byzantine Emperor | Succeeded by: Michael VII Template:End box Romanus IV Diogenes (http://www.geocities.com/stavridis.geo/emperors/romanos4diogenis.html) de:Romanos IV. fr:Romain IV hu:IV. Romanosz nl:Romanus IV van Byzantium ja:ロマノス4世ディオゲネス pl:Roman IV Diogenes |