During the rule of the Macedonian dynasty (867-1056) only half of the emperors (not including Zoe and Theodora) were of the actual House of Macedon - Basil I, Leo VI (if you don't think he's Michael III's son), Alexander II, Constantine VII, Romanos II, Basil II and Constantine VIII. The other seven were military strongmen (Romanos I Lekapenos, Nikephoros II Phokas and John I Tzimiskes) or Zoe's husbands (Romanos III Argyros, Michael IV 'the Paphlagonian', Michael V 'the Caulker', Constantine IX Monomachos). Of these, I find the military strongmen to be the more interesting. Which of the three would have had the biggest and/or longest lasting impact if they had managed to stay on the throne?
Romanos I Lekapenos:
Has four sons: Christopher (his favourite and most competant son), Stephen, Constantine, and Theophylact (who would later become Patriarch). OTL, when Christopher died, he put Constantine VII ahead of his surviving sons. Stephen and Constantine responded by exiling and tonsuring their father, but Constantine VII ended up overthrowing and exiling them to the same island as Romanos I.
What if Christopher (who already had two sons, Romanos and Michael) had survived and Romanos not deposed? Would the Lekapenoi supplanted the Macedonians entirely?
Nikephoros II Phokas & John I Tzimiskes:
Both were very successful generals and were associated with the imperial family by marriage. Nikephoros had married Theophano, Romanos II's wife and Basil II's mother, and after Nikephoros died, John married Romanos II's sister Theodora. If they either had managed to have children before their deaths, would attempt to put them ahead of Basil?
Any thoughts? Personally, I'm a bit biased towards Romanos I. You just don't hear much about him, at least compared to Nikephoros II and John I.
Romanos I Lekapenos:
Has four sons: Christopher (his favourite and most competant son), Stephen, Constantine, and Theophylact (who would later become Patriarch). OTL, when Christopher died, he put Constantine VII ahead of his surviving sons. Stephen and Constantine responded by exiling and tonsuring their father, but Constantine VII ended up overthrowing and exiling them to the same island as Romanos I.
What if Christopher (who already had two sons, Romanos and Michael) had survived and Romanos not deposed? Would the Lekapenoi supplanted the Macedonians entirely?
Nikephoros II Phokas & John I Tzimiskes:
Both were very successful generals and were associated with the imperial family by marriage. Nikephoros had married Theophano, Romanos II's wife and Basil II's mother, and after Nikephoros died, John married Romanos II's sister Theodora. If they either had managed to have children before their deaths, would attempt to put them ahead of Basil?
Any thoughts? Personally, I'm a bit biased towards Romanos I. You just don't hear much about him, at least compared to Nikephoros II and John I.
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