TL: Excerpts from Michael Psellos' 'Chronographia'

Chronographia by Michael Psellos
with
Commentary from Prof. Spartacus Mills

Book Four​

Prologue by Spartacus Mills, PhD (Oxon, Cantab, Otago)

So far in Michael Psellos' magnum opus we have seen the inevitable yet reversible decline of the Constantinopolitan Empire under the successors of the drolly-named Basil the Bulgar-Slayer. We have seen the indolence and brutality of Constantine VIII and the Romantic ambitions of Romanos III come back to bite these woefully inept Emperors - the Army of Romanos fled from a gaggle of barbarians only five years after the death of the great Basil. Now, in Book Four, we see this downward trend arrested somewhat by the singularly ignoble figure of Michael IV (who, assiduous readers will remember, was the lover of Zoe the Macedonian, now in her fifty-sixth year) and the eminence grise of his older brother, the eunuch John the Orphanotrophos. Let us allow Psellos' wry tones to explore the all-too-short reign of this Paphlagonian forger...

SPARTACUS MILLS​

The empress Zoe, learning of the death of her husband, Romanos Argyros -- she had not herself been present while he was dying -- immediately took control of affairs, apparently under the impression that she was the rightful heir to the throne by divine permission. In point of fact, she was not so much concerned to seize power on her own behalf; all her efforts were directed to securing the crown for Michael, the person I have already described. [1]

[...]

She persisted in her support of Michael, with unwavering loyalty; there was no question of reason in the matter, for her judgment of the man was inspired by sentiment. It remained to set a time for the ceremony of coronation and for the assumption of the other insignia of power. Michael's elder brother approached her on the subject privately (he was the eunuch John, a man of outstanding intellect, as well as a man of action). 'We shall die,' he argued, 'if there is any further delay in promoting Michael.' Zoe, now completely won over[2], at once sent for the young man, clothed him in a robe interwoven with gold, placed on his head the imperial crown, and set him down on a magnificent throne, with herself near him in similar dress. She then issued an order that all those who were living in the palace were to prostrate themselves before both of them and hail them both as sovereigns in common. Of course, the order was obeyed, but when news of it reached those outside the palace also, all the city wanted to share in the rejoicings at her command. To flatter their new monarch, the majority feigned approval of the proceedings. As for the old emperor, they cast him off as though he were some heavy burden. So, light-hearted and blithe, with pleasure and satisfaction, they acclaimed Michael as emperor.

[... Psellos goes on at length about Romanos III's funeral here. Rather self-serving. SM]

Till now, Michael had played a part: his attitude and the look in his eyes showed love for the empress. It was not long, though, before all this was changed, and her love, as well as her favours to im, were repaid with base ingratitude. I can neither praise nor blame him for it, for though I can scarcely commend this hatred for his benefactress or his behaviour towards her, yet I cannot fail to applaud his fear of the lady, fear lest he too should be involved in catastrophe, like Romanus. [3]

The chief objection to any forthright condemnation of the man lies in his own character, for if you acquit him of this one crime committed against Romanus, and acquit him also of the charge of adultery and of accusations that he exiled persons on mere suspicion, this man will take his place in the forefront of Roman emperors. He was, it is true, entirely devoid of Hellenic culture[4]; on the other hand, he was more harmonious in his nature than the philosophers who professed that culture. Even in the fullness of manhood and the flower of youth he mastered his body. Far from the physical passions beating down his reason, it was reason that exercised severe control over the desires. Nor was it merely his eye that was grim -- his soul was too. He was ready moreover, with the witty retort, and his tongue was well-equipped to this end, for it lacked monotony, and he spoke fluently, with a voice both fine and resonant.

[...]

Clearly it was not a noble beginning for a man promoted to supreme power, as I have shown. Nevertheless, for a short period after he became master of the Empire, he treated the governing of it as a kind of joke. He would put off decisions until some crisis arose or some unexpected turn of events, while he passed the time in amusing his wife and in organizing pleasures and pastimes for her. Once he saw the magnitude of the Empire, however, and recognized the diverse quality of forethought required for its managing and the multitudinous difficulties involved in the cares of state--difficulties with which a man who is truly an emperor must be faced -- then his character was suddenly and radically changed. It was as if he had grown up to manhood, no longer a boy, and from that moment he governed his Empire in a fashion at once more manly and more noble.

Michael at once seemed as if he had been born to the role of Emperor. His sheer humility avoided the usual imbalances that plague a new Emperor's reign: none of his usual habits were changed. Even those who had befriended him before his elevation, and those to whom he owed gratitude, were not immediately given important positions, but were employed, as a trial, so to speak, in humbler posts and so gradually made capable of performing more important duties. The exeptions to this were his numerous elder brothers. Although John the Orphanotrophos remained a mere functionary although he was the chief minister, the other eunuchs of the family were elevated beyond their abilities in an attempt to create a dynasty: Constantine was made Domestic of the Schools [5] and George was also promoted. The bearded men of the family - that is, the brother Niketas and the brother-in-law Stephen 'the Caulker' were not so favoured [POD] for the reason that John the Orphanotrophos still hoped that Michael would have sons with Zoe or another woman, and the sons of these men might become rivals for the Empire. Upon his accession, Michael left most things unchanged for the moment, apart from reintroducing the allelengyon, a measure originally conceived by Basil II by which landowners were liable to pay the taxes of their poorer neighbours.[6]

[...]

In the way he treated his brothers Michael was hard to excess. Apparently Nature, when she brought them to birth, accorded the nobler qualities to Michael, but in the others she produced characteristics exactly the opposite. Each of them wanted to usurp the place of his brothers, and allowing none of them to live either on sea or even on land, to dwell alone in the whole wide world, as if by some dispensation of God both sea and land were his own inheritance. Often Michael tried to restrain them, not by warnings but with harsh invective, angry reprimands, and the use of violent and frightful threats. All to no purpose, for the eldest brother, John, administered their affairs with great dexterity. It was he who assuaged the emperor's wrath and he who won for his brothers permission to do what they liked [7]. And he did this, not because he exactly approved of their attitude, but because, despite it, he cared for the family.


------
[1] Naturally, we must recall Michael's unlikely personality: Psellos describes him as what we would nowadays call an 'epileptic' or 'spastic' and as such he was relatively helpless when manipulated by his carers and brothers. These brothers were corrupt to a man with the possible exception of John, and all were over-promoted non-entities with the exceptions of John and his fellow eunuch Constantine, at this point merely Doux of Antioch. SM
[2] Evidently, Zoe was a gullible fool if she bethought herself to be loved by her new husband. Zonaras says that she payed Patriarch Alexis of the Studium a large sum to marry the pair on the same morning that Romanos was found dead in his bath, but Psellos wisely omits that detail for his own safety. One can hardly be forgiven for speculating on the speed of Michael's advancement to Imperial rank. SM
[3] Very sensible. Murderous harlot of a women, by all accounts. SM
[4] Psellos' egregious philhellenism mars his judgement here. SM
[5] Domestic of the Schools was the Byzantine term for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armies. SM
[6] This measure was a key component in avoiding the emergence of Western-style feudalism in the Constantinopolitan Empire, as the debt burden on peasant freeholders was substantially reduced and the growth of large estates belonging to major families was decelerated considerably. SM
[7] Perhaps Psellos is jealous of the brothers here. Certainly we have no other records of misdemeanours committed by them, apart from Attaleiates' assertion that Constantine the Domestic was embezzling money in the early 1040s. SM

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OOC: I was inspired to do something like this by reading the 'History of Middle Earth' series by Christopher Tolkien, in which he, an arch academic type, reproduces the early drafts of the Silmarillion and constantly butts in with his own analysis. The interplay between the medieval-style original text and the donnish commentary inspired me to contrast an actual medieval text with an imagined 20th century professor's take on it.

And yes, the name Spartacus Mills is a reference to something with relevance to Alternate History. ;)

As far as the actual 'plot' of this TL goes, I'm taking Michael Psellos' actual text as a jumping-off point and rewriting more and more as the butterflies take effect, while still trying to retain his self-centered and cynical style. I've always been interested in the Paphlagonian Emperors, ever since reading JJ Norwich's entertaining work on the History of Byzantium. However, a cursory glance at the forum shows that there are exponentially more threads on Basil II having kids - indeed, the only WI related to what I'm going to do was in 2009 and got one reply, so this should at least be somewhat original.

I am now experiencing a condition wherein I cannot stop writing like a don. Help me! :eek:
 
Book Four, Part Two

Chronographia by Michael Psellos
with
Commentary from Prof. Spartacus Mills​

It is my desire in this history to give a somewhat fuller description of John, without recourse to empty and lying statements. You see, when I was starting to grow a beard, I saw the man himself, and I heard him speak and witnessed his actions. I marked his disposition closely, and I am aware that although some of his deeds are praiseworthy, there are other things in his life which cannot meet with general approval. At that time there were many sides to his character. He had a ready wit, and if ever a man was shrewd, he was; the piercing glance of his eyes betrayed those qualities. He paid meticulous care to his duties; in fact, he went to extremes of industry in their performance. His experience in all branches of government was great, but it was in the administration of public finance that his wisdom and shrewdness were especially evident. He bore no one ill-will; yet at the same time, he was irritated if anyone underestimated his (John's) importance. If he did no harm to a soul, yet in his dealings with the people he assumed a fierce expression which terrified one and all. Most of them shuddered at the sight of him -- and refrained from their evil practices. Thus John was a veritable bulwark to the emperor and a real brother, for he never relaxed in his vigilance, either by day or by night. Even when devoted to pleasure, or taking part in banquets and public ceremonies and festivals, he never forgot his zeal for duty [1]. Nothing ever escaped his notice and nobody even so much as tried to elude him, because everyone feared him and trembled at his superintendence, for at untimely hours in the night he would suddenly ride of on his horse and scour every nook and cranny of the metropolis, traversing all the inhabited districts at once, like a flash of lightning. No one would ever know when he would carry out these inspections and so they all became nervous and subdued and restrained. It being impossible to meet in public men remained in their homes, living their own life in private.

[...]

A desire on John the Orphanotrophos' part to achieve greater magnificence, and to manage the affairs of state in a manner more befitting an emperor, was thwarted by his own natural habits, for, to tell the truth, he never succeeded in ridding himself of his inveterate greed. Thus, once embarked on the drink -- a besetting sin in his case -- he would plunge headlong into all kinds of indecency. Even then, though, he did not forget the cares of Empire, nor relax that fierce-beast look on his face or the sternness of his expression. It has often been a cause of surprise to me, when I have sat with him at banquets, to observe how a man, a slave to drink and given to ribaldry, as he was, could bear the burden of Empire. In his cups he would carefully watch how each of his fellows behaved. Afterwards, as if he had caught them red-handed, he would submit them to questioning and examine what they had said and done in their drunken moments. They came to fear him more, therefore, when he was tipsy than when he was sober. [...] In his presence there was no dissimulation at any time.

[...]

Let us return to the emperor. For some time he treated Zoe with marked consideration, but that phase soon passed. He suspected her motives -- there were reasons for suspicion in that house -- and he proceeded to deny her any liberty whatever. Permission to leave the palace in her usual way was refused, and she was shut up in the women's quarters. No one was allowed to approach her, unless the captain of the guard had first given authority, after careful scrutiny of the visitor's identity, origin, and purpose, so close was the watch kept over her. She was, quite naturally, embittered by this sort of treatment [2]. Surely it was hardly to be wondered at, when the benefits she had conferred upon the emperor were being repaid with such hatred. Nevertheless, she restrained herself, reflecting that to rebel against Michael's decisions would be improper, and in any case she had no opportunity, even if she wished, to take any action or oppose his will, for she was deprived of all protection from the Imperial Guard and bereft of all authority.

[...]

Marital relations with her had become impossible, now that the malady which threatened him had already made its appearance. His health was undermined and his bodily condition poor. Then again, he was covered with shame whenever he looked at Zoe, and it was impossible for him to meet her gaze, knowing how he had betrayed his love, forsworn his promises, and broken has word. In the third place, having conversed with certain saintly persons about the deeds he had committed in order to gain power, and having received some wholesome advice from these gentlemen, he now eschewed all kinds of excess and refrained even from legitimate intercourse. There was something else that he feared, too -- something that further prevented him from visiting the empress. The brain-storms no longer attacked him, as heretofore, at lengthy intervals, but they occurred more frequently, whether through some outside influence which altered the nature of the illness or because of some internal affection which brought on the fits [3]. In front of others he was not so embarrassed when these came on, but before the empress he blushed deeply, and since the malady afflicted him in circumstances that were unpredictable, he kept out of her sight. If she had seen him like that, he would have felt disgraced.

[...]

In the intervals between his fits, when his reason was sound, he devoted himself entirely to thought for his Empire. Not only did he ensure the good government of cities within our boundaries, but he stopped the nations beyond our borders from invading Roman territory. This he did, partly by the despatch of envoys, partly by bribery, partly by annual displays of military strength. Thanks to these precautions neither the ruler of Egypt nor of Persia, nor even of Babylonia [4], broke the terms of treaties they had made with us. Nor did any of the more distant peoples openly show their hostility. Some were actually reconciled altogether, while others, apprehensive of the emperor's watchful care and fearful of his vengeance, followed a policy of strict neutrality. The organization and control of public finance had been deputed to his brother John. To John also was left the greater part of civil administration, but the remaining affairs of state Michael managed himself. Now some subject of civil government would claim his attention; at other times he would be organizing the 'sinews' of the Roman Empire, that is, the Army, and building up its strength; but all the time that the disease which had begun to affect him was growing to its climax and reaching its zenith, he still supervised the whole administration of the Empire, [5] just as if no illness were weighing upon him at all.

[... There follows more praise of Michael which it would be perverse to reproduce, given Psellos' verbosity. SM]

And so it came about that George Maniakes, a general promoted by Romanus, was placed in command of an expedition to reconquer Sicily, which was at that time ruled by a collection of Muslim rulers. Being myself ignorant of the finer details of military strategy, I will content myself with saying that Maniakes was victorious in all his battles and sieges, although his use of barbarian mercenaries signified the loss of much of the mainland of Italy to these despicable northerners. It came to pass at one point that Michael detailed his brother Niketas - his only bearded brother - to command some reinforcements that were to land at Messina. However, Niketas was such a worthless man that his four thousand men landed in territory held by the Saracens and most of these men had died before they reached Maniakes. Now, Maniakes was a wrathful man, fully nine feet tall [6] and possessed of a violent temper. It was reported to me that he picked up Niketas with his own hands, threatening to "wring his neck", before realising that the other man was grievously wounded and that he, Maniakes, would come under scrutiny for manhandling the Emperor's brother. In the end, Niketas died the following day of his wounds and Maniakes managed to keep this story from the ears of the Orphanotrophos [7] and he even managed to complete the conquest of Sicily within four years of the beginning of his campaign [8]

[...]

At a later date, the eunuch John realised that his younger brother would not survive much longer due to his weakness. He attempted, by much perfidy and periphrasis, to turn Michael's mind to the succession [9]: 'Do not imagine, Sir, that the people have failed to hear, or see with their own eyes, that you are afflicted by a disease which is obvious, and yet kept secret. I know quite well, of course, that you will suffer no dreadful effects from it, but men's tongues constantly spread rumours that you have died. My anxiety, then, is this. Through their belief in your imminent death, they may revolt against you. They may set up as their champion one of the people, and elevate him to your throne. For my own affairs, and for the affairs of the family in general, I am less concerned, but I do fear for you. It would be dreadful if so good and so just an emperor should be accused of thoughtlessness. Of course, he would escape the danger himself, but he will not evade the charge of failing to provide for the future.' Michael had a ready reply to this. 'And what, may I ask,' he said, 'what is this prevision? And how are we to check the people's gossip? Tell me more about these desires for revolution.'

'A very easy measure,' answered John, 'and all ready. If our brother were not dead, you would have granted him the second highest dignity in the state -- the office of Caesar. Since death has taken him from us, there is our sister's son, Michael, who, as you know, has been entrusted with the command of your bodyguard [10]. Why not make him Caesar? He will be of more service to you than before, and as for the position, he will regard that as merely nominal. Apart from holding the title, he will be no more than a slave to you, occupying the lowest rank.' With these persuasive arguments he won over the emperor, and once agreed on the new policy, they debated the manner of carrying it out. John again was ready with advice. 'You know, Sir, that the Empire belongs by inheritance to Zoe and the whole nation owes greater allegiance to her, because she is a woman and heir to the throne. Moreover, being so generous in her distribution of money, she has won the hearts of the people completely. I suggest, therefore, that we should make her mother to our nephew -- if she adopts him it will be more propitious -- and at the same time persuade her to promote him to the dignity and title of Caesar. She will not refuse. Zoe is accommodating enough, and in any case, she cannot oppose us in any way.'

The emperor agreed that the plan was a good one, and when they informed Zoe of the scheme, they found it a very simple matter to convince her. So at once they proceeded to put it into practice. An announcement was made about the public ceremony, and all the dignitaries were gathered together in the church at Blachernae. When the sacred building was full, the Empress-Mother, accompanied by her adopted son, was brought from the palace. The emperor congratulated him on his new relationship to the empress and formally promoted him to the dignity of Caesar. The assembly thereupon acclaimed him, and the usual rites and ceremonies proper to such an occasion were performed in his honour. After this, the meeting was dismissed. As for John, believing that all his troubles were now at an end and that the family fortunes were now secured, he hardly knew how to contain himself for the greatness of his joy.

---------
[1] That this ghastly plebeian attained such high office eludes all good sense and rationality. SM
[2] Psellos is being disingenuous here. Since the slattern-Empress was at least partially responsible for murdering her first husband, and even cuckolded him with Michael, he had every reason to fear her dissimulations. SM
[3] This explains Michael's extreme piety and dedication to Saints Cosmas and Damian. It is probable also that the stresses of authority adversely affected his health - certainly, it is to be regretted that he died so young. SM
[4] An archaic term for the Abbasid Caliphate.
[5] Michael IV banned the purchase of court offices - something that Psellos evidently regretted, since it sees no mention in this rather hagiographical account - and also made the system of promotion in the Army more meritocratic than aristocratic, principally by forcing all generals to read edifying works of strategy and tactics. SM
[6] This is evidently an exaggeration: he describes Constantine VIII in the same terms in Book Two. SM
[7] This seems contrary to the characterisation of John the eunuch that we have been subjected to hitherto. Perhaps the 'maniac' is being libelled post factum by Psellos' informant. It is true, however, that Niketas died during this fiasco. SM
[8] i.e. 1042. Niketas' death seems to have occurred in 1038 or 1039. SM
[9] This whole scene can be safely said to be a fiction, but we see no reason to snub Psellos' inventive streak. SM
[10] In fact, the position of protospatharios was occupied by Stephen Kalaphates, the brother-in-law of John and Michael and father of the Michael Kalaphates under discussion. It seems that Stephen was sidelined at this juncture due to his foolishness and - perhaps - his ill-health, for he died in early 1042. No mention is yet made by Psellos of Constantine, the young son of the dead Niketas, which indicates that this part of the 'Chronographia' was written before his rise to prominence in 1053. SM
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OOC: Now we begin to see the butterflies spread their wings! In OTL, Stephen Kalaphates was promoted from a mere Caulker to Head of the Navy and in doing so pissed of Maniakes somehow. Maniakes lost his temper and Stephen went off crying to John the Orphanotrophos, who recalled Maniakes from Sicily. The conquest of Sicily therefore failed utterly and all of Italy was lost to the Byzantines over the next few decades. Our Niketas died in 1034 and was replaced as Doux of Antioch by his brother Constantine. The Constantine mentioned in the 10th footnote is only referred to as a nephew of Michael IV, do I took the liberty of ascribing him to Niketas in lieu of inventing another sister.

Any feedback or anything?
 
Book Four, Part Three

Chronographia by Michael Psellos
with
Commentary from Prof. Spartacus Mills​

And so it came to pass that the younger Michael was proclaimed Caesar and acted as heir-presumptive to his maternal uncle in all respects, even being included in the Emperor's most intimate counsels. It was universally acknowledged that as soon as Michael succumbed to his illness, the Caesar would accede to his former position. However, in the same way as he had acted upon his accession, the Emperor wished for his appointee to prove himself in humility and talent before entrusting him with meaningful business of the state.

I myself have seen the Caesar stand aside with the other palace dignitaries so that he might not seem to be pleased overmuch with his new station. Additionally, he never sat at the Emperor's table except when he filled his allotted place at special banquets. If ever a tent was pitched for him, he had it in some inconspicuous spot with few guards, no grander than the tents of the Emperor's brothers. [1] The similarity was not accidental, for although he was treated with deference by all men, including his uncles, the Caesar thought it wisest to gain the respect as well as the sycophancy of his fellows.

Let me now give some account of this man. His family, on his father's side, was altogether insignificant and completely obscure. His father came from some absolutely deserted country place or from some other odd corner of the world. His activities included neither the sowing of crops nor the planting of vineyards -- in truth, he could not call a single acre of land his own. [2] There was no herd of cattle to drive, no flock of sheep to tend. He was not a farm-bailiff. He had no other livelihood there, or even a sign of one. No, the fellow turned his attention to the sea. He had no mind to engage in commerce, or to act as navigator on a ship, or to pilot vessels, at a fee, when they put into harbour or sailed out to sea. However, as he had turned his back on the land and now looked to the sea for his living, he became something big in the shipbuilding line. Please do not imagine that he cut timber or planed off the wood they use in the ships, nor did he fit and fasten together the planks. Not a bit of it. What he did was this: when others had done the assembling, he very skilfully smeared the assembled parts with pitch. There was not a boat, freshly-built, which could ever be launched on the sea, unless this fellow, with his cunning skill, had first given it the finishing touch.[3]

Later on he became the plaything of Fortune and his whole manner of life was changed. I saw him after the metamorphosis, and there was nothing whatever about hints in harmony or congruous with the part he was playing. His horse, his clothes, everything else that alters a man's appearance -- all were out of place. It was as if a pygmy wanted to play Hercules and was trying to make himself look like the demi-god. The more such a person tries, the more his appearance belies him -- clothed in the lion's skin, but weighed down by the club! So it was with this man; nothing about him was right. Well, that was Michael's family on his father's side. If anyone cared to trace his descent on the maternal side, he would find, with the exception of his uncle, no essential difference from the ancestors of his father. That was the sort of folk from whom he was sprung.

His own personality was in complete opposition to those of his ancestors. He had a superior standing and rank in society and a peculiar talent for 'concealing the fire beneath the ashes', that is to say, he hid a vindictive disposition between an kindly exterior. In truth, he was hungry for power although happy to wait for it, and the main object of his treacherous designs was his uncle, John the Orphanotrophos, but there was no hint of them in Michael's behaviour. Indeed, the dissimulation in this case was even more adroit, for the nephew persisted in acting like an inferior and called John 'sir'. His hopes of life and safety, he said, rested in John's hands. In truth, both lay in wait for each other, each secretly plotting, but simulating benevolence. Each thought he was deceiving his rival, yet neither was ignorant of the other's designs. It was John however, who was caught, because he failed to make full use of his cunning. By putting off the chance to depose and overthrow the Caesar, John condemned himself to a life in service to the Deity.

[Psellos here gives in to hagiography somewhat, praising his epileptic Emperor for his taste in Church architecture, his provisions for reformed prostitutes and his fondness for bathing with lepers and ascetics. Naturally, the whole sequence is rather overwrought, and must have been written in the immediate aftermath of Michael IV's death, since there are several references to 'evil rumours' - some of which Psellos has himself shared with us - and injunctions for the reader to pray for Michael's soul. Only a politic semblance of grief would inspire Psellos to forgo the chance to add a cynical commentary to the actions this veritable saint. SPARTACUS MILLS]

It would take a long time to describe in full his various activities and measures in times of civil discord or foreign wars, but I will select one deed alone. I am referring to the struggle he waged against the barbarians. I will run over it in a brief summary.

The people of Bulgaria, after many vicissitudes of fortune and after frequent battles in the past, had become subjects of the Roman Empire . That prince of emperors, the famous Basil, had deliberately attacked their country and destroyed their power. For some time the Bulgarians, being completely exhausted after pitting their strength against the might of the Romans, resigned themselves to defeat, but later they reverted to the old arrogance. There were no immediate signs of open revolt, however, until the appearance among them of a political agitator, when their policy at once became hostile to the Empire.

The instigator was a man of royal blood by the name of Alousianus. I do not know whether he inherited such a name from his father, or if he gave himself the name for an omen. [4] It was the custom of the Scyths [5] to recognise as leaders of the nation only men of royal blood, so Alousianus bethought himself to arrive in his native land in secrecy and thereby raise up the province in revolt.

Had the barbarians dared to do a thing so foolish immediately after Michael's accession, they would very soon have learnt what kind of a sovereign they had assailed. In those days he was strong in body and virile in face of danger. It was nothing at all for him take up arms in a moment, and with the elite of his generals invade their land; it would have been a simple matter to teach them not to revolt against Rome with temerity. However that may be, when this particular revolt came to birth, he w as already failing, and his bodily condition was desperate. It came at a time when even the slightest movement caused him pain, and when he found it hard even to put on his clothes. That was the moment when the Bulgarians, for a brief interval, decided to play at ruling themselves, like actors on a stage, and to enjoy themselves with a bit of make-believe. [6] And so they did -- until a burning ambition for glory suddenly gave the emperor strength, and in a burst of exaltation, carried him against his foes.

Now this Alousianus was by no means in favour at court. He was neither consulted on matters of policy nor honoured in any way with the others. Indeed, an order was issued that he must remain in his own home and he was forbidden to enter Byzantium except by express command of the emperor. Naturally this restriction irritated and depressed the man, but for the moment he was powerless. Ignoring the claims of his own children and forgetting his love for his wife -- none of them was allowed to know anything of his plans -- he boldly marched from the extreme east to the west, with a handful of servants, men whom he knew to be reckless dare-devils, ready for anything. To avoid recognition in the city, he adopted a thorough disguise. It was not a matter of discarding some of his clothes and retaining others, but he dressed himself as a common mercenary soldier, and so escaped detection altogether.[7]

As soon as the news became known to him, and actually before the full account was received, he determined to carry the war to the Bulgars. He would march against them himself, at the head of his army. It was impossible, of course, to do this, because of the state of his health, and in any case the Senate was altogether opposed to the project. Michael's family, too, begged him not to leave the city, much to his disgust, for he had set his heart on the war. It was extremely disappointing -- he emphasized this point -- if his reign was not only destined to witness no aggrandizement of the Roman Empire, but actually some loss of territory.[8] He suspected that he was personally responsible, before God and man, if, after what had occurred, he should through any carelessness on his own part, allow the Bulgars to secede with impunity.

This thought afflicted the emperor much more than physical suffering, and the harm it produced in him was quite different, for whereas the disease caused his body to swell, the mental agony he endured over this revolt had the opposite effect and wasted him. So he was torn between two evils, which afflicted him in exactly opposite ways. His first battle, however, -- a battle in which he was victorious -- was against his own intimate friends, before he ever came to grips with the barbarians, and the first trophy of the war was set up to commemorate his triumph over his own kinsmen and his associates -- and himself.

[...]

Camp was pitched in a suitable spot when the expedition arrived at the enemy borders. A council of war was held, and after it the emperor decided to engage the Bulgars -- an extraordinary plan, about which even his commanders who were there with him had contrary opinions. Nor is this surprising, for during the night he was under medical treatment and nearly died. Yet at daybreak he immediately got up, some power apparently giving him new strength, mounted his horse, sat firm in the saddle, and managed the animal with clever use of his bridle. Then, an object of wonder to all who saw him, he rode to the rear and formed up the various divisions of his army into one coherent force. [9]

Presently, the armies met outside the walls of Thessalonica, which Alousianus was in the process of besieging. Michael put forward a complex strategy to his generals which was followed - to the letter - to great effect. Around a hundred of Alousianus' chief supporters were put to death in the evening of that bloody day and the perfidious rebel himself was tonsured; in addition his tongue was cut out and his hands amputated, so that it is said that in the monastery to which he was confined he could only communicate with a set of movements of his eyes that made up for in Holy silence what it lacked in exactitude. The only adverse detail of the battle that I see fit to discuss was the misguided heroism of Stephen the Caulker, who abandoned his Emperor in the midst of the fighting to lead a charge against Alousianus himself. Needless to say, this pygmy Hercules was cut down before he had advanced ten paces, and died much earlier than he would have done had he remained at his base position in society.[10] In sum, the victory against the Scythian rebels was entirely due to the military skill and assiduity of the Emperor.
---------
[1] Despite Psellos' protests to the contrary, it is obvious that Michael Kalaphates was sidelined for the most part of his uncle's reign. Certainly the arrogance and grandiloquence we see during his own reign is not in evidence at this point.
[2] Psellos' snobbishness here is astounding. A modern historian could hardly be so disparaging: one must conclude that Psellos suffers from all the inveterate foibles of the nouveau riche.
[3] This narrative may not even be accurate, for Michael Psellos seems at all times to insult and elide the contributions of Stephen Kalaphates. We have seen already that he ascribes his position as chief bodyguard to the Emperor to his son, which is in opposition to all our other sources.
[4] Psellos seems to be making a pun on 'logos', or (presuming any readers are not well-versed in the Hellenic tongue) 'word'. Alousianus is similar to 'a-logos' or 'wordless' when his tongue is cut out at the end of the revolt.
[5] 'Scyths' is used indiscriminately for all Slavic peoples.
[6] The same insult is leveled against Stephen Kalaphates earlier, doubtless intending to bring into question his ethnic background by use of juxtaposition.
[7] The details of this tale are doubtful at best. We are told later that the closest allies of Alousianus were killed and that he himself was mutilated so as to be incomprehensible, so any informant Psellos found was likely to be mendacious in the extreme.
[8] It would be heartless to mention that the Constantinopolitan Empire had already seen diminution during his reign. While Maniakes had conquered Sicily, the much larger Mezzogiorno had been lost to the Normans.
[9] Our writer's tendency towards allegory gets the better of him here, as he labours the point that Michael quelled all the factions of the previous reigns during his time as Emperor despite his illness.
[10] I will merely contend that if Stephen's post was indeed with the Emperor, he must have been a bodyguard. This belies all of Psellos' previous assertions of his lack of influence at Court and his reference to Michael Kalaphates' post as protospatharios. Presumably this catty historian bore a personal grudge against the Caesar's father that is plainly represented in his ouevre.
---------

OOC: Thank you Miranda Brawner! This is my first TL, too, so this means a lot.

The original text of the Chronographia is now almost unrecognisable in its ATL guise. For one thing, Michael Kalaphates is described by OTL Psellos as an unpleasant and evil man who was wisely sidelined by Michael IV in the early 1040s. This enmity seems to be largely down to Michael Kalaphates' attempts to reform the court bureaucracy, of which Psellos was a keen member, so it follows that ITTL Psellos would be more keen to recast MK's beginnings as humility rather than lack of quality.

IOTL, the Bulgarian revolt was led by a nobody called Peter Deljan, who claimed to be descended from the Kometopouli, until Alusian came across in secret, pressed his claim to the leadership of the revolt and cut Deljan's nose off. Then, when he saw he was losing against the epileptic Emperor, he came to terms and betrayed his people. In this version, both Alusian and Michael come across as better and more honourable leaders, while an explanation for Stephen's death is given (he just disappears somewhere near the end of Michael IV's reign in Psellos' account).

I will write about the death of Michael IV and the (longer than OTL) reign of Michael V tomorrow, but this might take longer because I'm now at the point where I'm contributing more than Psellos to the finished product. By the time Michael V dies, I won't be using the original Psellos at all. Overall, I think I'm going to finish this somewhere around Alt-Manzikert - chiefly because I've got a month of family gatherings and emigration coming up.
 
You've earned yourself a reader. I have a soft spot for Michael IV.

Yeah, Michael IV was one of the ones who had a lot of potential but was cut down by his illness, his guilt over Romanos' death and the incompetence of his family (apart from John and Constantine). He seemed to grow up immediately after he got the throne, and if he'd been a bit harder on the corruption of the court and the decline of the army he might have avoided the crisis of the 11th century.

I purposefully left him with his epilepsy ITTL because it renders him a more tragic and dramatic figure in terms of narrative history, and allows us to get to the more... entertaining figure of Michael V more quickly. But I've always had a soft spot for rulers, etc. who, through no fault of their own, weren't able to do their job. Michael was unable to begin a new dynasty to succeed the Macedonians; Carlos II of Spain couldn't prevent a War of Succession, Baldwin IV of Jerusalem was a better man than all the non-lepers who allowed Salah al-Din to retake Jerusalem; and then there's Charles VI of France, Fyodor III of Russia, Ludwig of Bavaria...

What I'm saying is, Michael IV was a darn sight better than anyone else in Constantinople between Basil II and Alexios Komnenos. Except maybe Isaac...
 
Chronographia by Michael Psellos
with
Commentary from Prof. Spartacus Mills​

The emperor, before the decease of his body, sought another more spiritual, change. He disdained the imperial rank which he was in so short a time to relinquish, mastered all his natural impulses and turned to God. In order that he might not be interrupted while thus changing has like and making his confession to the Deity, he set out from his palace and retired to the monastery he had built, or rather, he was conveyed thither by his bearers. Inside this place of meditation, kneeling on the floor of the church, he prayed to God that he might appear a well-pleasing sacrifice and be received pure after his consecration. Thus he conciliated the Almighty and won His favour. So much for his zeal and determination.

In the thought that he was now changed to a higher life, he rejoiced and was exceeding glad.[1] He had become swift-footed, as it were, and nimble for the spiritual journey. His own household, on the other hand, and especially the elder brother, were covered in a cloud of despair, so much so that they were unable to restrain their sympathetic laments. Not even the empress controlled her emotion. When she heard from someone about his tonsure, she dared to leave the women's quarters, overcoming every natural disinclination, and went on foot to see him. But Michael, whether through shame at the evils he had brought upon her, or because in his attention to God he had forgotten her, refused her permission to enter his presence.

However, inasmuch as the Emperor was still of worldly mind, he called upon the Caesar and made him pray upon the altar for the guidance of the Almighty. At this juncture, a measure of his former resonance illuminated his eyes and voice, and he enjoined upon his nephew to forebear from shunning his adoptive mother, the aforementioned Zoe, and from neglecting the welfare of his people and the borders of his realm. His respiration was laboured already and he was beginning to breathe his last, so he again went to his couch and lay down. For a little while he was silent, for he had lost the power of speech and his breathing was difficult. Then he gave up his soul to God. In the course of his reign, Michael had done and planned many things; in few had he met with failure. For my own part, when I examine his deeds and compare successes with failures, I find that the former were more numerous and it does not appear to me that this man failed to attain the higher life. In fact, I am convinced that he did obtain a better lot.

Book Five

Prologue by Spartacus Mills, PhD (Cantab, Oxon, Otago)

And so, having weathered the storm of sanctimoniousness that Michael Psellos showers upon Michael the Paphlagonian, we embark upon the longer reign of his nephew, Michael Kalaphates. Psellos cuts a fine line in his treatment of Kalaphates between loathing and sycophancy, leading many scholars to draw the conclusion that this Book was rewritten at some point less favourable to the erstwhile Emperor than before. In this Book we see the unconscious hand of Fortune impact upon the lives of the main players in ways that could not be foreseen, such as the Lazarus-like rebirth of John the Orphanotrophos in the first part and the ignominious end to Kalaphates' reign in 1053.
SPARTACUS MILLS​

His nephew, whom I have mentioned several times in the last book, succeeded him as emperor. Now, the late emperor had three brothers. Of these the Orphanotrophus[2] John was at that time solely responsible for the governments. He had more affection for his brother than the rest, and when Michael died, he did not leave him at once, but stayed by the corpse for three days, as though he were still alive. The other two surviving brothers meanwhile escorted the Caesar, their nephew, to the palace. The object of this was partly to defend and take care of him, partly to win greater commendation for themselves. John's intellectual capacity was wider and deeper than their own, and without his help it was beyond their powers to formulate any policy on the grand scale, either with regard to the succession or to affairs of state. Their activities were therefore limited to a display of fellowship and kindred feeling. As for John, having had his fill of lamentation, or rather, when he grew alarmed at the prospect of any further delay in declaring Michael emperor, which might well wreck all their hopes completely, he returned to the palace.

[...]

Then the ceremony of the Caesar's enthronement was completed. The procession followed, the entry into the church, the Patriarch's blessing, the coronation and all the other rites customarily performed on these occasions. For the first day, at any rate, the emperor was not forgetful of his proper station, either in word or in deed. Constantly on his lips were the expressions 'the empress', 'my mistress', 'I am her servant', and 'whatever decision she makes'.

With similar cajolery he set out to charm John too, no less than the empress. 'My master', he would say, and gave him a throne to sit on near to himself. If ever he wished to speak, he first sought some sign of approval from John, saying that he himself was like a tool in the craftsman's hands, and that the melody was not of the lyre but him who played it in harmony. All, therefore, were amazed at the wisdom of the man and marvelled at the success of John's scheming. Now the man's deceitfulness was unperceived by the others,[3] but his uncle knew well that his smoothness went no deeper than words: the hardness of his heart was hidden deep inside and covered over. The more he acquiesced in John's schemes, the more John suspected his motives.

He had an ally to encourage this enmity towards his uncle, Constantine, the latter's brother, who for a long time had been jealous of John. The reason for this was that John, alone among the brothers held an active post in the government [4]: he was like their master, not their kinsman. At that time he was unable to show hatred for him openly, because the late emperor had great affection for the man, not only as the eldest of the family, but also as the most intelligent, and as a man thoroughly proved in the conscientious [88] performance of his official duties. Michael and Constantine stood side by side in their campaign against John, knowing that he, on his part, was scheming against them. If he had his way, then their plans would be frustrated and some other member of the family would sit on the throne. Under these circumstances, therefore, it was to be expected that the Caesar would promote Constantine to the dignity of Nobilissimus [5], so soon as he himself had been crowned emperor. Constantine became his boon companion, amply rewarded for the loyalty he had displayed before Michael's accession.

At this stage, I will interrupt the narrative for a few moments while I pass some preliminary comments on the emperor's mental and spiritual outlook. My readers may possibly be saved from a feeling of perplexity when I describe his actions later; they will not be surprised when they see in them a lack of premeditation and a certain irrelevance, qualities which had their origin in the complex fortunes of his life. The outstanding characteristic of the man, indeed, was his interest in a great variety of subjects and an extraordinary facility in moving from one subject to another. A second peculiarity was the distaste he bore for the established men of the Court and the Army. He routinely belittled his most prestigious advisors - although I do not count myself amongst them - and made a habit of cuckolding them forcibly. Once, the wife of Romanos Skleros, a young man of dignified lineage, was not to be found for several days, which severely displeased Skleros. Eventually, it came out that the woman had been tied up in the Emperor's bedchamber and forced to subsist on bread and water. Skleros took this as a personal affront and fled to his own substantial estates[6]. The main subject of this Imperial caulker's son was the Empress herself, a relic of the most established dynasty that this Empire has seen since the days of Nero. His jealousy of this woman, whose name preceded his in all official ordinances, led him to adopt an attitude of defiance. When she approached him, he turned a deaf ear; the council chamber was closed to her, and worse still, she was denied all access to the imperial treasury [7]. In fact, the empress was held in contempt everywhere. Indeed, I would go further than that -- he made her an object of ridicule, for he treated her like a prisoner of war. She was kept under surveillance, in the most ignominious manner, her ladies-in-waiting controlled by the emperor and no corner of her private apartments exempt from inspection. Only this ignominy seemed to satiate his lust for vengeance against those of better blood than he.

After this interruption in my opening remarks on this reign, I new return to the simple narrative. Well, when Constantine became Nobilissimus, he shook off the awe which he felt for his brother. His former attitude of reverence was forgotten, his conversation became bolder, and he attacked John's policy with more recklessness. Once, when they were dining together, Constantine directed the conversation to a certain affair, and having heard both men express an opinion on the subject, he praised the emperor's estimate of the matter, acclaiming it as 'an excellent judgment, one really worthy of an emperor', but rejected his brother's opinion as 'a crafty bit of intrigue'.

[...]

I myself witnessed what was going on then and I guessed he [John the Orphanotrophos] had changed his ideas, but most people knew nothing of it. In my opinion, his ambition was to transfer the government to one of his nephews, a man called Constantine who held the rank of Magister.[8] Now, when Michael and the elder Constantine proposed that this, the only cousin of the Emperor, be castrated to serve as a eunuch like his uncles, John took himself off, not to his house in the city, but to some distant place of residence [9]. This change of abode, he imagined, would compel the emperor to pray and beseech him to return; he would very soon bring him back to the palace. When he went off, his own private bodyguard followed him, and a considerable body of senators went away with him too, not through any feelings of friendship for John, but, in most cases, because they believed that he would be back again in his old haunts almost immediately and they were trying to make sure of his favour in advance. Their departure from the capital would be an excellent method of reminding him of their services.

John especially, was engaged in conspiracy -- naturally, for he was at a disadvantage as an ordinary citizen -- and schemed ways and means of attacking the emperor, without the knowledge of others and without exposing himself to arrest. Michael, on the other hand, being the supreme ruler of the Empire, was in a superior position and he made good use of it. There was no secret about his hatred for John. The days of pretence were over. He simply ordered his enemy to embark on a ship and appear in his own defence. He would have to explain why he treated the emperor with gross contempt and why he refused to obey his orders.

Accordingly John set sail [10]. The emperor, meanwhile, watched the sea from a high vantage-point in the palace, and when the ship carrying his uncle was about to anchor in the Great Harbour, he gave a signal from above to the sailors, as they were putting in, to turn about. Actually, this signal had been arranged beforehand. A second trireme, ready to put to sea and in the wake of the first, then hailed John's ship, took him on board, and carried him off to a distant place of exile. It was through this man's efforts that Michael had become first Caesar and subsequently emperor, yet the reverence he formerly felt for John now meant so little to him that he indicted punishment on his uncle without so much as a blush of shame.

Now, this place of exile was a distinguished monastery, and John quickly became a popular member, giving his active mind over to matters of theology in the absence of Court intrigue. Within a year or so he had established himself as something of an expert on the different usages of the churches of East and West and thus, when it came about that Alexius of the Studium passed from this life to the next, [11] it was decided by distinguished men of the Church -- who also hoped to secure advancement through favour to the family of the Emperor -- promptly elected him Patriarch, and in this guise he was indispensable to the Emperor despite his exile.
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[1] Since Psellos is so full of praise for Michael IV's vocation, it is possible to infer that this section was written before he himself entered a monastery for fear of his life in 1058. It is said that he was rather disappointed to find that his brothers were in no mood for his interminable Socratic dialogues and forswore the entire adventure upon his return to Court in 1060. SM
[2] "Guardian of the Orphans" in Greek. John seems to have remained in this minor position throughout his ascendancy, presumably as a means of satisfying the established Court bureaucrats with inflated titles. This post would also have given him control over his other nephew, Constantine, of whom we shall hear much more. SM
[3] Unlikely, one suspects, if the Emperor was calling an over-promoted beadle his 'master' with a straight face. SM
[4] This is frankly untrue. Psellos himself has told us in Book Four that Constantine was Domestic of the Schools (Commander of the Armies) while Niketas and Giorgios both held positions of authority. SM
[5] The highest rank in the Court hierarchy below Basileus and Caesar. SM
[6] This Romanos Skleros later engaged in a boundary dispute with the Catepan George Maniakes, who had the Emperor conscript him as a common soldier to fight in Southern Italy, where he died of dysentery. Fate seems to have taken a disliking to this aristocrat. SM
[7] This measure, at least, seems to have been deserved. During her marriage to Romanos III Argyros, it is reported that Zoe squandered the Treasury on amulets to help her conceive a child. SM
[8] This is the first mention of the future Emperor Constantine IX, and it is likely to be a later interpolation intended to present Psellos as a savvy augurer of the political climate. Indeed, Psellos elsewhere claims that he is well-versed in astronomy, although he 'does not believe in it'. At this point, the younger Constantine would be about ten years old. SM
[9] This seems to have been an estate on the Sea of Marmara. SM
[10] There is no indication anywhere of exactly how John intended to preserve his freedom at this point. SM
[11] i.e. 1043. Alexius had been appointed Patriarch of the Constantinopolitan Church by Basil II himself.
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OOC: I haven't actually altered much of the story of John's fall, only repurposed it: in OTL, he was blinded by Michael Kerularios, the actual successor to the Patriarchate, and executed by Constantine IX Monomachos. Constantinople should be a lot more fun with John is charge of the Church.

Romanos Skleros, he of the dishonoured wife, did have a bit of a fracas with Maniakes which (due to Skleros' position at Court) led the general to come to Greece with an Army to make himself Emperor, thereby leaving Italy to the Normans. With Skleros sidelined, Maniakes will be around a bit longer :)

Lastly, the bit with Michael IV advising his nephew to be careful of Zoe has butterflied Michael V's idiotic treatment of her - he forced her to become a nun - which in turn gets rid of the massive revolution that toppled him in 1042 and replaced him with a series of less driven but more well-adjusted Emperors.
 
I have previously shown that the Emperor had an astonishing predilection for the wives of other men, and in this manner he offended some of the great men of the Empire. But this shall be dealt with at the correct time. Suffice to say for the moment that for the first several years of his autocracy, Michael Kalaphates gave himself over utterly to the delights of the flesh. However, at an opportune moment, Constantine, the uncle of the Emperor, addressed him thusly: "My master, whereas hitherto you have seen fit to satisfy yourself in your own manner, and whereas the Empress Zoe is unable to bear children of her own blood, and whereas I myself am not a bearded man, would it not appear to be advisable that you should deign to enter into the state of Holy Matrimony?"[1] and to this the Emperor took great exception, for he refused to be governed by the necessities of state as his predecessor was. He gnashed his teeth and smote himself upon the head, and Constantine was obliged to let the matter rest for a time.

[...]

At this stage I would like to go back a little, so that the story can be told in a methodical way. As I have previously alluded, the Emperor Romanos Argyros was of the descent of Romanos Lekapenos, and therefore all of his collateral relatives had some measure of Imperial blood [2]. Now, it so happened that Romanos had a niece by the name of Agatha, and she was married to the General Constantine Diogenes, who had distinguished himself in the wars against the Bulgars, but who had favoured himself as a successor to his uncle while he was still living, and for this inveterate plotting he was tonsured and, upon further conspiracy, brought before John the Orphanotrophos -- this was all during the reign of Romanos. Instead of submitting to torture, this Constantine chose to jump off the top of the Blachernae Palace, leaving John traumatised and alone. [3] Now, the widow of this traitor, although suspected of sharing in his complots and less wealthy than she was, was still welcome at Court and her son Romanos was a favourite of the Varangian Guardsmen. Thus, it eventuated that the Emperor, resentful of the lecturing of his uncles, chanced upon this Agatha and resolved to marry her in order to spite those who advised him to marry a woman of noble standing, for he was jealous of such people.

This Agatha Argyre was a proud lady of ambition, and although she had long since passed the prime of life, accepted the proposal of the Emperor. It is said that he immediately conducted her to the Hagia Sophia, whereat the Patriarch John spurned the lady, since he was of the belief that his nephew should be wed to a woman of surer fertility [4]. However, the Emperor disobeyed his uncle and returned to the Palace in this woman's company. It has always been an inevitable facet of a young man's character to wilfully disregard all reason for the benefit of appearing spontaneous, but the stubbornness with which Michael Kalaphates pursued his end on that day is a stain on his otherwise adequate character. In the end, he persuaded a palace chaplain to perform the marriage upon payment of a small quantity of gold, and the deed was done.

[...]

Having so insulted his uncles, Michael Kalaphates proceeded to replace them in his counsels with the relatives of his new wife, principally her cousin Nikephoros Karantenos, a local civic dignitary in Anatolia [5]; and her son Romanos Diogenes, now in the flower of manhood. With the assistance of these men, Michael attacked the very foundations of the Roman Army. The old thematic system was all but demolished, as the margins of the Empire alone were divided into small themes in which peasants owed a certain period of service to their Emperor. The interior was merely commanded to supply specially trained troops in tagmata, and, in the case of unwarlike regions, extra taxes with which the Emperor paid for barbarian mercenaries. The result was that the Army of Michael was barely half the size of the Army of Basil. [6]

Fortunately yet tragically, this partnership was over in only the third year of the marriage. [7] The mature Empress Agatha conceived a child in the winter against all predictions - this constituted a disappointment to the Magister Constantine, who had hoped to succeed his cousin, and the Empress Zoe, who still aspired by some miracle to continue the dynasty of her forefathers - and when stultifying heat of the summer assailed the city of Constantinople, she gave birth to a weak son who was named Nikephoros, after the strategos Karantenos, in the hope that the latter's strength would transfer by some osmosis to the newborn heir to the Empire. On the morning following the birth, when the bells were ringing to celebrate the birth, the Empress Agatha died of the pains that she had endured. Indeed, I myself saw the Emperor on that day as I was giving orders to my junior clerks, and he seemed most aggrieved, for it seems that by dint of familiarity he had grown to love this woman who symbolised in her nobility and age everything that was anathema to the Emperor.

At around this time, it transpired that the Emperor Michael encountered a certain woman of the night [8], of a similar background to his own by the name of Eudokia Voskopoula and subdued the aching of his heart by engaging in lustful acts with her. I have heard it said that she was known to sleep in the beds of sailors of the Imperial fleet, and even that she was a eunuch merely disguised as a woman. I have no evidence either way, of course, but certainly she was not fated to bear children. In any case, the Emperor Michael saw fit to marry her and John the Patriarch even married them in the Hagia Sophia itself. However, she was not immediately crowned as Empress.

During this time, Eudokia inveigled herself into the politics that were rightly the domain of her husband and his counselors. For instance, in the first months of this second marriage, Nikephoros Karantenos was hauled in front of the Emperor and accused of plotting against him -- this, the most prominent of Michael's supporters! It was commanded that his ears and nose be removed and his fingers mutilated so that where once he had ten digits, he now appeared to have twenty. Additionally, he was tonsured and sent to a certain island in the Aegean which was the usual place of exile for pirates and thieves. Even the Emperor's uncle Constantine, who was reinstated as chief minister of the Empire by this act of brutality, bore a look of pure horror at the spectacle, and throughout the Palace it was rumoured that Eudokia had commanded this out of vengeance for some misdemeanour at a whorehouse.

At around this time, the Empress Zoe fell ill and died, but no poison was suspected, for she was already frail and aged. For the last years of her life she had been a prisoner in her own Palace, never permitted to converse with anyone but her ladies in waiting and, rarely, the Emperor. However, as the funeral cortege traversed the city, it became apparent that the general populace bore her far more goodwill than they held for the Emperor, and the common people tore their hair out with grief and wailed to the four winds, calling her their "dear mother". After a suitable period of mourning, Michael took his new wife to the Hagia Sophia and his uncle John invested her as Empress to little applause - for although Eudokia was indubitably beautiful, her manner was too familiar to deserve such high dignity. At one point, a spectator shouted "What about Theodora?" and the Emperor, perplexed[9], asked me who this person was. I replied that Constantine had not one daughter, but three. The eldest of these ladies was dead. The youngest for a short time continued to live with her sister after she became empress and, to a certain extent, shared the throne with her. The privilege of acclamation was not extended to her, but she did enjoy exceptional honours and she had her share of splendour in the palace, although her position was inferior to that of her sister. Their close relationship however, and the fact that they were born of the same mother, were not sufficient to avert jealousy, and even her lower rank excited the empress to envy Theodora (that was the younger sister's name). At the same time certain persons maliciously spread tales about her and prevailed on Zoe to remove her from the palace, cut off her hair, and give her one of the more stately imperial houses to live in. The place would be a kind of prison, but it would be veiled under a fine name. This advice was followed at once. Jealousy divided the two sisters and kept one in a position of greater importance, the other in an inferior condition, but Theodora at least retained the semblance of majesty. Yet she (Theodora) resigned herself to her lot.
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[1] Again, there is still no mention of the Magister Constantine, which implies that Psellos was not as familiar with the Imperial family as would like us to believe when he wrote this almost certainly mendacious anecdote. SM
[2] A minuscule measure, to be sure. SM
[3] This stressing of the fact that John and Constantine Diogenes were alone seems to be a rather obvious attempt at accusing John of his murder. A diligent reader would hesitate before thinking that John would stoop so low as to actually commit a violent crime, perforce. SM
[4] Presumably, John wished to avoid a similarly loveless marriage to the one which Michael IV and Zoe were forced into at his goading. SM
[5] In fact, Karantenos was at this point the leader of a tagmata, or battalion, under Georgios Maniakes. It is uncharacteristic of Psellos to make such an elementary mistake. SM
[6] Psellos is purposefully omitting to mention that this new system was far superior to the old one in terms of offensive wars: the standing army now had a backbone of trained soldiers such as the kataphraktoi and indeed the Varangians themselves. With troops such as these, Nikephoros Karantenos successfully regained Mosul, Emesa and Tripoli before 1050, as well as forcing the Caucasian states to accept Constantinopolitan overlordship. Psellos doesn't even mention that this war took place. SM
[7] i.e. 1049. SM
[8] There is no evidence to suggest that this assertion is anything but malicious slander. In fact, Attaleiates describes the lady in question as "a merchant's daughter" and he of all people could be expected to denigrate the Paphlagonian dynasty.
[9] Psellos intends us to believe that Michael V Kalaphates had never heard of his adoptive aunt before. He also expects us to believe that he got through that whole story in the middle of a coronation service.
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OOC: I've now almost completely left Psellos' original text behind, as Michael Kalaphates' deposition has been avoided. The year is now 1050, 8 years after he was overthrown OTL. The life of Constantine Diogenes is exactly as I have described it, and his son Romanos (who I mentioned a couple of times, and will again) is of course the OTL Emperor who lost at Manzikert. Nikephoros Karantenos was a middling Strategos in the 1060s and 1070s, and he was indeed related to the wife of Constantine Diogenes and to Romanos III. I've given Michael's first wife the name 'Agatha' at random, because she is unnamed in the sources and Agatha was the name of her great-grandmother. Eudokia is fictional, but is representative of any number of ladies of questionable virtue who resided in Constantinople.

Oh, and Michael really was unaware of the existence of Theodora, his adoptive aunt.

The military reforms of Karantenos are superficially similar to those of Alexios Komnenos, but they remove the pronoia system and (taken together with Michael IV's earlier changes) reduce the preponderance of established aristocrats in the upper ranks.
 
In the following years, policy was dictated by the whims of the Empress' fancy as much as by the learned counsels of men. Chief among these men, though, was the eunuch Constantine, uncle to the Emperor and creature of flattery. The best that can be said of Constantine is that he left the Treasury with as much money as he found in it, although some have said that he drained off the surplus for his own enrichment. Now, apart from the Patriarch John, whom I have already discussed, there was one more brother remaining. Georgios was the protovestarius [1] to his brother and his nephew, and he -- being of a jealous and self-serving disposition, but without a whit of talent -- devised the ambition of following his brothers as the pre-eminent authority in the Empire after Michael Kalaphates himself. Georgios was also a eunuch, but nevertheless he succumbed to the charms of Empress Eudokia, who inculcated in this non-entity the ability to betray Constantine.

Also at this time it became apparent that the Catepan of Italy, Georgios Maniakes, was unable to cast out the barbarians who were acting as brigands in his province [2]. Since Eudokia was demanding ever more money for perfumes and unguents, Kalaphates resolved to recall Maniakes and inquire about the prohibitive expenses that the General had incurred to no great effect -- except, that is, the conquest of Sicily. When Maniakes returned to Constantinople he was immediately seized by Kabasilas, Prefect of the City, and taken before the Emperor. As Providence would have it, the Emperor had received news of a Scythian [3] assault across the Danube only days before Maniakes' arrival.

I have seen this man myself, and I wondered at him, for nature had bestowed on him all the attributes of a man destined to command. He stood ten feet high [4] and men who saw him had to look up as if at a hill or the summit of a mountain. There was nothing soft or agreeable about the appearance of Maniakes. As a matter of fact, he was more like a fiery whirlwind, with a voice of thunder and hands strong enough to make walls totter and shake gates of brass. He had the quick movement of a lion and the scowl on his face was terrible to behold. Everything else about the man was in harmony with these traits and just what you would expect. Rumour exaggerated his appearance and the barbarians, to a man, lived in dread of him, some because they had seen and marvelled, others because they had heard frightful tales of his prowess.

This prowess had also reached the ears of Constantine the Domestic, and, respecting the man's martial talents, he interrupted the accusations of profligacy that were pouring from the lips of Georgios the Protovestarius and the Empress Eudokia, and instead persuaded the Emperor thusly: "If the Almighty be as hostile to Maniakes as my brother seems to be, then surely He would deny him victory in battle. But our reports from Italy reveal that these defeats only occur when the Catepan in question is occupied on some other business. May I remind you, master, that the perfidious Scythians are at present sacking the villages of your subjects in Macedonia? Well then, if Maniakes leads an Army to quell this horde and loses, then we shall know that he is innocent of all misdemeanours and corrupt practices, while if he dies, then battle shall be both trial and executioner." And thus it passed that Maniakes led the force sent to deal with the invaders, along with two others. These were the distinguished men of war Isaac Komnenos and Katakalon Kekaumenos, and all three fought well by all accounts, and inflicted much damage upon the enemy. However, at the moment of victory, Maniakes was dealt a blow to the heart by a retreating barbarian and collapsed into the sleep of death.

This omen was perplexing to the Emperor, for Maniakes had died, and yet had still won a victory, causing him to doubt the intentions of the Lord. I myself saw him at this time, acting like a deranged man, ripping his hair out by the root and screaming incomprehensibly at his young son. To the Patriarch, it seemed as if the illness which afflicted Michael the Paphlagon had descended to his successor [5]. Presently, that is to say, once the Emperor's ardour had cooled to confusion, he called Constantine before him and proclaimed: "Since you are so blind that you cannot decipher the omens of the Lord, and since you are evidently so ignorant of His designs, I have resolved to send you to a monastery, wherein you shall become more familiar with He of whom you know nothing, and also that your eyes are to be put out, so that your spiritual blindness may be reflected in corporeal reality". At that point Constantine was bundled towards a public place and rabble made fun of him, naturally enough under the circumstances [6]. Sometimes the insults were tempered with laughter, but malice inspired others. Anyhow, they brought him out, intending to drive him through the centre of the city, but they had not gone far on the journey when they were encountered by the man who had been commanded to blind the two miscreants. His party showed their instructions to the mob and they proceeded to prepare for the execution and sharpen the iron for the branding.

Once he was convinced that safety really was out of the question, Constantine braced himself for the trial, and having armed himself, as it were, against the shock of catastrophe, he faced suffering bravely. The fact is, he was a man of more dignified and steadfast character than his nephew, a man who would not willingly surrender to adverse fortune. Seeing the executioners all ready for their work, he at once offered himself as a willing sacrifice victim and calmly approached them, waiting with hands athirst for his blood. And as there was no clear space between himself and the mob -- for everyone there present wished to be the first witness of their punishment -- the Nobilissimus quietly looked round for the man to whom the miserable job had been entrusted. 'You there,' he said, 'please make the people stand back. Then you will see how bravely I bear my calamity!'

When the executioner tried to tie him down, to prevent him moving at the moment of blinding, he said, 'Look you. If you see me budge, nail me down!' With these words he lay flat on his back on the ground. There was no change of colour in his face, no crying out, no groaning. It was hard to believe the man was still alive. His eyes were then gouged, one after the other. The Nobilissimus, his eyes gouged out, stood up from the ground and leaned for support on one of his most intimate friends. He addressed those who came up to him with great courage -- a man who rose superior to the trials that beset him, to whom death was as nothing -- and from thence he was conducted to a barge which was to take him to his allotted place of confinement.

[...]

Some time later, it came to pass that the Emperor sent the Prefect of the City, an experienced soldier, albeit not of Greek blood, by the name of Kabasilas, to address the Senate on his behalf. The gist of this speech, though it was not made in Ciceronian style as it should have been, coming from such a lofty authority, was that the Empress had been plotting to murder her husband and replace him with his much younger stepson both on the throne and in her bed. I do not know if these accusations were true [7] but those who were present later told me that the source of the rumours was Georgios, the Emperor's current favourite uncle. In any case, the Senators pretended to be outraged by the treachery of the Empress in order that they might not meet the same fate as Constantine, but the truth is that many of them were exceedingly close to the Empress and were displeased to see her punished, as indeed were the common people of Constantinople, to whom she was a sister; one of them, raised to Imperial dignity.

For this reason, Michael Kalaphates sought to make an example of his wife Eudokia. He put on a race at the hippodrome below the Grand Palace, which was as sumptuous as it was well-attended. In spite of this popular success -- Michael always chased after the approval of the people, like a dog chases after his own tail -- the Emperor actually marred the holiday by uncovering an iron cage in the centre of the hippodrome that had hitherto been covered by a silk drape and had gone all but unnoticed. As the silk was drawn away, there was revealed within a pitiful sight: Eudokia, bent double by the confinement of the cage and stark naked like an unwitting beast. It would be difficult not to pity her if it were not for the simple fact that the majority of the spectators must have seen her in a similar position at some point or another.[8] As it was, though, the crowd surged in disgust at the treatment of their beloved Empress. rotten fruit and even stones were thrown at the Imperial box, injuring several hangers-on, including one promising accountant whose skill at mathematics was decidedly inferior after the accident.

Michael, who had been reduced to tears and was now engaged in lashing out with his fists at any who approached him, screamed a guttural riposte to the chants of the populace and made for the passageway from the Imperial box direct to the throne room, but his path was blocked by Georgios his uncle, who I saw seize the Emperor's arms, strip him of his official regalia and slap him across the cheek with a hand bearing the signet ring appropriate to his post [9]. Evidently he had decided that his ploy to remove his last major rival for influence over the Emperor was misguided. He lifted the Emperor bodily over his head and threw him don into the turbulent crowd below. I myself could not bear to watch as the rabble insolently tore his clothes and his skin, and one of their number, who happened to be the executioner who had mutilated Constantine, blinded Michael as he moaned and wailed for forgiveness. Thus ended the reign of Michael Kalaphates, in the twelfth year of his rule.[10]
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[1] 'protovestarius' = chief financial advisor, although this role seems to have been executed in practice by John the Orphanotrophos and, latterly, Constantine the Domestic.
[2] That is the Normans who had been invited as mercenaries and who now, under the leadership of the Hauteville and Drengot families, were establishing themselves as hegemons of the Mezzogiorno. Maniakes was recalled in 1052.
[3] The term 'Scythian' is used for all Slavic peoples, but here the intention is 'Pecheneg', a horde of whom were residing in what is now Wallachia.
[4] An exaggeration, surely.
[5] Michael IV's fits were a result of grand mal epilepsy, which has totally different symptoms to the temporary madness suffered by Michael V.
[6] Psellos' meaning is unclear: is the crowd mocking him because he is unpopular or because his comeuppance is so ill-deserved?
[7] Since Romanos Diogenes was not advanced when Eudokia had the capacity to advance him, we can presume that these accusations were baseless.
[8] Michael Psellos was, of course, celibate, and perhaps his imagination gets the better of him when it comes to such things. Indeed, Psellos is the only source that accuses Eudokia of being a prostitute before her rise to the purple.
[9] As Protovestarius, Georgios was responsible for countersigning all financial proposals that reached Imperial consideration.
[10] That is, 1053. Psellos neglects to mention that the blinded Emperor was recovered and sent to the same monastery in which he had imprisoned Constantine. Constantine's reaction to this turn of events is, however, not recorded anywhere.
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OOC: IOTL, Georgios Maniakes died in battle whilst rebelling against Constantine IX Monomachos, and there was no recorded Pecheneg invasion until (I believe) the 1070s, although Basil II had fought them off quite recently. These Pechenegs are not entirely defeated at this point ;)

If you can't remember me saying anything about Georgios the Protovestarios before, don't worry. I only mentioned him by name a couple of times in passing. Psellos is like that: someone hugely important can be central to Court life for several years before he even mentions them by name. As it is, Georgios was the least notable of the Paphlagonian eunuch-brothers, and he could have died at any point after 1034. For anyone who's confused, here's a family tree of the family at this point in time (I should have done this earlier, but its hard to be meaningful without spoilers)

Some Paphlagonian peasant
John the Orphanotrophos - Chief minister (1034 - 1042), Patriarch of Constantinople (1043 - ?) Eunuch
Constantine the Domestic - Chief minister (1042 - 1052) Eunuch; blinded
Georgios the Protovestarios - Chief minister (1052 - ?) Eunuch
Niketas - Doux of Antioch (1034 - 1038) died 1038 (killed by Muslims in Sicily or Maniakes, depending on your point of view)
Constantine the Magister (born 1032)​
Michael IV the Paphlagonian - Emperor (1034 - 1041) died of dropsy and epilepsy 1041. Married Empress Zoe
Maria - only daughter, probably the eldest; married Stephen Kalaphates (Chief Bodyguard ? - 1040)
Michael V the Caulker - Emperor (1041 - 1053) blinded; married Agatha Argyre and Eudokia Voskopoula
Nikephoros Porphyrogennetos (born 1049) son of Michael and Agatha​

Lastly, I'm weirdly going to miss Constantine and Michael Kalaphates. I went in thinking they were fools and came out with a lot of respect for Constantine and a lot of pity for Michael, even though he was a consistent douchebag in real life even more so than ITTL. Anyway, Book Six (of 7 or 8) coming up tomorrow!
 
Chronographia by Michael Psellos
with
Commentary from Prof. Spartacus Mills

Book Six

Prologue by Spartacus Mills, PhD (Oxon, Cantab, Otago)

Book Six is quite rightly called by many commentators "the most chaotic section of the Chronographia"[1] They are right to quibble, but only for the simple reason that the political events of the period are a good deal more complex than those of the previous reigns. In fact, four rulers and one attempted usurper are dealt with in the following pages, and Psellos' clarity and closeness to events suffer due to his fleeing the capital in 1058 to avoid retribution. On a textual level, Book Six seems to have been composed -- or, at least, substantially rewritten -- during the 1070s, at which point the eventual victor of these interminable power struggles was well-established on his throne. For this reason, we see Psellos flatter this character at the expense of all others, to the extent that the majority of the central personages are roundly insulted. I will attempt to provide counterpoints for these excesses as we continue.
SPARTACUS MILLS​


In the aftermath of this brutal scene, the principal functionaries of the Imperial Court assembled in the throne room, none of them daring to suggest a course of action for fear of being dubbed a traitor. Georgios, perhaps regretting his precipitate actions, cowered in the corner, and none present made any move towards him, either to comfort him or mock him for his crimes. I am ashamed to say that I merely discussed a theological matter with Constantine Likhoudes, a man of great learning and even greater distaste for the grubbiness of quotidian intrigue. Presently, the Empress Eudokia, now washed and arrayed in sumptuous finery that belied her state of half an hour before, entered and sat herself on the Imperial throne without the slightest ceremony. She addressed us in her rough, ill-educated manner -- for she could not read, and writing was beyond her capabilities. I know this from attempting to teach her the basics of literacy and philosophy, but she was a markedly desultory student, more interested in the attractions of men than in the development of the intellect. [2] She said: "Since my husband has forfeited his right to rule the Empire by dint of physical incapability [3] and his son, Nikephoros, though beloved of me, can no more bear the weight of the Empire on his shoulders than he can lift an ox, it falls to me to be the Empress and mistress of this polity". This caused an uproar, for while Eudokia was dear to the hearts of the populace at large, their masters were reluctant to entrust power into the hands of a woman of such base birth. It was I myself who suggested, as a way of compromise between the Empress and her long-serving advisors, that Theodora, daughter of Constantine, sister of Zoe and niece of the great Emperor Basil, be invited from her confinement and elevated to the same rank as Eudokia, so that the old dynasty may be represented by its last member. Even my most esteemed colleagues were ignorant of this elderly lady, but she was sent for nonetheless.

Astounded by the unexpectedness of this sight, she refused at first to give way to their pleading and shut herself up in the church, deaf to every entreaty. The elite of the Palace, however, giving up all hope of persuasion, used force, and some of their number, drawing their daggers, rushed in as if to kill her. Boldly they dragged her from the sanctuary, brought her out into the open, and clothed her in a magnificent robe. Then they made her sit on a horse, and forming a circle all about her, they led her to the great church of Santa Sophia. Homage was paid to her and she was crowned beside Eudokia, upon whose knee sat Nikephoros, and he was crowned also, but always held precedence behind the Empresses. [4]

These two Empresses were of very contrary dispositions, for while Theodora was calm and, if I may put it so, dull, Eudokia was as excitable and enthusiastic as any of her gender. On the other hand, Eudokia was always focused on the central affairs of state, through she mismanaged them due to her incompetence, whereas Theodora confused the trifles of the harem with important matters, and constantly set meetings at tangents. I will say this for the pair: neither was overly given to displays of wealth or largesse, and while no churches were built out of the Imperial Treasury during this time, neither did the perfumers of Constantinople enrich themselves at the expense of worthier men.

Now, it was promptly made clear to the Empresses that for women to rule and men only to serve was an unnatural state of affairs [5] ad they were therefore made to realise that worthy men ought to be associated with their rule at the very least. Of course, every man wished to be elevated by such a policy. However, Theodora the Macedonian refused to disregard her vows of chastity and piety -- one suspects that, being unused to the company of men at her age, she was in no mood to welcome a stranger into her bed. Eudokia, being of a more companionable spirit, immediately impressed upon John the Patriarch the necessity of the dissolution of the marriage between herself and the former Emperor Michael, and, although he regretted the transfer of power to a man outside his own dynasty, acceded to the request.

Eudokia and Theodora, upon conferring in the gynaeceum [6], decided that, for the good of the Empire, two men of high standing should be made Caesars. All remembered the endless faction-fighting over who would be married to Zoe a few decades before, which was why the new men would not be Emperors, but only Caesars. One would be selected from the civic administration of the Palace, and one from the military aristocracy. Georgios, still influential in Imperial counsels but by no means a chief minister of state, recommended his nephew Constantine the Magister while others favoured an older man, Constantine Monomachos, who was the last of his family apart from a daughter who, coincidentally, was married to the Magister. This daughter, distressed by the coming conflict between her father and her husband, begged Monomachos on her knees to decline the honour, so that his descendants might reap the fruit of his humility. The Magister apologetically accepted the honour, showing true nobility despite his plebeian ancestry, which he successfully overcame in all that he did.

The military man was more difficult to decide upon, for Maniakes and even Karantenos had died, leaving only younger men to argue over who would receive the honour. Romanos Diogenes put himself forward despite his lack of experience, claiming the dignity on the basis that his stepfather had been Michael Kalaphates and his great-uncle Romanos Argyros, but he overreached himself by proposing marriage to the Empress Eudokia. She immediately asked the Patriarch on the legality in canon law of marrying the wife of a stepfather, whereupon John (ignorant of the exact law) advised that it would be safer not to invite the criticism, at which Romanos was rebuffed. The other contenders were Isaac Komnenos, a brave soldier who had fought the Arabs and the Scythians, and his bosom companion Kantakalon Kekaumenos, an underling of Maniakes who had served in Italy. Many favoured Isaac, for he was battle-scarred and famed for his successes, but Eudokia herself was filled with unfeminine lust for Kantakalon, and therefore she elevated him above his merits. Even she was aware that her creature was not fit for such a role, so she named Isaac Komnnenos as Domestic of the Schools so as to limit the blundering of Kantakalon, who she was wed to before nightfall. [7]

While all this was happening in Constantinople, the Scythians who had been defeated by Maniakes were still engaged in depredations in Thrace [8], and refugees from their raids were fleeing to the Queen of Cities. Thus, within a week of the choosing of the Caesars, the Caesar Kekaumenos was sent with many tagmata to complete the task that his erstwhile master had failed to complete. I am not, as I have mentioned before, an expert in the field of tactics, so any details of the battle that have passed my ears have no meaning in my mind, so I will content myself by saying that the Caesar was victorious, although his men were far more numerous and well-disciplined than the enemy; and also that he seized the baggage of the barbarians, so that trinkets and and horrific items of leather and bone were available at the markets of Constantinople for no great price for months afterwards, and it was impossible to purchase anything of real value from these merchants who were over-endowed with the spoils of war. It was said to me by Kabasilas, Prefect of the City and a good friend of mine, though he was not of Greek birth, that the Caesar's victory could have been much more complete, and that he could have wiped out the Scythian nation in one fell swoop if he had not made some elementary mistakes, the manner of which still elude me as a man of peace. At any rate, the victory was a disappointment. [9]

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[1] Mills, 1989. I do not unequivocally stand by this judgement. SM
[2] This is slander, for a letter survives -- albeit written in a shaky hand -- from Eudokia to her second husband while he was on campaign in the Levant. She may not have lived up to Psellos' high standards but she was by no means illiterate. SM
[3] It was the Constantinopolitan tradition to deny the throne do any who was physically maimed. For this reason eunuchs and blinded men were barred from temporal rule. SM
[4] From a historiographical perspective, this period is deemed to be the co-reign of Theodora and Eudokia, with little Nikephoros being merely a co-Emperor, just as Constantine VII was under Romanos Lekapenos. SM
[5] Psellos was, of course, writing from a context which would have denied sovereignty to our Queens Victoria and Elizabeth. SM
[6] The women's quarters of the palace. Skylitzes describes most of the business of the reigns happening in this area, where people like Psellos were unable to influence decisions. Perhaps this explains our historian's resentment towards Eudokia in particular. SM
[7] As previously mentioned, Domestic of the Schools is equivalent to Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and it is worth noting that modern scholars believe that Komnenos' appointment was intended as a sop to his supporters rather than an estimation of his superior martial ability. In fact, both commanders have similar records of success. SM
[8] Maniakes' victory must have been very close, for his last battle took place in Macedonia and his opponents have already advanced to Thrace. SM
[9] Psellos seems desperate to minimise the scale of Katakalon Kekaumenos' victory, which is understandable given what is to come. However, I find it hard to believe that a nation of nomads could be entirely destroyed in a single battle, as Kabasilas seems to believe.
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OOC: All the events are fictional from now on, but all of the people mentioned are real, except Eudokia and Nikephoros (the latter was born post-PoD). Constantine the Magister (now one of the Caesars) is mentioned once by Psellos as a nephew of John, Michael, Constantine and Georgios; Constantine Likhoudes was a bureaucrat who ended up as Patriarch of Constantinople; Constantine Monomachos was an enemy of the Paphlagonians, the third husband of Zoe and Emperor from 1042 to 1055; his daughter was the wife of some Rurikid ruler whose name escapes me; Romanos Diogenes and Isaac Komnenos both ended up as Emperors (and might still ;)); Katakalon Kekaumenos was essentially Isaac's wingman and commanded the pro-Kalaphates forces in 1042; Kabasilas was the general who commanded the pro-Theodora forces in 1042 but ITTL is still loyal - he wasn't Prefect, though: that role was OTL filled by Anastasios and Kampanares, AFAIK.

I'm sorry this was posted so late, I was having trouble with the next two installments which meant that this one had to be re-written.
 
After the costly victory over the Scythians, it came to pass that Isaac Komnenos was dispatched to the East so that he might increase the glory and magnitude of the Empire which he had so recently been denied, whereupon he distinguished himself in battle at the expense of Caesar Kekaumenos, who merely remained in Constantinople trying vainly to reverse the policies of his fellow Caesar Constantine. While in the East Komnenos successfully besieged the cities of Tripoli, Emesa and Edessa, and there was even talk amongst the more ambitious ministers of state of regaining Jerusalem for the Christian faith [1].

Nevertheless, the situation of the Christian faith was at that point in grave danger. At the risk of being boring, I will make a small digression on the difference in usage between the Latin barbarians and we Greeks.

[... This digression really is dull, so I have chosen to omit the next seven paragraphs. SM]

Now, at the time when Maniakes was recalled [2] the barbarians of Southern Italy began a quarrel with the Pope due to their over-weaning ambition for land. Having been frustrated by the talents of Maniakes and his replacement, a Lombard by the name of Argyros (who was not related to the family of Argyros in Constantinople), the barbarians turned their intention instead to the North, and marched against the Papal Army. To be brief, the the barbarians were victorious and Pope Leo proved that his adopted name was by no means apposite -- in fact, he was captured. [3] Owing to the fact that the Pope was no friend to the Church of the East, he composed a letter to the Patriarch and the Empresses, accusing them of betraying the alliance that he supposed existed between them and complaining that Argyros had not aided him with his forces. In actuality, Argyros had not even been within two days' march of the location of the battle -- I know this from the lips of Basil Theodorokanos, who was at that time delivering supplies to the Army of Italy in Bari. But I must return to my original subject and continue the narrative. These letters were most insulting to the dignity of their recipients. The Patriarch was merely addressed as the "Bishop of Byzantium" while the letter delivered to the Empresses was intended for Michael Kalaphates. [4] Aspersions were also cast upon the traditional usages of the Eastern Church, as I have already elaborated.

Eudokia and Theodora refused to reply to such calumnies, although Argyros was recalled and replaced with Michael Iasitas, which has been compared by my learned friends as "akin to replacing Alexander with Arrhidaeus" for Iasitas was a man of mean intelligence and no wit, although he was favoured by Eudokia as a beauteous man and, moreover, a dear companion of her husband, the Caesar Katakalon. At any rate, having had no reply except a missive from a creature of John the Patriarch named Leo Paraspondylos which patiently explained the superiority of the Greek usages in similar phraseology to that which I have used, the Pope summarily called John before him to answer for his lack of courtesy and his so-called "heretical theology", although in this letter he was called an Archbishop, which was at least an improvement upon his earlier Bishopric.

Upon discussion with the ministers of state, all were aghast at the presumptions of this barbarian Bishop of Rome, and John proposed that the letter be burned at the Hagia Sophia and the ashes returned to Pope for daring to claim authority over his fellow Patriarch. All present acclaimed this course of action, but the fool Eudokia bade us be silent. She instead argued that, since the pope was unable to protect himself, he would continue to require us to protect him from the barbarians, so if he was reminded of that, and of the superiority of the Greek usages, he would have no option but to withdraw his accusations. Thus, it was resolved that Eudokia herself would accompany John, and with her would go John Xiphilinos and myself so that we might achieve a reconciliation -- a reconciliation which was by no means in the interests of either party, I might add. [5] In her absence, the administration was to be undertaken by Theodora and the Caesars. Evidently, Katakalon was no longer indispensable to Eudokia's marital bed after only a few months.

Now, our cavalcade did not depart immediately, for there were still matters to discuss regarding the division of themes in Sicily and what remained of our Italian provinces. We arrived in Bari only in the Spring of the second year of the rule of the Empresses [6] and by this time, Pope Leo had died, still imprisoned by the barbarians while our former Catepan Argyros had returned to his own people and begun a revolt which Iasitas was unable to quell. Upon seeing the situation for herself, Eudokia immediately removed Iasitas and replaced him with Basil Theodorokanos, who had conducted us to Bari by ship -- this was all on the advice of the Patriarch John. We then proceeded to Rome, but upon our arrival we were informed that the new Pope, who had taken the name of Victor, had departed the city in order to meet the Emperor of the barbarians at a city called Florence. All of us were indignant at such a snub, and Eudokia was of the opinion that Theodorokanos should be ordered to come and sack the city until Iasitas, who was accompanying us, calmed her.

Thereupon, we shook the dust of Rome from our feet and travelled to Florence, where we found the Pope deep in conversation with the Emperor Henry -- both were speaking in their native language, a base, rough tongue with none of the depth of Greek or even the regularity of Latin. The Emperor was the first to greet us, and he did so rather informally, with none of the deference which barbarians ought to show true Romans. Anyway, the Pope attempted to browbeat the Patriarch, but was subdued by the fearsome visage of John and his righteous anger, as well as by the cogent arguments of Xiphilinos and myself. In the end, after all concerned had drunk far too much wine of inferior quality, all was made straight and both Patriarchs recognised the rights of the other and the equality of their offices. Thus, Victor did not prove to be the victor. At the same time, Eudokia and the Emperor had withdrawn and reached an agreement. One of Henry's daughters would marry the young Nikephoros while another would wed Leo, the son of Caesar Constantine, in return for the military assistance of the Western Empire in subduing the barbarians and the rebels following Argyros. This was, in the long term, a misguided policy, as despite the graveness of the danger, the ultimate cost was that two girls raised in the lands of the barbarians would become influential at Constantinople, bringing their heathen fashions with them and sullying the richness of our own traditions. I took great care to remind Eudokia of this at every opportunity [7] but she did not even invite the girls to Constantinople so that they might be raised in our ways.

After this, our party returned to Bari, apart from the Patriarch, who wished to return to his See. Eudokia instead purposed to oversee the destruction of Argyros and the barbarians, and remained idly at Bari for nearly a year before Argyros was castrated and sent to a monastery and the soldiers of the Emperor had done considerable damage to the barbarians, who are called "Normans" by their own folk. Although these men were still not driven out [8], we finally returned to Constantinople upon hearing news that the Empress Theodora, who was now a very elderly woman, was nearing the day that Fate had decreed would be her last. Eudokia rushed home to secure her inviolable place at the head of the Empire and prevent mere adventurers from putting their own families in the place of the dynasty of Macedon, which was now extinct. Theodora was a modest and humble woman of great piety and greater resolve to do good, and her tenacity of purpose outweighs her lack of perception and doubt in her own intellect. Upon the arrival of myself and the Empress Eudokia it was not yet mid-day and the empress was breathing with difficulty. She appeared to be on the point of dying. She lingered on for a little while though, still as empress, and died four months before the year's end, at which point she was not replaced, either by one of the Caesars, Katakalon or Constantine, nor by some distant relative of her family, which had ruled for two hundred years -- for in truth there was none, except Romanos Diogenes and some worthless members of the Argyros family -- but instead Eudokia cemented her own power at the expense of more sensible men.
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[1] In fact, Psellos is mistaken or mendacious in this matter. The cities he mentions had in actuality been regained by Nikephoros Karantenos during his time as Domestic from 1047 to 1050. At any rate, any hopes for the capture of Jerusalem must surely have been precipitate given the distance between that city and the Constantinopolitan frontier. SM
[2] That is, 1052. By way of comparison, Isaac Komnenos was sent to the East in early 1054. SM
[3] Psellos is making a pun based on the Latin meaning of Leo's name: 'lion' SM
[4] It is unclear whether the letter was written before or after Michael was tonsured and blinded. SM
[5] Psellos seems to be at pains to convince us that he only reluctantly went on the mission to Rome, but Attaleiates says that it was his idea in the first place. At any rate, he was probably in favour of it at the outset, at least. SM
[6] i.e. 1055. SM
[7] The Empress must have enjoyed Psellos' company. SM
[8] The campaign against the Normans appears to have faltered in 1056, which was both the year that Eudokia returned to Constantinople and the year that Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor, shuffled off his mortal coil. The Hauteville dynasty was reduced to Apulia for the time being, while the Drengot family was reconciled with the Papacy and confirmed in their possession of Aversa, although they gained Capua in 1059. SM
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OOC: Nothing really to add, except that Pope Victor II spent Easter 1055 in Florence with Henry III of the HRE; Theodorokanos was the leader of the Navy and Catepan of Italy in 1043 instead of 1054 (although he was probably still alive at this later date); the riposte to Leo was written by Leo of Ochrid instead of Leo Paraspondylos (IOTL general factotum to Theodora); also, I've been rather cruel to Michael Iasitas, who is only mentioned as a strategos who was ordered to crush the rebellion of Leo Tornikios.

Throughout, I've tried to keep the same characters as Psellos documents but put them into different situations - thus, John the Orphanotrophos is Patriarch instead of Michael Kerularios, for instance, leading to a different conclusion to the Schism. IMO, Leo would still have accosted the Byzantines after Civitate, it is only Kerularios' response which raised tensions to breaking point, while a ruler who wasn't just a waste of space (ahem, Constantine IX) would have tried to calm down the situation.

Eudokia continues to be important to this history despite being one of the only people I've invented. I justify her as follows: 1) She is a commoner with a common name and a common backstory, so she could very plausibly have existed; 2) She was born at around the time of the PoD, making her 16 in 1050 when she enters the story; 3) Michael Kalaphates was the type of guy who would have married some random commoner just to piss off the snobbish elites of his Court. Also, I kind of like her, even if Psellos doesn't.
 
The young Emperor Nikephoros had always been a weak child, suffering from sicknesses and maladies throughout his infancy, but his stepmother Eudokia, whatever her faults, nursed him through these periods of incapability whenever she was in Constantinople. However, no more than two years after the death of the long-mourned Theodora, the Caesar Katakalon resolved to replace the dynasty of the Paphlagonians with his own blood, and made the necessary preparations to dispose of his young rival. For this purpose, it is said that he allowed his violent temperament to run free as regards his wife -- that is to say, Eudokia. I myself, along with all of the ministers of state, witnessed a series of bruises emerge upon her once-beautiful face (although in truth her beauty was that of a mosaic, pearlescent yet undeniably fractured of spirit, and with no depth) although none dared mention this change in her appearance, instead complimenting her upon her youthfulness. Now, upon this encouragement, Eudokia arranged matters so that her stepson would receive small doses of poison with the food that he took in his own apartments, for he was not deemed strong enough to dine at the great banquets at which all other residents of the Palace were accustomed to eat.

And thus it passed that the boy was plucked from this life at the age of nine [1] and in his place was crowned Katakalon, hitherto Caesar. Now, this ceremony was not performed by the Patriarch John, for the simple reason that John had died peaceably shortly after his ordeal in Italy, and been replaced by an appointee of Caesar Constantine, a man of my own acquaintance by the name of Theodoros, a eunuch who had left the service of Maniakes after the great General burned down a Latin monastery in order to capture a certain opponent. This Theodoros had no aptitude for matters of faith, in truth, but was instead chosen as a favour to the Caesar. Constantine, of course, reacted in just anger at the news that he had not been raised to Imperial dignity, as his blood warranted, but contented himself for the time being by suggesting that the new Emperor lead a series of campaigns abroad, so that he himself might become the sole authority in Constantinople.

The Emperor Katakalon, being eager to solidify his claim to the Empire by acts of war -- an enterprise he deemed to be the sole province of the Emperor -- took the Caesar at his word and made preparations to subdue a certain Scythian nation which had, since time immemorial, been a tributary to the Empire, but which had in the last few years broken out into civil war between the many sons of their former Prince. [2] The Emperor busied himself heartily with the preparations of war, selecting as his lieutenants Michael Iasitas, who I have already described, and Ervevios Frankopoulos, a man of base birth who had fought for the barbarians in Italy with great fervour, and had only recently been accorded high rank in the Army of the Romans at the expense of native men of high birth and great experience. [3] At any rate, as soon as Katakalon's forces approached the lands of the Scythians, the four brothers who had hitherto been at each others' throats in their struggle for supremacy bonded together and combined their efforts, so that the victor -- whoever he may be -- would continue to possess the lands that their father had held after vanquishing his brothers. [4] At the time when Katakalon entered their lands, he was assailed by constant raids upon his baggage train, and although he vanquished an Army led by a certain Michael, killing its leader, it quickly transpired that each of the brothers had an Army of that size, and that the very peasants of that barren land were united in hostility to their invaders. At this, the Romans lost heart and their morale sank, and Katakalon was forced to accept a smaller tribute than had previously been paid by these Scythians.

While this fiasco had been occurring, Georgios the Protovestarios, now the only brother of Michael the Paphlagonian who still held office (although his rank was far decreased from its zenith in the final months of the reign of Michael Kalaphates), conceived a plan to restore Constantine to his rightful throne and, needless to say, himself to the highest counsels of the state. He addressed Isaac Komnenos, who was then leading the army of the East, and proposed that Isaac and Constantine should share the Empire between them so long as Georgios was advanced to the rank of Caesar. Now, when Isaac Komnenos received this letter, he was shocked that such a deceit could be plotted by a man of high standing, for he was an honourable man, and courageous with it, although he paid no heed to the art of rhetoric, making all commands with the minimum of loquaciousness, and sometimes merely with a nod. However, upon the advice of his junior commanders, among them Romanos Diogenes and Michael Bourtzes, some of the last men of noble birth in positions of command, Isaac resolved to seize the Empire for its own good, and was raised upon a shield by his soldiers.

When he approached the city of Constantinople, upon a pre-arranged signal, the Guards of the city were led out under Kabasilas, the Prefect, and drew up against the honourable rebels, although they were outnumbered by seven to one. I saw this with my own eyes, from a high vantage point in the Palace of Blachernae [5]; I also saw Kabasilas, following the orders of Constantine and Georgios, lead his frightened mercenaries [6] in a ferocious battle-cry, which was replied in blood-curdling manner by Isaac's men. Kabasilas then proposed that the battle be settled by single combat, so that Romans should not shed the blood of their brothers, and Romanos Diogenes took him up on his offer. Now, Georgios had arranged this piece of theatrics so that Kabasilas would be wounded and surrender after a decent amount of time, and would then welcome Isaac into the city to be enthroned, but Romanos Diogenes had been drinking heavily to prepare himself for this public ordeal, whereas Kabasilas was a far doughtier fighter than young Diogenes in any case. Thus, after no more than ten minutes of purposeful negligence on Kabasilas' part, Romanos stumbled and blundered onto the point of his opponent's sword, saying with his last breath "I apologise, my dear fellow, for dirtying your sword". Kabasilas himself told me this afterwards.

These events having been seen by many and reported to the citizens, it was widely decided that the Deity had spoken and that Isaac had no more right to the Empire than the lowliest harlot. [7] Nevertheless, Isaac was conducted into the city and brought to the Hagia Sophia, despite the fact that the populace was hurling refuse at him and his followers, not least Kabasilas, who they seized and castrated in full view of Isaac's daughter, who was so traumatised that she enrolled herself in a nunnery as soon as this sorry business was over. Anyway, Patriarch Theodoros, seeing which way the wind was blowing, refused to officiate in the ceremony by which Isaac would be raised to the purple, so he retired to the Palace to imprison Eudokia and seek evidence by which the Patriarch's election could be deemed uncanonical.

However, not two days passed before the demoralised Army of Katakalon drew up outside the city walls from the West, having been rebuffed by the Scythians as I have already described. These men, seeing that Isaac was not entirely in command of the situation, challenged his forces to meet them on an even field, and, being uniformly of noble disposition, Komnenos and his lieutenants saw that this was an honourable method of settling the affair. Thus, they forsook the impregnable walls of Constantinople and fought man to man, with both Armies being of low spirit in equal measure. To cut a long story short, many deeds of valour were performed half-heartedly on that day, and in the end it was Katakalon who was killed by a simple spearman, and many rejoiced, for Katakalon was not a popular man by any stretch of the imagination. However, as dusk fell, as Isaac was proceeding through the city in triumph, a chamber pot was emptied upon his head from some upstairs window and, put off-balance by the onslaught, he fell from his purple-caparisoned horse and fell upon the street. By all accounts, his skull was smashed open and his brains were scattered to the four winds in a rather gruesome spectacle. No tears were shed at his passing, but no joy came of it either, for all men knew that Fate -- or rather, Divine Providence -- had decreed that this man was no Emperor, and that his death was inevitable.
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[1] Given Psellos' evident bias against Eudokia, as well as his own admission that the boy was weak -- his mother must have been in her late forties at the time of his birth -- we may never know if Eudokia was indeed responsible for her charge's death. Zonaras, however, confirms that Katakalon was often violent towards her. SM
[2] Psellos is speaking of the Serbs here. SM
[3] These men were presumably the descendants of the aristocratic Generals whose rebellions are constant fixtures of the Macedonian period. SM
[4] This treaty is seen by Serbian nationalists as the founding document of their aspiring state, which is hardly conducive to the advancement of their people. SM
[5] Psellos fails to mention that this was the monastery attached to the Palace by Michael IV, and that he had been residing there, cut off from politics, since the accession of Katakalon, whom he either feared or hated, by all accounts.
[6] Kabasilas was leading the Varangian Guard, composed of Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian adventurers, together with a few groups of volunteers from the city. SM
[7] According to Psellos, Eudokia herself was the "lowliest harlot", so this damnation of Isaac's ambition is less unequivocal than it might seem at first glance. SM
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OOC: Thank you very much, Rich Rostrom! And ByzantineLover and Miranda Brawner, as well. I've been enjoying this as much as you all seem to be.
 
Chronographia by Michael Psellos
with
Commentary from Prof. Spartacus Mills

Book Seven​

Prologue by Spartacus Mills, PhD (Oxon, Cantab, Otago)

Having dealt with the decline and fall of several rulers whom he detested, Psellos now moves on to the final part of his magnum opus, which deals with the reign of Constantine IX and the beginning of the reign of his son, Leo VII. This Book was written, naturally, during the time that Psellos was serving the family, so instead of his former cynicism and judgemental descriptions of major participants, the Chronogrpahia turns into a dreary sort of description of how brilliant Constantine is. While this Book is far, far longer than the others, I will omit most of the more sycophantic passages and instead concentrate on some of the revealing accounts.

Unfortunately, the narrative is cut short at a rather exciting point by Psellos' own death in 1078, so in my epilogue I shall give the basic outline of how the events of Leo's reign came out, although his successors fall well outside my purview. I recommend the outstanding works of Lord Norwich and, of course, Bury, for any readers who wish to continue the story of the Paphlagonian dynasty into the 12th century.
SPARTACUS MILLS​


The Empire now passed to the Caesar Constantine, who, as I have previously mentioned, was the son of the Doux Niketas and nephew of John the Patriarch, Constantine the Domestic, the Emperor Michael, and Georgios the Protovestarius, who at first was the principal minister of Constantine's advisors, until his death at great age several years after his nephew's accession. Constantine was a learned man, being more interested in philosophical discussions with Xiphilinos, Likhoudes and myself than in feats of arms, which he always found distasteful. Indeed, his first act upon seizing control of the Queen of Cities after Isaac and Katakalon died on the same day was to contest the validity of the Patriarch Theodoros [1] and to replace him with myself, so that I, a great friend of his [2], might officiate at his enthronement. This was done without the interference of Eudokia, the wife of his cousin, who was now confined to a nunnery on a certain island in the Aegean called Lesbos.

[... Psellos continues praising Constantine at length. The only salient fact is that he re-established the University of Constantinople under the tutelage of Constantine Doukas, the orator. SM]

Now, during the time that Eudokia was Empress, she had engaged the military assistance of the barbarian Emperor by proposing that two of his daughters be married to boys of Imperial blood, so as to conjoin their two Houses. In fact, one of these daughters, Maria, had arrived several years before by boat in Constantinople to much fanfare, only to be confused at the sight of the populace in morning. The girl was informed by a kindly retainer that her betrothed, Nikephoros Porphyrogennetos, had died not long before, and that she was advised to return from whence she came lest she share in his fate, for their was no telling how Eudokia and Katakalon might treat her. I gather that she died at about the same time as Constantine was crowned, in her own country.

Constantine, being aware of the necessities of diplomacy, resolved to honour the betrothal contracted for his own son, Leo, with the younger sister of this Maria, and contacted the barbarian Court to ascertain whether this match was still under consideration despite the death or irrelevance of both the Emperor and the Empress who had made the arrangements. Unfortunately, the barbarians were still keen to deliver their whelp to us, and the girl Judith arrived not long after the death of Georgios, who had, like many of the ministers of state, vehemently opposed the match. Seeing the city once more in mourning, the girl feared that she would meet the same disappointment as her sister, but was relieved to hear that Leo had not yet succumbed to the vagaries of old age. [3] Over the next few years, the barbarian and her attendants disseminated hideous practices from her own country, such as picking up meat with the hands and throwing the bones on the floor, and she also had difficulty learning the Greek tongue. Nevertheless, she was adored by the eunuchs, who took it upon themselves to act as fathers for she who had none.

[... Psellos now digresses on his own actions as Patriarch at inordinate length. These actions are uniformly minor and not worth the cost of printing.]

In the military sphere, Constantine made the best of the situation that his predecessors had left him [4] and, although he retained Basil Theodorokanos as Catepan of Italy, he sought to defeat the Normans there by diplomacy rather than sieges. He also sent Frankopoulos and Iasitas to continue the war that Katakalon had begun against the Scythians, and they were eventually successful in subjugating them at an altogether excessive expense to the Treasury more than ten years after the war had begun. In the East, Michael Bourtzes led the defense against a rabble of barbarians [5] but was unable to hold off their depredations, for they gained supremacy over all the gains made by Isaac Komnenos before his rebellion. Thus, Kabasilas, formerly Prefect of the City but now, thanks to his role in the rebellion of Komnenos, consigned to a monastery, was summoned before the Emperor [...this whole segment is rather long-winded, but he upshot is that Kabasilas was apponted to replace Bourtzes but was only mildly successful. SM]

When Constantine was well-established on his throne, and many of the younger members of the Court could not remember a time before his rule, his only daughter, Pulcheria, fell in love with a certain Constantine Diogenes, son of the traitor Romanos, who had been slain by Kabasilas. This Constantine was also the grandson, on his mother's side, of the rebel Alousianos, who had incited the Scythians against Michael the Paphlagonian, and therefore he had always been unwelcome at the Palace, merely for his ancestry, for none knew whether he would inherit the perfidious nature of his ancestors. But Pulcheria came to enjoy the company of this young man, and it was proposed that they wed, in order that the old wounds of the chaos preceding the current reign be mended, for the good of the Empire. Now, the Emperor was displeased that his daughter should marry at all, being a wise and learned man, for he knew the history of Zoe, and that the daughters of Emperors seem to attract only the most egregious social climbers, and he was, in truth, fearful that this man's nature might cause his prospective father-in-law some earthly harm, so he confined Pulcheria to a nunnery and bade her think no more of marriage. Naturally, this displeased both of the young lovers, so it was arranged by certain sympathetic persons [6] that they should have the opportunity to meet at certain times and places, and when the Emperor died, Pulcheria emerged from her pious sojourn without trepidation, and Diogenes was married to her, and also he was made Caesar and placed in command of the Eastern Armies in place of Kabasilas, who was now infirm of body and spirit. Finally, a virile man of noble birth was to command an Army once more!

[...]

In the meantime, Caesar Leo, as he was then, had been married to Judith the barbarian, who was now renamed as Theophano, a name much more musical to the ears of her new people. This marriage was not as peaceful as that of his parents, for Theophano was not only ignorant of the intricacies of our language and customs, but also continually disappointed her husband by producing daughters. First Anastasia was born to equanimity -- except for her grandmother, for whom she was named and who took great delight in becoming a grandmother -- and then Helena and Anna followed to unmasked disappointment, for those of us who still recall the incessant intrigue of the last generation are in no mood for another crisis in the succession. At any rate, I pray that the current pregnancy will produce a son, one born in the purple, though I am all too aware that I may never see him due to my bodily infirmity.

I will conclude by giving a brief account of the reign of Leo. His father died peacefully in his sleep and his son wept openly at his funeral -- and, indeed, his own coronation, for he was a loyal and loving son -- and immediately decided that his reign ought to begin with a military victory, levied as many troops as he could and marched off to join the Caesar Constantine Diogenes, who had, upon his arrival in the East, complained that the heathens were trespassing even unto the borders of Armenia, and must be dissuaded. God willing, Leo will see as many victories as he sees fit, and never forgets the edicts of the Church and the welfare of his people, as all too many of the Emperors I have seen have succumbed to. Perhaps, I hope, the reign of Constantine will, in future, be seen as the start of a new Golden Age in the History of Rome.



Epilogue by Spartacus Mills, PhD (Oxon, Cantab, Otago)

Thus ends one of the more entertaining works of history from the Middle Ages, and it is heart-rending to see its author's life finally give way at such an exciting juncture. On the other hand, it is, perhaps, a blessing that Michael Psellos did not survive to hear of Leo VII's defeat at the hands of the Turks in 1078. While the Turks were unable to consolidate their victory at once, the shame of his defeat fatally weakened Leo's hold on the Empire, and it was all he could do to keep the frontier on the Anti-Taurus Mountains, which had been well behind the border of the Empire since the reign of Michael V. It would be safe to assume that Psellos' disillusionment in this "Golden Age" would be further compounded by the birth in late 1078 of Leo's last daughter, named Eudokia after the former Empress who had died the year before. Empress Theophano-Judith died of puerperal fever barely a month later, and her last sight of her Imperial husband was his departure for the Battle of Lake Van.

If Psellos had known that his protege, Constantine Diogenes, would go on to attempt to overthrow his brother-in-law no less than four times before Leo felt secure enough on his throne to blind the man, he would surely have regretted his efforts to aid the young lover achieve his aims. In short, it was, perhaps, a better thing that Psellos should die before seeing the decline of the Constantinopolitan Empire, that would only be restored in the 1130s, and even then, not to the state which it occupied during the Macedonian and early Paphlagonian dynasties. The men and women brought to life by Psellos may be flawed, and corrupt, and even malevolent, but they show signs of the nobility of character that was lost to the Romans over the next few decades. When Michael IV rose from his deathbed to vanquish the Bulgarians, he was setting an example to all the inheritors of Rome: despite defeats and setbacks, the Empire shall always catch a second wind, and outlast the manifold hordes that assail it. Who now remembers the Pechenegs, or the Lombards, the Serbs or the Turks, except for historians and fringe movements on the periphery of modern politics? And yet, the Romans survive still, not only as an empire or three, but as a state of mind that has taken the world by storm.
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[1] Diligent readers will remember that this process was begun by Isaac, and also that Theodoros was originally appointed by none other than Constantine himself! SM
[2] Constantine does not seem to have particularly favoured Psellos until this point. Indeed, while Constantine was in charge of Constantinople in 1058-1060 Psellos was cowering in a monastery. SM
[3] Leo was at this point eleven years old, so by a process of elimination, this must be one of Psellos' little jokes. SM
[4] Despite Psellos' calumnies, the Army at this point was no more than slightly worse off than it had been under Basil II, being estimated to consist of around 90,000 trained men in tagmata and considerably more thematic troops who could be called up in emergencies. The leadership was usually in the hands of men who had gained their positions by merit rather than birth (a practice Psellos decries) while the frontiers had been secured and extended by such men as Maniakes, Theodorokanos, Karantenos and Komnenos. SM
[5] These barbarians were the Seljuk Turks, who had descended from the steppes and conquered Mesopotamia and were now -- gripped by religious fervour -- seeking to vanquish the Constantinopolitan Empire. SM
[6] i.e. Michael Psellos, Patriarch of Constantinople. SM
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OOC: I hope you all enjoyed that! The thing about using Psellos is that I was always limited to a fifty-year timeframe, which made the whole thing more achievable for someone of my lack of experience at TLs. For my next one, I'm going to use the same sort of style again, with a medieval chronicler and a modern observer, because I enjoy arguing with myself. Thank's for reading my first TL! :)
 
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