So I'm listening to the History of Byzantium, and it's clear that Romanos II, who died at the tender age of 24, could easily have survived whatever disease that killed him. At the time Syria was on its knees- Phokas had sacked Aleppo that year and quite plausibly could have completed a reconquest of Syria given a year or three without distraction of the succession crisis. Moreover if Basil II stays Basil II, him coming to power in his thirties or fifties on the tail end of his father's successful reign could leave the Empire easily as strong as OTL. In addition to Syria I could easily imagine a reconquest of Sicily. Moreover the Fatimids are historically rather underwhelming....
Could the Empire use this period to reconquer the east, or at least hold on to the OTL Basil empire plus Syria and Sicily?
This is overall an interesting scenario. I'd argue that Romanos definitely needs to stay on the right side of Phokas and Tzimiskes (which means not provoke them unduly, and perhaps allow them triumphs when the occasion calls for it). Otherwise we are looking at some sort of civil war down the road-the dynatoi were strong enough to be a threat to Constantinople as the two Bardas' demonstrated in Basil II's early reign OTL. The trajectory of the Empire would not change overmuch in the near future if there is a civil war-less of the Balkans may be conquered and expansionist energy may dissipate (especially if the Macedonians are defeated and are followed by a succession of weak rulers as OTL 11th century). This situation will likely not be very interesting, and start mirroring OTL dramatically when a real threat (some Central Asian nomad group shows up).
If Romanos can however strike a balance and lets his generals do their thing (with just enough constraints to prevent them from getting too big for their non-purple boots but not too much to antagonize them unduly), then the Empire is probably looking at some good times. The Levantine coast should be conquerable in anything between a three to eight year timescale (lets go with 5). The interior is harder, but not impossible if more tribes like the OTL
Banu Habib were brought into the Imperial fold as sort of foderati.
Egypt is the wildcard here-it is particularly weak in this period, and the Fatimids were trying to conquer it for themselves in the late 960s. If the Levantine conquest finishes fast enough TTL and the new region does not make too much trouble, I could see the Empire launching a major naval invasion into the delta and likely succeeding (if it is timed right to coincide after a failed Fatimid attempt weakening Egypt or so). By the time Romanos is done (say 980s or so), the Empire would likely have reconquered the Levant and the Nile delta. Anything beyond is harder to predict (though Northern Mesopotamia should not be ignored, but it will require diverting resources from another campaign). This all also requires relative stability on the northern front, but I don't see the Bulgarians having the ability to make too much trouble without an Emperor inviting in the Rus and revealing what a paper tiger the Bulgarians were. If something like this happens----likely goodbye Egypt, and maybe gain some more Balkan lands. The Anatolian generals may want to fight in the east, but Romanos might see a Balkan campaign as a chance to clip their wings a bit etc.
Sicily will be a tough nut though, judging from all the failed tenth century attempts. It would ironically become easier picking if the Fatimids are far off in Egypt and not ready to support their formerly nearby vassals. It is not impossible, but it will likely become easier to crack over time. Southern Italy itself perhaps is more likely to see campaigns-with the HRE rising at this time etc. That would likely be an interesting situation.
Basil II is almost certainly guaranteed to not be anything like OTL Basil II here. However that might be for the best if it means he actually marries and has kids (who are married before they get too old etc etc).
