Romanos III Argyros

   Emperor (q.v.) from 1028-1034, succeeding Constantine VIII (q.v.). He held the prestigious office of eparch of the city (q.v.), and by marrying Constantine VIII's daughter Zoe (q.v.) he established a connection with the Macedonian dynasty (q.v.). His reign is generally counted a disaster. He abandoned Basil II's (q.v.) policy of requiring the dynatoi (q.v.) to pay additional taxes for peasant holdings by rescinding the allelengyon (q.v.). He lavished money on church construction, including the Peribleptos Monastery and the church at Blachernai in Constantinople (qq.v.), both of which he paid for out of state funds. His humiliating defeat before Aleppo (q.v.) in 1030 only added to the general feeling of dissolution about his reign. Zoe and others conspired to drown him in 1034.