Romanos IV Diogenes

   Emperor (q.v.) from 1068-1071. He is remembered for losing the battle of Mantzikert to Alp Arslan (qq.v.) in 1071, one of the most famous of Byzantine defeats, one that opened up Asia Minor to Seljuk (qq.v.) expansion. Romanos also failed to properly defend Bari (q.v.), which fell to the Norman Robert Guiscard (qq.v.) in 1071, completing the Norman conquest of Byzantine Italy (q.v.). Taken captive at the battle of Mantzikert, Romanos was released only after making a treaty with Alp Arslan that promised an annual tribute and a personal ransom. However, upon reaching Byzantine territory he was deposed and blinded by palace conspirators. Mantzikert exposed the failure of Byzantium to defend its borders after the death of Basil II (q.v.) in 1025. Basil II's aggressive expansionism had to be discarded as impractical, but his professionalization of the army might have been continued. In any case, undisciplined rag-tag armies that mixed conscripts from the themes (q.v.) with unreliable mercenaries were not the answer.