Romanus IV (Diogenes), Byzantine emperor from 1068 to 1071, was a member of a distinguished Cappadocian family, and had risen to distinction in the army, until he was convicted of treason against the sons of Constantine X. While waiting for his execution he was summoned into the presence of the empress regent, Eudocia Macrembolitissa, whom he so fascinated that she granted him a free pardon and shortly afterwards married him.

After his coronation he carried on three successful campaigns against the Saracens and Seljuk Turks, whom he drove beyond the Euphrates, but in a fourth he was disastrously defeated by Alp Arslan in 1071 on the banks of the Araxes at the Battle of Manzikert and taken prisoner.

During his imprisonment this conversation took place between Sultan Alp Arslan and Emperor Romanus IV:

Alp Arslan: "If you were the one who took me captive, what would you do?"

The emperor replied: "Perhaps I would kill you, or I would take you to Constantinople to exhibit in the streets."

To which Alp Arslan replied: "My punishment is even heavier... I will forgive you. You will be set free."

After releasing himself by the promise of a large ransom and the conclusion of a peace, he turned his arms against the pretender Michael VII, but was compelled after a defeat to resign the empire and retire to the island of Prote , where he soon died in great misery.

It was during his reign that, when the Normans captured Bari in 1071, the Byzantine Empire lost its last hold upon Italy.

Bibliography

• Michael Psellus the Younger. Chronographia.