European Kingdoms

Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire
Ducas / Doukas Dynasty (AD 1059-1081)

Rome Aquitani Tribes Canaanite States Celtic Tribes Classical Colonies Germanic Tribes Iberian Tribes Mesopotamian States Syrian States

From the start, the capital of the newly-created Eastern Roman empire was based at Constantinople, dedicated by Emperor Constantine 'the Great' in AD 330. In AD 395, the Roman empire finally suffered a permanent split, creating formal Eastern Roman and Western Roman empires within Europe and beyond, acknowledging what had existed in practise for many years.

The successful two hundred-year reign of the 'Macedonian Dynasty' by 1025 had restored Constantinople as the dominant power in the Balkans and Near East, with apparently secure frontiers along the Danube, in the Armenian highlands, and beyond the Euphrates. The Romans had also succeeded in exporting Christianity to the Rus.

These success were though a last 'hurrah' for the empire. It had managed to double its shrunken territory under the Macedonians, but the successor 'Non-Dynastic' ruler and then the brief 'Comnenian Prelude' and the 'Dynasty of the Ducas' entirely reversed that positive trend.

Isaac Comnenus had in all fairness embarked on a series of fiscal measures which were designed to shore up revenue and eliminate recent excesses. His foreign policy was looking robust, but he fell ill very soon after gaining the throne, and had to abdicate. Constantinople was soon struggling for its existence. All of its frontiers were breached, nomads began entering Anatolia and the Danube provinces, and the Normans had already seized the empire's Italian territories in Apulia and elsewhere.

Constantine X focussed entirely on finances, even cutting the size of the army to save money. Romanus IV Diogenes led the Eastern Romans to a shocking defeat to the Seljuqs at the Battle of Manzikert in Armenia in 1071. Only the succeeding 'Dynasty of the Comneni' would lead a brief revival and a staunch resistance.

Principal author(s): Page created: Page last updated:

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from the World Heritage Encyclopaedia, from Encyclopaedia of the Roman Empire, Matthew Bunson (1994), and from External Links: History of the Byzantine Empire (Live Science), and The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire, Jonathan Shepard (Ed, Revised Edition, Cambridge University Press, 2008, and available via the Internet Archive), and Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Byzantine Empire, CWC Oman (Fisher Unwin, 1892, and available via Heritage History).)

1059 - 1067

First successor to the Comnenian prelude.

1064

Armenia is conquered by the Seljuq Turks as they begin to invade eastern Anatolia and now directly threaten the Eastern Roman empire. Constantine meanwhile has been focussed on shoring up the empire's finances, even cutting the army to increase revenue.

A stone relief of Seljuq cavalry, which swept through Persia, northern Mesopotamia, Syria, and Anatolia in the eleventh century

1067 - 1078

Son. Acceded aged 14/17. Senior emperor from 1071. Abdicated.

1067 - 1071

Step-father and guardian. Captured.

1071

Having already extended his new empire into western Iran and Mesopotamia, the Seljuq leader Alp Arslan now defeats an immense Eastern Roman army which includes a unit of six hundred Alani, and captures Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes. This victory opens the gates to a large-scale Turkic influx into western Anatolia.

In eastern and central Anatolia, settlements and small domains are set up by the Mangūjakids around Divriği (Tephrike), Erzincan (Keltzine), and Kemah (Camcha) until 1252. The Saltuqids rule Erzurum (Theodosiopolis) until 1201. The Dānishmendids control Sivas, Kayseri (Caesarea Cappadociae), and Amasya (Amaseia) until 1177.

Western Anatolia is the focus of Qutalmïsh and his son, Sulaymān, a distant cousin of soon-to-be 'Great Seljuq', Sultan Malik-Shāh (from 1072). His territory becomes the splinter sultanate of Rum. Initially this remains subservient to the Persian Seljuqs but is always straining against the leash under its leader. Palestine is also conquered.

This colour photochrome print shows a wall in Damascus' defences which is rumoured to be the one over which St Paul escaped in the first century AD

1071

Mother of Michael. Briefly regent. Sent to monastery by John.

1071

Uncle of Michael. Killed Romanus upon release by the Seljuqs.

1071

Following the death of Romanus shortly after his return to Constantinople from Seljuq captivity (at the hands of John Ducas), every general in the empire seems to think the time for rebellion has come.

No less than six pretenders to the throne arise during the next nine years, along with several rebels who take up arms without claiming the imperial title. Large areas of Anatolia have almost been wholly lost and are now irrecoverable. John Ducas quickly loses influence at court and retires to his estates until recalled.

An illustration of a mounted Kipchack warrior, typical of the waves of westward migrants who swept in from the Kazak steppe during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, largely pushed that way by the sudden creation of the Mongol empire

1071

Claimed title. Details unclear.

1073 - 1074

Captured by Roman mercenaries and forced to claim the title.

1074

After their inclusion in the campaigns of 1071, a further six thousand Alani fight for the Eastern Romans against the Normans in Italy. This cooperation lasts only a short time because the Alani are badly paid.

c.1075

Sulaymān of Rum captures Nicaea (İznik) and Nicomedia (İzmit), threatening Constantinople itself around 1075. This prompts Michael VII Ducas, to appeal to Pope Gregory VII for aid against the invaders. Sulaymān's activities also attracted the concern of the 'Great Seljuq' Malik-Shāh, who attempts unsuccessfully to dislodge his kinsman on several occasions.

1076

Former slave, now dux. Rebelled briefly.

1076

Nestor's rebellion is relatively weak. He heads several disaffected garrisons whose troops have not been paid, plus a contingent of Pechenegs. They raid the countryside in Greece before retreating back to Nestor's holdings.

The Pechenegs, mounted, are shown slaughtering the 'skyths' of Svyatoslav I, during the dangerous early years of the Rus when their power was limited - Svyatoslav himself was killed by Pechenegs

1078 - 1081

Court eunuch and usurper. Arrested and abdicated.

1078

Revolted in the Balkans. Blinded.

1078

Supported Bryennius. Revolted. Blinded.

1078

Brother of Michael VII. Lost support. Exiled to a monastery.

1078

Paulian sect leader. Briefly rebelled. Begged forgiveness.

1078

Paulian sect leader. Briefly rebelled. Begged forgiveness.

c.1080

Having made Nicaea his capital and renaming it İznik, Sulaymān now assumes the title 'sultan' of Rum in defiance of 'Great Seljuq' Malik-Shāh, an event which generally is accepted as marking the beginning of independent Seljuq rule in Anatolia. He spends the next few years expanding his holdings to the east and south.

This fourteenth century illustration from the sermon collection of St John Chrysostom (1074-1081) was created during the reign of Emperor Nicephorus III Botaniates, part of a collection of homilies which featured various illustrations, also including images of the emperor himself

1081

A Ducas descendant in 1204 sets up a rival claim from his base in Thessalonica but, in the short term the Ducas dynasty is replaced in power by the far more capable Alexius I of the Comneni following a march on Constantinople and the forced abdication of Nicephorus III.