Son of the general Constantine Diogenes and a prominent member of the Cappadocian Greek military aristocracy, Romanos rose to fame as a successful Akritai commander, serving in Syria and on the Danubian frontier.

[3] Courageous and generous, but also impetuous, Romanos rose with distinction in the army due to his military talents, and he served in Syria and on the Danubian frontier.

[1] While waiting to receive his sentence from the regent Eudokia Makrembolitissa, he was summoned into her presence and advised that she had pardoned him and that she had furthermore chosen him to be her husband and the guardian of her sons as emperor.

[6] She took this course of action primarily due to her concern that unless she managed to find a powerful husband, she could easily lose the regency to any unscrupulous noble, and also because she was infatuated with the popular Romanos.

[1] Her decision was met with little protest as the Seljuk Turks had overrun much of Cappadocia and had even taken the important city of Caesarea, meaning that the army needed to be placed under the command of an able and energetic general.

[2] After a written oath promising never to remarry, extracted from Eudokia by Constantine X, had been set aside by the Patriarch of Constantinople, John Xiphilinos, and the approval of the senate obtained, on 1 January 1068 Romanos married the empress and was crowned Emperor of the Romans.

[1] Byzantine Empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa was infatuated with Romanos; for according to Attaleiates, “The man not only surpassed others in his good qualities but he was also pleasant to look at in all respects.”[7] He was, however, “very harsh and violent in his judgments,” says Michael the Syrian, and he once ordered the nose of a soldier to be cut off for stealing the donkey of a Muslim after the emperor had given his peace.

[10] I who was present [during an enemy surrender] did not approve of the simplicity of the emperor who mingled without body armour among murderous men who pass their lives in recklessness and madnessRomanos grew contemptuous of the empress Eudokia for trying to control him.

The more she tried to dominate him, to treat him, who was really her master, like a lion in a cage, the more he fretted at her restraining influence and glared at the hand that kept him in check,” writes Psellus, who knew them both.

“To begin with, he growled inwardly, but as time passed his disgust became obvious to everyone[12]Romanos IV was now the senior emperor and guardian of his stepsons and junior co-emperors, Michael VII, Konstantios, and Andronikos Doukas.

[14] By 1067, the Turks had been making incursions at will into Mesopotamia, Melitene, Syria, Cilicia, and Cappadocia, culminating with the sack of Caesarea and the plundering of the Church of St Basil.

His forces, mostly composed of Sclavonian, Armenian, Bulgarian, and Frankish mercenaries, were ill-disciplined, disorganised, and uncoordinated, and he was not prepared to spend time in upgrading the arms, armour, or tactics of the once-feared Byzantine army.

[18] Romanos began marching to the southeastern frontier of the empire to deal with this threat, but as he was advancing towards Lykandos, he received word that a Seljuk army had made an incursion into Pontus and had plundered Neocaesarea.

[19] Returning south, Romanos rejoined the main army, and they continued their advance through the passes of Mount Taurus to the north of Germanicia and proceeded to invade the Emirate of Aleppo.

Here he was advised of another Seljuk raid into Asia Minor in which they sacked Amorium but returned to their base so fast that Romanos was in no position to give chase.

[19] Plans for the following year's campaigning were initially thrown into chaos by a rebellion by one of Romanos' Norman mercenaries, Robert Crispin, who led a contingent of Frankish troops in the pay of the empire.

Possibly due to Romanos not paying them on time,[21] they began plundering the countryside near where they were stationed at Edessa, and attacking the imperial tax collectors.

[21] Desperate to begin his campaign proper, he ordered the execution of all prisoners, even a Seljuk chieftain who offered to pay an immense ransom for his life.

[21] Having brought a measure of peace to the province, Romanos marched towards the Euphrates via Melitene, and crossed the river at Romanopolis, hoping to take Akhlat on Lake Van and thus protect the Armenian frontier.

[21] Romanos placed himself at the head of a substantial body of troops and began his march towards Akhlat, leaving the bulk of the army under the command of Philaretos Brachamios with orders to defend the Mesopotamian frontier.

The fleet was intercepted, however, and defeated by a Norman squadron under the command of Roger, the younger brother of Robert Guiscard,[22] forcing the final remaining outpost of Byzantine authority in Italy to surrender on 15 April 1071.

[26] Early in the spring of 1071, whilst conducting negotiations with Alp Arslan over Manzikert,[26] Romanos marched at the head of a large army with the intent of recovering the fortress.

When Romanos attempted to enforce some stricter discipline, a whole regiment of German mercenaries mutinied, which the emperor only managed to control with the greatest difficulty.

Michael Psellus, who was normally critical, begrudgingly writes, “According to my several informants he actually killed many of them and put others to flight”[37] According to a number of Byzantine historians, including John Skylitzes, Arslan at first had difficulty believing the dusty and tattered warrior brought before him was the Roman emperor.

[24] It is reported that upon seeing the Roman emperor, the sultan leapt from his throne like a mad man, commanded Romanos to kiss the ground, and stepped on his neck.

[46] Before leaving the fortress, he collected all the money he could lay his hands on and sent it to the Sultan as proof of his good faith, along with a message: "As emperor, I promised you a ransom of a million and a half.

[citation needed] The final insult was given a few days before his death, when Romanos received a letter from Michael Psellos, congratulating him on the loss of his eyes.