Table of Contents

Preface

Maps
Genealogies

Introduction: The Byzantine Empire in the Tenth Century
Romanía
Imperial governance
The army and war
Landed aristocracy
Anatolian magnates

Part I: CONQUEST AND CONSOLIDATION

"Avengers of Rome": The First Phase of Conquest in the East (955-963)
The cast of the conquest: The final years of Konstantinos VII (d. 959)
Turning the tide in the southeast
Southern Italy
A smooth succession: Romanos II
The conquest of Crete
The conquest of Cilicia (phase I)
The rise of Phokas

"The White Death of the Saracens": Nikephoros II Phokas (963-969)
The new regime
Failure in Sicily
The conquest of Cilicia (phase II) and Cyprus
The annexation of Taron
Declining popularity
Tension with Bulgaria
Tension in Italy with the German empire
Military victory, political failure: the final years

"A Mind Full of Cares, Brave in Danger": Ioannes I Tzimiskes (969-976)
The new regime
The defeat of the Rus' and Bulgaria
Eastern incursions: toward a new balance of power
An otherwise obscure reign

"From Spectator to Contestant": Basil II (976-1025), Part I
The new regime
The first rebellion of Bardas Skleros
The foreign policy of Lakapenos and Phokas, 979-985
The fall of Lakapenos and the rebellion of Phokas and Skleros

"Guarding the Children of New Rome": Basil II (976-1025), Part II
From status quo to peace in the east, 990-1001
The war against Bulgaria, 991-1003
The emperor and the "aristocracy"

"No One Ever Saw My Spear at Rest": Basil II (976-1025), Part III
The missing decade and conquest of Bulgaria, 1004-1018
Monitoring Aleppo, 1000-1025
The war with Abkhazia-Kartli and the last rebellion, 1021-1022
The apogee of Byzantine Italy
The end of an era

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS: THE AGE OF CONQUEST


PART II: NEW ENEMIES AND THE RETURN OF POLITICS

"Intrigues of the Women's Quarters": From Macedonians to Paphlagonians
Konstantinos VIII (1025-1028)
Romanos III Argyros (1028-1034): The same insecurity
The debacle at Aleppo and the capture of Edessa
Diplomacy and dynastic instability
Michael IV (1034-1041): Family rule
Frontier integrity
The conquest, and loss, of Sicily
The Bulgarian revolt
The dramatic fall of Michael V (1041-1042)

"No Less Laws than Arms": Konstantinos IX Monomachos (1042-1055), Part I
Enter the Normans
1043: Trial by fire
Domestic initiatives (phase I)
The annexation of Ani
Enter the Pechenegs - the revolt of Tornikios

"Squaring the Circle": Konstantinos IX Monomachos (1042-1055), Part II
Enter the Seljuks - the Pecheneg wars
Domestic initiatives (phase II)
Italy on the brink and the Schism of 1054
Coping with new challenges

"With Sword Drawn": It All Comes to a Head, 1055-1059
Theodora (1055-1056)
Michael VI (1056-1057)
Isaakios I Komnenos (1057-1059): Fiscal reforms and the fall of Keroularios
Barbarians of the east and west

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS: THE RETURN OF MULTI-POLARITY


PART III: COLLAPSE

"The Agony of a Virulent Poison": The Road to Mantzikert, 1059-1071
Konstantinos X Doukas (1059-1067): Domestic mispriorities
Frayed frontiers: Seljuks and Oghuz
The end of Byzantine Italy
Eudokia and the succession: Romanos IV Diogenes (1068-1071)
Chasing Turks
Mantzikert
Civil war

"Squeezed by the Pangs of Death": The Empire on the Verge, 1071-1081
Michael VII Doukas (1071-1078): The new regime
The state of the provinces
A Norman statelet in Asia Minor
Breakdown
Nikephoros III Botaneiates (1078-1081)

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS: IMPERIAL COLLAPSE


EPILOGUE

A Byzantine History of the First Crusade
Crusading in broader perspective
The making of a surrogate Byzantine army
Restoring the Roman east

Guide to the ten most important narrative sources
Glossary

Bibliography

Index of Persons and Places

Restoring the Roman east