Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium, Episode 126.

Attract and Repel.

Last time we discussed the rise of Romanus Lecapinos from the pier to the palace and the end

of the wars with Bulgaria which had done so much damage to the European provinces.

As I hinted last episode, the story of Romanus' reign now becomes all about Armenia and the

relentless military campaigns in the mountains. But before we embed ourselves with the armed

forces, we need to deal with one major domestic issue.

According to some reports, the peace deal between Byzantium and Bulgaria that was sealed

in 927 came at just the right time. Because that summer, a plague of locusts appeared and swept

across the Balkans. Farmers cursing their luck settled down for winter, thinking that the worst

was over. But they were wrong. It was a white Christmas that year, but the cold did not

disappear in January, or February, or March. For 120 days there was frost on the ground.

This bitter winter hit the people hard. Humans and animals died from the cold. They died

of starvation. Crops wouldn't grow. The price of food went up and up and up.

At the capital, Romanus had makeshift shelters built to provide some warmth for the poor,

and he distributed money to pay for their provisions, but out in the countryside imperial

generosity was in short supply.

The next couple of harvests were understandably poor, and worrying reports started to trickle

in about how the peasant population of the empire had dealt with the crisis. Facing ruin,

and with mouths to feed, many of the empire's independent farmers had given up their freedom.

They had sold their land to their richer neighbors.

The wealthy magnates had of course survived the crisis better than anyone else. Their diversified

...