Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium. Episode 179, where were we?

We started the last century back in 912 AD with an episode entitled A Roman Story. That

episode covered the events which saw Leo VI pass away, leaving an infant Constantine VII to be

fought over by various competing interests. The patriarch, the Empress, court-unus, the army,

finally the matter was decided by the admiral of the fleet, Romanus Lecabinos. He became Emperor

and Guardian to young Constantine, and only the popularity and the legitimacy of the Macedonian

dynasty saved young Constantine from being erased from the picture altogether. And the reason I

called it a Roman story was to emphasize the fact that a traditional monarchy did not really

exist in Byzantium. Blood counted for a lot, but at the end of the day the Imperial office was

just that, an office whose holder could emerge through a number of mechanisms. The support of the

court was vital, but so was the church, the army, the people all had to say in who ruled.

And this hangover from the fate of Julius Caesar, this unwillingness to have a king whose

descendants would rule forever, left by Byzantium always with a crowded and complicated political scene.

This continued throughout our past century of narrative. Romanus's sons would have killed Constantine

if they weren't afraid of being torn to pieces by the mob. Their own sister helped kick them out

the door so that her husband could rule alone. Constantine worked hard to ensure that his son

wouldn't have to go through the ordeal that he'd suffered, but cruel fate killed off his son

unexpectedly, leaving his grandsons, basil the second and Constantine the eighth, to relive his

childhood all over again. First came the squabbling at court, then the takeover, first by

Nysephara's focus, and then John Zemiskees. This was the norm for Byzantine political life.

Zemiskees butchered his own uncle, a war hero and pious emperor who had done so much to secure

the empire's borders. And what did the people do? They shrugged. And what did the court do?

...