Certainty: 3 Sale of kellia on Athos to Xylourgou. The executors of the late Demetrios Chalkeus' testament, Symeon Polites hegoumenos of Theotokos and Theoktistos hegoumenos of Esphigmenou, sold the kellia on Athos belonging to Chalkeus to Theodoulos, hegoumenos of Xylourgou, before 12 witnesses
Certainty: 2 First Syrian campaign of Romanos III: Konstantinos Karantenos sent to succeed Spondyles. After Byzantine failures in Syria, Romanos III sent his brother-in-law Konstantinos Karantenos with a well-equipped force to Berroia (Aleppo) ahead of himself, to inspect the access routes and inflict harm upon the Syrians without entering battle against them. He later removed the unsuccessful Michael Spondyles from the office of Doux of Antioch and gave that title to Konstantinos
Certainty: 2 Queen Mariam of Georgia visited Constantinople, seeking peace & a marriage alliance. Maria, the widow of Abasgia's ruler Georgi, sued Romanos III for peace and a marriage-alliance for her son Bagrat. She and the katholikos and several other nobles visited Constantinople
Certainty: 3 Donation of Bouleuteria to Lavra. Athanasios drafted and signed his testament, bequeathing the monastery of Bouleuteria to Lavra, declaring that Lavra had paid for Bouleuteria's buildings and vineyards, and requesting in exchange that he be maintained at Lavra's expense until his death. The testament was signed and witnessed by Antonios, the hegoumenos of Hagios Georgios, by the monks Athanasios and Damianos, and by Georgios, monk and oikonomos
Certainty: 3 Athanasios of Bouleuteria joined Lavra. Athanasios II, hegoumenos of the Lavra, issued a document to Athanasios, hegoumenos of Bouleuteria, giving him membership in the Lavra and allowing him to reside either there or at Bouleuteria and to keep his 3 servants, horse and boat, and providing him annually with food supplies and money until his death. This was signed by 15 other members of the Lavra community
Certainty: 3 Terrible omen of wailing voice in Thrakesion. No persons mentioned
Certainty: 2 Romanos III set out from Constantinople on a punitive expedition against Aleppo. Romanos III thought the barbarians to the West nothing great, and that it would not be a great achievement even if he easily vanquished them. But he thought if he turned successfully against those to the East, he could thereby behave haughtily and conduct imperial affairs in a grandiose way. Fabricating a non-existent pretext for war, he assembled and marshalled his entire army against the Saracens who inhabit Koile Syria. Some say that he aimed to punish the rulers of Aleppo for their victories over Roman forces
Certainty: 2 Romanos III sent an envoy to Aleppo, offering rewards for the surrender of the city. He sent an envoy to Aleppo, warning its young rulers (Nasr and Thimal, sons of Salih) of the dangers of their position, and promising them lands and money in return for the surrender of Aleppo
Certainty: 3 Document of patriarch Alexios Stoudites, confirming Synod of 1028 on Jacobite patriarch. Patriarch Alexios Stoudites published the synodal decision on the Jacobite patriarch and bishops, together with the list of signatories
Certainty: 2 Troops for Syrian campaign gathered at Philomelion. On his campaign against Aleppo, Romanos III reached Philomelion, where his troops were gathering. The more inexperienced of his generals expected an easy victory
Certainty: 2 Peace embassy from Aleppo rejected (at Philomelion?) by Romanos III. The brother rulers of Aleppo, Nasr and Thimal, both sent presents to Romanos III before he set out from Constantinople, but they reached him when he was on the march, apparently at Philomelion. Because of the overconfidence of some of his commanders, he refused to accept the presents
Certainty: 2 The rulers of Aleppo welcomed Romanos' ambassador but detained him. Romanos' ambassador arrived in Aleppo, warning the rulers of the danger of losing the city to their enemies and promising them lands and money in exchange for Aleppo. The brothers came out of the city to welcome him honourably, but then detained him, anxious for the outcome of their own proposals sent with Muqallad
Certainty: 2 Romanos (around Antioch) received similar proposals from Aleppo & Tripoli. Nasr and Thimal, rulers of Aleppo, had sent their cousin Muqallad to reinforce their offer of allegiance and military assistance to Romanos III, near Antioch. Almost identical proposals arrived at the same time from Hassan ibn al-Mufarrij. Romanos also heard from Aleppo that the ambassador he had sent there before leaving the capital had been welcomed, but then detained by the brother rulers
Certainty: 2 Romanos III detained an Aleppan envoy, but encouraged Hassan ibn al-Mufarrij. Romanos reacted badly to news of the imprisonment of his envoy in Aleppo. In turn, he detained Muqallad ibn Kamil, envoy of the Aleppan rulers, as well as the previous envoy who had brought gifts. By contrast he sent an imperial standard to Hassan ibn al-Mufarrij (Pinzarach), planning joint military action
Certainty: 3 Romanos made a splendid entry into Antioch. After enrolling bowmen from the monasteries of the Black Mountain, Romanos arrived in Antioch, with imperial pomp and theatrical display unlikely to impress the enemy. He camped between the two rivers
Certainty: 3 Romanos III left Antioch towards Aleppo. Romanos II camped for seven days outside Antioch and then marched towards Aleppo. However, his army was badly affected by the hot weather
Certainty: 2 Victory of Romanos III in a skirmish against Nasr, ruler of Aleppo. When the brother rulers of Aleppo had sent their womenfolk and valuables for safety into the desert, Thimal returned to Aleppo to prepare the defence while Nasr moved out to meet Romanos III. He launched an attack on the Byzantine army near Qaybar, an ambush with light-armed daredevils sweeping down screaming from the heights, but was defeated
Certainty: 2 Romanos fortified a camp near Tubbal in the territory of 'Azaz. After the victory of his army over the ambush of Nasr, ruler of Aleppo, he encamped near Tubbal in the territory of 'Azaz by a mountain at a waterless place. He had a ditch dug around the camp which he fortified, and sent a contingent to assess the situation at 'Azaz itself
Certainty: 3 Capture of Leon Choirosphaktes while scouting & rout of Konsantinos Dalassenos. The scouting mission was entrusted to Leon Choirosphaktes, to see whether the camp should be moved. But Leon was captured in a sudden attack by the Arabs. Romanos next sent Konstantinos Dalassenos to face the attacking Arabs. To the consternation of the ambitious emperor, Konstantinos was routed, fleeing towards Antioch
Certainty: 2 Arab massacre of Romanos III's army near 'Azaz?. Most sources present the fighting near 'Azaz as a massacre of Romanos III's massive forces by a small Arab army, which lost him all the imperial treasures. He was forced to return to Constantinople and never leave it again as head of an army. This story is told most forcibly by Aristakes. However Yahya (writing from a close vantage-point in Antioch), seems to argue against this account, claiming that, despite the confusion and loss of baggage, the cost in lives was slight. The dating information from different sources is extensive, but seems to use at least two different frameworks, which have not been reconciled here
Certainty: 2 Romanos was only saved by a cavalryman putting him on his horse, so he could flee. His ambitious plans of conquest were dashed when his guard was thrown into confusion and deserted him, so that he became almost paralysed with fear and nearly fell into enemy hands. A cavalryman saved the emperor by putting him on his horse and telling him to flee. As the horse took him away from the fighting, he came to a ridge and was seen, becoming a focus for fugitives
Certainty: 2 Heroic struggle of one of the palace eunuchs to save his own part of the army's baggage. A Byzantine eunuch saw the Arabs making off with with his possessions from the camp near 'Azaz, succeeding through great motivation where the whole army failed. Disregarding his personal safety through love of money, he charged the enemy, hit one with an arrow and drove the rest away, recovering his baggage
Certainty: 3 Byzantines besieged by Arabs in their waterless camp. The spot Romanos had chosen was not well supplied with water. During the unsuccessful actions of Leon Choirosphaktes and Konatantinos Dalassenos, the Arabs boldly surrounded the camp, making it very difficult for Romanos and his men to find food, and especially water, for themselves and their animals
Certainty: 3 Romanos burned his siege-engines to retreat, but changed his mind & stayed. He realised that this was not the right season for an attack on Aleppo, so he set fire to his siege engines preparatory to a retreat. However at that moment he changed his mind and decided to persist in the campaign
Certainty: 3 Byzantine retreat in confusion to Antioch with few casualties but much booty left for Arabs. He finally took a definitive decision to retreat. In the confusion he was left with very few troops and fell into danger. He took courage from the standard of the Theotokos, which he greeted with great emotion. His high hopes were dashed though and his own tent, full of imperial weralth, ravaged. He barely escaped to Antioch and went thence back to Constantinople
Certainty: 3 The Parthenon inscriptions record the death on August 13 of Michael, metropolitan of Athens. The Parthenon inscriptions record the death on August 13 of Michael, metropolitan of Athens
Certainty: 3 Romanos remained near Antioch some 40 days, then returned to Constantinople. Romanos feared some incident because of his long absence from Constantinople. He therefore set off for home 40 days after re-entering Rum territory
Certainty: 2 Diplomatic negotiations at Antioch after the battle. As he retreated homewards past Antioch, he received a letter from Nasr of Aleppo and representations on Nasr's behalf from the envoy he had sent to Aleppo and Niketas of Mistheia, the doux of Antioch. Nasr asked to be appointed as the imperial representative to govern Aleppo, as in the days of Basileios II and Konstantinos VIII
Certainty: 2 Commanders named to continue war in Syria after Romanos returned home. As Romanos left for the capital, he appointed Niketas of Mistheia as doux of Antioch and Symeon the protovestiarios as domestikos of the scholai. They were left with the army after Romanos' departure, to continue the war against Aleppo. In particular, they should attack Nasr ibn Musharraf's fort of Menikos, to save Syria from his raids
Certainty: 2 Castle-building in northern Syria. Nasr ibn Musharraf decided to build a castle at Bikisra'il, but was evicted by a Roman force, which erected a strong fort. Nasr, however, continued his attacks. Forts were also built by the Banu al-Ahmar and the Banu Ghannaj; finally Ibn al-Kashih followed their example and also built a fort, as did Ibn al-Ahmar at Balatunus
Certainty: 2 Byzantine fortress of Bikisra'il (against al-Maniqa) was captured through lack of water. The Byzantine governor of Bikisra'il neglected its water supply, then employed an Arab who turned out to be a spy of Nasr ibn Musharraf. The Byzantine garrison gradually ran out of water, and the spy informed Ibn Musharraf at the key moment; he attacked Bikisra'il and captured it, thus earning great renown from the Caliph al-Zahir and other Muslim leaders
Certainty: 2 Romanos III, after returning home, wrote to encourage Hassan ibn al-Mufarrij. After he reached Constantinople after the Syrian campaign, he wrote to Hassan (Pinzarach) to explain his sudden departure, due to the summer heat and lack of water, and urge him to remain loyal. However the messenger was delayed and only delivered the letter to Hassan at al-Samawa near Palmyra
Certainty: 2 Muslim coalition to attack Maraqiyya, which was saved by Niketas of Mistheia. At the instigation of Nasr ibn Musharraf, Ibn al-Jarrah of Tripoli and the qadi of Tripoli laid siege to Maraqiyya, with Nasr's aid. But the new doux of Antioch, Niketas of Mistheia, as soon as he arrived in post, marched to relieve Maraquiyya, and the attackers withdrew. Niketas repaired the fortifications and strengthened the garrison
Certainty: 2 Nasr & Thimal ibn Salih, brother-rulers of Aleppo, disagreed: Thimal lost & was driven out. As the two bother-rulers of Aleppo were returning their womenfolk and valuables to the city after the campaign of Romanos III, Nasr was able to occupy the citadel and exclude Thimal. The latter was granted Rahba, Balis and Manbij with their territories
Certainty: 2 Deception & massacre of Arabs by Georgios Maniakes at Telouch. Georgios Maniakes, strategos of Telouch, was wrongly told by a band of Arabs that Romanos III had been captured. They ordered him to surrender Telouch and he pretended to acquiesce, sending them plentiful supplies, including wine. The next day, when they had drunk and fallen asleep, he killed them all. He captured 280 of their supply-laden camels and cut the Arabs' ears and noses off. These he took and presented to Romanos, who had fled to Cappadocia and was staying at Phokas' house. Romanos then appointed him katepano of lower Media
Certainty: 2 Hassan ibn al-Mufarrij & Rafi', narrowly defeated by al-Dizbiri, were driven from their homes. Hassan ibn al-Mufarrij, when he received the imperial strandard sent by Romanos III, boasted that he would soon conquer his enemies' lands with the emperor's help. Rafi' ibn Abi l-Layl's properties had been appropriated by the Maghrebins, and so he joined Hassan in an attack on al-Dizbiri, near Bostra. They were initially successful, but were eventually forced to flee to a camp in the desert. Hassan's properties too were subsequently taken by the Maghrebins and granted to their Arab allies
Certainty: 2 Ransom of Leon Choirosphaktes, prisoner from battle of 'Azaz. Leon Choirosphaktes was ransomed by Romanos III and returned home
Certainty: 2 Tonsure of Prousianos & Konstantinos Diogenes, held for sedition. Maria, the wife of Ioannes Vladislav of Bulgaria, was transferred from the monastery of Mantineion to Thrakesion. Her son Prousianos was willingly tonsured and Konstantinos Diogenes, father of Romanos IV, was released from incarceration and tonsured at the Stoudios monastery
Certainty: 3 Donation of land to Iakobos of Theotokos Strobilaia by Gabriel & Ignatios of kyr Nikolaos Hesychast. Gabriel and Ignatios, hegoumenoi of kyr Nikolaos Hesychast on Athos, donated a piece of land to Iakobos, hegoumenos of Theotokos Strobilaia on Athos and his monastery, for building cells. They had Antonios, monk and presbyter of Athos, draft a document to that effect. They made their sign of the cross on this document, which was also signed by seven other Athonite monks
Certainty: 3 Campaign of Symeon protovestiarios & Niketas of Mistheia ended in the capture of 'Azaz. Niketas of Mistheia captured 'Irqa with many prisoners, burning the town, then destroyed the village of Kurin, whose people had raided Roman territory. He then returned to Antioch. From there, he joined Symeon the protovestiarios in a siege of 'Azaz, which they captured. They avoided attacking the inhabitants, who had taken refuge in a valley nearby, as a sign of friendship towards Nasr of Aleppo, who had offered his loyalty
Certainty: 1 Michael Psellos (aged 12) was helped by his mother's questions & company when he studied late. Michael Psellos was asked daily questions by his mother Theodote, confirming his memory by having him tell her what he had learned, and staying up late with him as he struggled with his work. He felt the debt to her, which he had no way of repaying, and he thought that his father was similarly obligated to her as his collaborator and helpmate, the chief source of goodness in his life. Psellos found his father a good companion and useful role-model, but not intimidatingly good like his mother. Theodote interceded for him with the Theotokos, winning him divine favour. But she also began to see her family as a trap to keep her out of the monastery. Around this age Psellos first met Konstantinos Leichoudes
Certainty: 1 Building work at Hagia Sophia, Blachernai & Peribleptos. Romanos III, envious of Solomon and Justinian and consumed by mad desire, spent vast amounts of money on building programmes. He renovated the great church of Hagia Sophia and the church of the Virgin at Blachernai, under whose plaster was found a 300-year-old icon of the Theotokos. He bought the house of Triakontaphyllos and turned it into a monastery. He used these programmes as an excuse to oppress his subjects
Certainty: 1 Zoe made advances to Michael (IV); Ioannes (orphanotrophos) encouraged him to respond. Ignored now by Romanos III, Zoe fell in love with Michael (IV), the attendant of the bedchamber, and began to cultivate Michael's eunuch brother, Ioannes the orphanotrophos. She would insert into irrelevant conversations suggestions that Michael should pluck up courage and visit her. Ioannes realised the opportunity, and told Michael to reciprocate to any advances from the empress. She gave Michael opportunities to show affection, which he did, with increasing skill and confidence, kising and embracing her. Both his initial modesty and later boldness attracted Zoe, and ended in lovemaking, in which she felt great passion, while he was fired more by ambition
Certainty: 0 Romanos III appointed Michael (IV) as epi tou Pantheou.
Certainty: 1 Zoe's affair with Michael (IV) flourished & all but Romanos knew of it. The affair between Zoe and Michael (IV) was known to everybody in the palace, except, apparently, Romanos III - though it was said that he accepted this great passion of Zoe's to avoid other minor infidelities (cf rumours about Konstantinos Artoklines, who would be removed from the palace by Michael IV). The lovers were caught sharing the same bed, causing Michael great embarassment, but boasting from Zoe. Her ardour was increased by a desire to conceive a child, unlikely in one of her age. She dressed him in golden imperial robes and insignia and they played at sitting on the throne. When an elderly courtier was scandalised by this, Zoe told him to attach himself to Michael, as he was already de facto emperor, and would soon become so de iure
Certainty: 0 Michael Psellos' elder sister failed to reform a prostitute & gave birth with difficulty. Michael Psellos' elder sister turned into a beauty with a strong moral sense, just like her mother Theodote, and at marriageable age attracted many suitors. Michael was a close companion and confidant. She tried to reform a prostitute, at first with no success, as the girl had no other source of income. Then she offered to provide all her necessities (and some luxuries) if she stopped her trade. They agreed on this, and the girl became the opposite of her former self, especially over jewelry and shoes. Her reformer's investment in her improvement made her unpopular in her own family, because she was spending its resources. She smiled and ignored the criticism. However, before the prostitute's new way of life had become habitual, backsliding began, and she returned to prostitution, without this change becoming apparent to Psellos' sister, who remained loving and helpful. The girl became pregnant and was present at the birth of Psellos' sister's child, causing medical problems, as women giving birth should avoid contact with the pregnant. When she was banished, the birth ended successfully, though the revelation of failure in reform was as painful as childbirth. The child preserved a picture of her mothers great beauty (therefore a girl?)
Certainty: 0 Prodromos of Galeagra bequeathed to monk Loukas by its hegoumenos Kallinikos.
Certainty: 0 Hegoumenos Petros of Kyparissiou appoints in his will his spiritual son Markos as his successor. The hegoumenos Petros of Kyparissiou wrote and signed his will, in which he appointed his spiritual son Markos hegoumenos and lord of the monastery of Theotokos tou Kyparissiou
Certainty: 0 Metochion of Melissourgeion granted by Eustratios of Gomatou to Tornikios Kontoleon, or by Iveron to Kontoleon's father?. Eustratios, hegoumenos of Gomatou (Chalkidike) issued an exchange deed granting to Tornikios Kontoleon the metochion of Melissourgeion; the deed was signed by the following Athos monks as witnesses: Athanasios, hegoumenos of Vatopedi; Dionysios, hegoumenos of Glossion; Eustratios, hegoumenos of Panteleemon; Georgios II, hegoumenos of Iveron; Leontios, monk of Kalyka; Michael, protos of Athos; Paulos, hegoumenos of Mylonas; Theodoulos, monk; and Theopistos, monk. In a trial in 1049, when all the above had died, one party would claim that this grant was given unconditionally by Eustratios to Tornikios, while the other would say that Melissourgeion, already given to Iveron, was granted by the monastery to Tornikios' father for his lifetime only
Certainty: 0 Exchange of land at Karyes for right to use a mill. Andreas, hegoumenos of Hagios Nikolaos of Raches on Athos gave Dionysios, another Athonite monk, some land belonging to the Karyes lavra, in order to build cells. Dionysios in exchange was to allow Andreas to grind his monastery's corn at his mill; but Dionysios so neglected the mill that it became useless
Certainty: 0 Eustathios Romaios was given a minor's inheritance to guard, & placed it in a church. Anthimos the primikerios left a sakellarios as epitropos in his will, in which he made a bequest to his nephew, who was under age at the time of his uncle's death. Thus the sakellarios did not give him the money, but lent it out and gave him the interest. Later he felt increasingly nervous about lending out the legacy, so he asked Eustathios Romaios to help. The latter accepted the money, sealed it and deposited it for safe keeping in a church, praising the prudence of the epitropos
Certainty: 0 Nasr the patrikios admitted to a frivolous promise of an extra dowry; after his death, his wife tried to impugn the witnesses. Nasr the patrikios made an agreement to increase a dowry, and was sued by the other party. He admitted the deal, but claimed it was rather frivolous and inappropriate. After his death his wife was also sued, and vainly attacked the credibility of the witnesses
Certainty: 0 Lazaros of Galesion established himself on his second pillar, at Theotokos. After twelve years at the Saviour, he moved up the gorge to the pillar of Theotokos. He had reprimanded a monk for throwing away the skin of a fruit, and the monk in turn accused the widow Eirene from Ephesos of harming the brothers, so she was banished from the mountain, to her great distress. He ordered a monk to cut down a wild olive tree up the gorge and make an unroofed column like the one he used. He then slipped up to the new pillar (of Theotokos) overnight, blessing the monks who gathered in the morning. By his prayers he drove away stone-throwing demons, and the devil in the form of a snake twining around his feet to frighten him. He organised and greatly increased monastic activity on Galesion
Certainty: 0 Lazaros of Galesion: disputes over asceticism. Lazaros had been hanging his feet through a hole, in imitation of an ascetic woman of whom he had heard, despite the criticism of his mother (who had been tonsured) and the brothers. For this he was reprimanded for extreme asceticism by a monk newly arrived from the west; he withdrew his feet. He also warned another newly-arrived monk not to leave the mountain, but pardoned him when he returned after eating meat. Lazaros often poked a young fellow-monk Neilos, for falling asleep (in church?). When he realised that his action distressed Neilos, he gave the young man a reed pole to poke Lazaros himself when he dozed. But when Neilos was about to use the pole, he was prevented by another monk called Lazaros. He was so angry at this that he struck the second Lazaros with the pole
Certainty: 0 Lazaros of Galesion: learning about the stories of his birth. Gregorios the cellarer, author of the Vita of Lazaros of Galesion, was able to gain information from Leontios, the husband of the midwife who had delivered Lazaros. Leontios informed him of all that he had been told by his wife about the birth of Lazaros and other events of his childhood up to his departure for the Holy Land