Romanos Lekapenos: The Gentle Usurper | Byzantine History
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- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- The Macedonian Dynasty has generally been assessed as the greatest of Byzantium’s ruling houses, but what if I told you that during the rule of the Macedonians there was another dynasty on the throne. A mini-dynasty, if you like. For a quarter-century, the Empire was guided by one of its many usurpers. Now, usurpation was not a novelty in Constantinople, but he stood apart from all those who came before and after him; his rule would lay the foundations for the future successes of the Byzantines and incidentally inspire some of Byzantium’s greatest literary works. As an emperor, his temperament and foresight were truly remarkable, and, over the course of his reign, he would truly deserve his epithet of “the Gentle Usurper”.
Merry Christmas and Happy Saturnalia, folks! We passed 900 subs on Christmas Day, so thanks a lot!
Music used: (In Chronological Order)
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Teller of the Tales by Kevin MacLeod
Curse of the Scarab by Kevin MacLeod
Rites by Kevin MacLeod
Majestic Hills by Kevin MacLeod
What Does Anybody Know About Anything? by Chris Zabriskie
00:00 Intro
00:43 Alexander the not-so Great
02:06 Constantine's Regency
08:11 Romanos Takes Control
10:27 Emperor Romanos
13:57 The War Rumbles On
16:25 Peace with Bulgaria
17:00 War in the East
18:08 Byzantine-Rus War
20:10 Cold Feet
22:51 The Last Lekapenoi
23:48 The Final Years
25:36 Outro
Buzz words for the algorithm :)
history byzantium byzantine macedonian romanos lekapenos roman rome empire constantinople eastern rome constantine rus russian melitene
"my son's suck"
Got me off guard lol
Simeon Tsar of the Bulgarians, Basileus of the Greeks, and the Caliph of Baghdad. Does not sound too bad.
You can never have too many titles.
Merry Christmas! On another note, I was wondering if you have a discord or anything like that to get in contact about a collab of sorts.
Wait he has the title of Baghdad?
Wait how did he get the Baghdad title
Gotta rep my boy Simeon 💪
Except it was just a sass.
It would be really difficult, like having to take Baghdad and convert to Islam for one to become a Caliph…good luck with legitimacy in front of non Muslim vassals.
Wow fascinating fellow, I can't help but like him, he really did his utmost to serve his empire well.
This channel is so underrated and deserves way more
i agree.
If an event in Byzantine history ever got a series, I'd like it to be the reign of Romanos Lekapenos and Constantine the 7th. It could easily work as a drama or comedy.
Tangy
....I
An absurd commedy like the one written by Ionesco : the protagonist wakes up one morning and realises that an unknown dude is sitting on his shoulders. "Please step down ! ": "Impossible ! We are fused into a new bidividual , You and I. From now on, each one of your actions will depend on my will." Romanos Lakapenos success
ively added his four sons , and the five parasites continued to live firmely attached ton the protagonist until Romanos - who was not an emperor but the βασιλεοπατηρ, (having married his daughter Helene to the protagonist) died , liberating Konstantinos VII who finally could reign alone...
Fantastic video, I think Romanos Lekapenos was a great emperor and followed by an equally competant emperor Constantine VII.
Thanks for this. When going through the history of Byzantium podcast. Having learned of Romanos Lekapenos for the first time I found myself cheering for him more than almost any Emperor.
Constatine the seventh had a huge uphill battle
You can play Romanos in CK2, in the 936 bookmark. Unfortunately, the 936 bookmark isn't present in CK3
Aha! Actually, you can play Romanos in CK3 in 867; if you go to the eastern border of the Byzantine Empire (Lykandos in the Duchy of Charsianon) you will find a count-level ruler called Theophylaktos Lekapenos. Theophylact has a son called Romanos at the start date - none other than Emperor Romanos I himself!
@@Serapeum No way, its true! Now to play as that count and make my way to the emperorship ;)
you can use the more bookmarks mod in ck3 to play as him while he's already ruling
Never really moved onto CK3 since i've found about CK2's historical immetsion project (HIP) mod, I love that mod to bits, such an underrated conversion.. Ihaven't played it in a while but im sure there's a bookmark for that era, plus an expanded range from which you can choose precise dates as starting points.
@@strahinjastevic7480I recently discovered HIP and definitely moved back to ck2
I have a lot of respect for anyone who takes this much time to talk about Romanos, one of my favorite emperors. That said, you didn't talk at all about his domestic policies regarding the winter of 927. That feels like a major omission. Otherwise, very good video.
He rarely put a foot wrong, though his efforts to check the rise of the military aristocracy were remarkably toothless.
Lakapenos, born in Laka, is the example of a stupefying sort of gentle but sticky parasitism.
He and his whole genure (4 sons and a daughter he forced Konstantinos to marry) sucked the resources of the amoride Emperor Konstantinos VII for a generation without provoking any reaction from the side of the emperor .
After Romanos Lakapenos' death, everything returned in order and Konstantine could continue and extend his remarcable work solidifying the empire for the future, without further impeachments.
why people always forget that after 927 that the peace treaty was obtained with the frontiers restored to those defined in treaties of 897 and 904. Meaning that Bulgarians werent that deep in Greek territory , the land wasnt reclaimed by Basill the 2nd like most map videos shows
Bulgarians entered Pelloponess south Greece at the time but Bulgarian tsar agreed to free those Greek lands for money so Greeks were paying money to recover their lands
Interesting.
Great work, I love stories about Byzantium. Keep up
I'm enjoying your videos but I'm consistently finding a double lines and audio issues if you proof read your videos you would have one of the best channels around
If it's my earlier videos you've been watching, then yeah... I think I've improved, but I'll try to keep an ear out for them in future
Great Upload.
I love this channel!
I enjoy your channel.
22:21 what a "pointless" act, bringing religious minorities into the true faith to strenghten social cohesion, assimilation and the power of the emperor.
Yes, antagonising the Armenian minority along the fractious borderlands of the Empire was not just morally bankrupt but deeply foolish; the region had always constituted a useful barrier between Byzantium and the Muslim world, and as nominal coreligionists the Armenians were always more likely to lean towards Byzantium for support and friendship. The Byzantines would try a similar policy under Constantine IX a century later, persecuting the Armenian Christians and driving them away from the Empire - making the strategically crucial buffer region in the south Caucasus a hotbed for discontent. Small wonder the Turks overran it as they did.
Romanus was called upon to be a fixer, the original meaning of the Greek word tyrant
Political divisions were reaching what the Greeks called stasis
What we call polarization
The mediator Romanus was supposed to choose between the two sides of those who supported the son of the emperor Leo VI and those who opposed him because he was the product of an illegal fourth marriage
Romanus took advantage of this situation and assumed the power of the emperor in the name of Leos son Constantine VIi
Sad that this really great emperor became so anxious and gloomy in his later years.
For the sake of his reputation it would have been better if he'd died earlier.
I have watch a bunch of your videos. The are very good, except for one thing. You put up text an keep talking without read the full text or give us a minute to read them. Since I do more listening to you then actual watching the videos I miss some of them. I don’t want to miss anything. Just any idea.
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Romanos Lakapenos, the sauging parasite, did not found any dynasty, only impeding Constantinos VII to reign ! What did he achieve ? Did he found any church, academy. As a former Dux of the navy, did he realise any victory against the muslims in the mediterranean, the Petcheneggs, the B'lgurs ? Nothing of that sort, out of making his own genure occupying some enriching office of the palatial administration ? His only title of respect, is not to have killed Constantinos VII !