Book three notes
29. Romanus's greatgrandfather, Romanus Argyropoulus, had married a daughter of Romanus Lecapenus. Constantine's grandfather, Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, had also married a daughter of the same emperor. Thus Zoe and Romanus were distantly related.
30. Basil I, emperor from 867 to 886.
31. Zoe was forty-eight. She had been born in 980.
32. Among other measures designed to relieve financial distress he abolished the allelengyon imposed by Basil II, and the imperial treasuries contributed great sums to help debtors and the clergy in St. Sophia. Romanus had good reason to reverse this generous policy later in his reign, for apart from the Saracen incursions the Empire suffered a series of terrible disasters in 1031-2 (famine in Asia Minor, plague, loss of crops through the ravages of locusts, a great earthquake at Constantinople).
33. Modern Aleppo.
34. This reverse took place in 1030, near Aleppo. It was partially avenged in the next year by the capture of Edessa by George Maniaces, who first became prominent in these campaigns.
35. The emperor also began the rebuilding of the Church of the Hcly Sepulchre at Jerusalem and spent much nnoney on gold and silver decorations for St. Sophia. The foundation stone of the latter church was laid in 532, and again in 537 after the destruction of the cathedral by fire.
36. The famous Greek artists of the fifth century B.C. Pheidias was a sculptor, Polygnotus and Zeuxis painters.
37. Arguments propounded by the philosophers of the Megarian School, called Eristikoi because of their fondness for dialectic.
38. The Straits of Gibraltar.
39. Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, the well-known Ionian philosopher of the fifth century B.C., thought that other kosmoi (universes) contemporaneous with our own might and probably did exist ad infinitum.
40. John the Orphanotrophus had been protonotary (head of the civil administration of a theme, and subordinate only to the strategus, or provincial governor) under Basil II. He had four brothers: Michael, Nicetas, Constantine and George, the last two like himself being eunuchs. The family came from Paphlagonia and appears to have been occupied in some disreputable business. Cedrenus (733, p. 504) hints that they were even engaged in forgery. Through John's influence with the emperor Michael was promoted Archon of the Pantheon, an office of doubtful meaning, but probably a Court appointrnent.
41. Cedrenus (733, p. 505) definitely asserts that Romanus was being slowly poisoned by Zoe.
42. According to Cedrenus (ibid.) he was drowned deliberately by Michael's friends. The date was 12 April 1034 (Good Friday). The emperor was over sixty years of age.
