Editing Romanos IV Diogenes (section)

== Accession to the throne ==
[[File:136 - Romanos IV Diogenes (Mutinensis - color).png|thumb|Romanos IV pictured in the 15th century [[Mutinensis gr. 122|Codex Mutinensis graecus]].]]
Romanos Diogenes was the son of [[Constantine Diogenes]] and a member of a prominent and powerful [[Byzantine Greeks|Byzantine Greek]] family from [[Cappadocia]], the [[Diogenai]],<ref name="Norwich 1993, p. 344">Norwich 1993, p. 344</ref> connected by birth to most of the great aristocratic nobles in [[Asia Minor]].<ref name="Finlay 1854, p. 30">Finlay 1854, p. 30</ref> His mother was a daughter of [[Basil Argyros]], brother of the emperor [[Romanos III]].<ref>Cheynet & Vannier 2003, p. 78.</ref> Courageous and generous, but also impetuous, Romanos rose with distinction in the army due to his military talents, and he served in Syria and on the Danubian frontier.<ref name="Kazhdan 1991, p. 1807">Kazhdan 1991, p. 1807</ref> At that time some parts from the [[theme of Bulgaria]] were organized as a new province with the centre at [[Serdica]], and he became a duke of that province in 1067.<ref>Alexandru Madgearu, Ruled indeed Basil Apokapes the Paradunavon Theme?, "Acta Musei Varnensis", 3 (The Bulgarian Lands in the Middle Ages, 7th–18th Centuries. International Conference. A tribute to Prof. Alexander Kuzev's 70th anniversary, Varna, 12–14 September 2002), Varna, 2005, pp. 273–282.</ref> However, he was eventually convicted of attempting to usurp the throne of the sons of [[Constantine X Doukas]] in 1067.<ref name="Norwich 1993, p. 344"/> While waiting to receive his sentence from the [[regent]] [[Eudokia Makrembolitissa]], he was summoned into her presence and advised that she had pardoned him and that she had furthermore chosen him to be her husband and the guardian of her sons as emperor.<ref>Finlay 1854, p. 29</ref> She took this course of action primarily due to her concern that unless she managed to find a powerful husband, she could easily lose the regency to any unscrupulous noble, and also because she was infatuated with the popular Romanos.<ref name="Norwich 1993, p. 344"/>  Her decision was met with little protest as the [[Seljuk Turks]] had overrun much of Cappadocia and had even taken the important city of [[Kayseri|Caesarea]], meaning that the army needed to be placed under the command of an able and energetic general.<ref name="Finlay 1854, p. 30"/>

After a written oath promising never to remarry, extracted from Eudokia by Constantine X,  had been set aside by the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Patriarch]] [[Patriarch John VIII of Constantinople|of Constantinople, John Xiphilinos]], and the approval of the senate obtained, on 1 January 1068 Romanos married the empress and was crowned Emperor of the Romans.<ref name="Norwich 1993, p. 344"/>