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Eudocia 1067
Romanus IV 1068 — 1071
Eudocia Becomes Ruler of The Empire, With Her Sons Michael And Constantine
When the empress Eudocia, in accordance with the wishes of her husband, succeeded him as supreme ruler, she did not hand over the government to others. Far from choosing to spend most of her life In idleness at home, while the magistrates had charge of public affairs, she assumed control of the whole administration in person.

At first she behaved modestly enough: neither in the imperial processions nor in her own clothing was there any mark of extravagance. She made herself conversant with all her duties, and wherever it was practicable, she took part in all the processes of government, the choice of magistrates, civil affairs, revenues and taxes. Her pronouncements had the note of authority which one associates with an emperor. Nor was this surprising, for she was in fact an exceedingly clever woman. On either side of her were her two sons, both of whom stood almost rooted to the spot, quite overcome with awe and reverence for their mother.

Eudocia 1067 – That Constantine should respect her, being a child and still incapable of understanding the affairs of state, will cause no surprise, and I cannot bring myself to praise him for a modesty that was natural, but Michael’s case is different. He was already long past his boyhood and able to think for himself. His intellectual powers were fully developed, had been frequently put to the test.

It is no easy matter, therefore, to find a parallel to his obedient attitude, or to the way he left the whole administration to his mother. I find it altogether impassible to praise the young man enough for this. On several occasions I have seen him myself, when he could have spoken in his mother’s presence, keep silent, as if speech were beyond him, and though he had the ability to undertake any task you like to name, he took no part in matters concerned with the Empire.

Eudocia 1067 part 15

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40. Diogenes’s army was broken and routed. Andronicus, meanwhile, returned in triumph with Crispinus to the tent which had been prepared for him. Later, one of the knights came up, bringing to the general...

Eudocia 1067 part 14

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His second object was to escape Diogenes’s notice when he drew near the passes into Cilicia, to make his way quietly through the tortuous mountain defiles, and after traversing all the difficult parts, to...

Eudocia 1067 part 13

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34. As a matter of fact this defeat marked the beginning of Diogenes’s downfall. With a handful of his followers, he took refuge in a minor fortress,**276 and he would very soon have fallen...

Eudocia 1067 part 12

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31. In matters of this kind, history is apt to repeat itself. You find the same sort of things happening, the same sort of things being said. In this case, men differed widely in...

Eudocia 1067 part 11

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28. That was the state of affairs, when Michael, fearing for his own safety and distrusting the cruel nature of Diogenes, decided on his own course of action. The plan he adopted undoubtedly saved...

Eudocia 1067 part 10

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Again and again I managed to effect a settlement between them, but Michael was so obsessed with the idea that he must never oppose his mother, that even the thought of meeting her face...

Eudocia 1067 part 9

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23. I do not intend at this moment to write of the time spent by the emperor in captivity or of the attitude adopted towards him by his conqueror. That must wait till later....

Eudocia 1067 part 8

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Instead, whether in desperation, or because he was more confident than he should have been, he marched to the attack, without taking adequate measures to protect his rear. The enemy, seeing him advance, decided...

Eudocia 1067 part 7

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16. He agreed that in all matters connected with literature he was my inferior (I am referring here to the sciences), but where military strategy was concerned it was his ambition to surpass me....

Eudocia 1067 part 6

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13. At all events, he left the city with all his army**260 and advanced against the barbarians, not knowing where he was marching, nor what he was going to do. He wandered over the...

Eudocia 1067 part 30

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A Unified Approach

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