Romanos Argyros (10th century)

Romanos Argyros (Greek: Ῥωμανός Ἀργυρός) was a Byzantine aristocrat and son-in-law of Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos.

Life

He was a son of the distinguished general Leo Argyros, and had at least one brother, Marianos Argyros, who also occupied high military posts.^[1] Romanos on the other hand is chiefly known for having married Agathe, a daughter of Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (reigned 919–944). The sources disagree on when the marriage took place: the 11th-century historian Yahya of Antioch asserts that the marriage took place before Lekapenos' rise to power, while the late 10th-century chronicler Theophanes Continuatus records that it took place in 921. In either case, the marriage represented an effort by Lekapenos, a provincial upstart, to solidify his position by linking his family to one of the most prestigious aristocratic families of the Empire.^[2][3]

As such, Romanos became the brother-in-law of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, who had married another of Lekapenos' daughters, Helena Lekapene.^[4] His grandson was Emperor Romanos III Argyros (r. 1028–34), who became emperor by marrying Empress Zoe, the great-granddaughter of Constantine VII.^[5]

References

1. Cheynet & Vannier 2003, pp. 62–63.
2. Cheynet & Vannier 2003, pp. 63–64.
3. Runciman 1988, p. 64.
4. Cheynet & Vannier 2003, p. 64.
5. Cheynet & Vannier 2003, pp. 68–69.

Sources

• Cheynet, J.-C.; Vannier, J.-F. (2003). "Les Argyroi" (PDF). Zbornik Radova Vizantološkog Instituta (in French) 40: 57–90. ISSN 0584-9888.
• Runciman, Steven (1988) [1929]. The Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and His Reign: A Study of Tenth-Century Byzantium. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-35722-5.