[ 5347] CONSTANTINE IX MONOMACHUS Silver Miliaresion (32 mm, 2.94 gm.) Constantinople: 1042-1055 B.C. Reference: DOC 7; SB 1834. The Virgin Mary, orans, standing facing on dais. Constantine standing facing, holding long cross and scabbard. Provided with certificate of authenticity. CERTIFIED AUTHENTIC by Sergey Nechayev, PhD - Numismatic Expert Constantine IX Monomachos (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Θ΄ Μονομάχος, Kōnstantinos IX Monomakhos), c. 1000–January 11, 1055, reigned as Byzantine emperor from June 11, 1042 to January 11, 1055. He had been chosen byZoe as a husband and co-emperor in 1042, although he had been exiled for conspiring against her previous husband, Emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian. They ruled together until Zoe died in 1050. Life Constantine Monomachos was the son of Theodosios Monomachos, an important bureaucrat under Basil II andConstantine VIII. At some point Theodosios had been suspected of conspiracy and his son's career suffered accordingly. Constantine's position improved after he married, as his second wife, a niece of Emperor Romanos III Argyros. Catching the eye of the Empress Zoe, Constantine was exiled to the island of Lesbos by her second husband, Michael IV. He was retrieved from exile in 1042, when he was appointed judge in Greece, but before he undertook his appointment, Constantine was summoned to Constantinople as Zoe's choice for husband. The pair were married on June 11, 1042, without the participation of Patriarch Alexius I of Constantinople, who refused to officiate over a third marriage (for both spouses). On the following day Constantine was formally proclaimed emperor together with Zoe and her sister Theodora. Constantine purged the relatives of Michael IV from the court. The new emperor was pleasure-loving and prone to violent outbursts on suspicion of conspiracy. He was heavily influenced by his mistress, Maria Skleraina, a niece of his second wife, and Maria's relatives. In August 1042, under the influence of the Skleroi, the emperor relieved General George Maniakes from his command in Italy, and Maniakes rebelled, declaring himself emperor in September. He transferred his troops into the Balkans and was about to defeat Constantine's army in battle, when he was wounded and died on the field, ending the crisis in 1043. Immediately after the victory, Constantine was attacked by a fleet from Kievan Rus'; it is "incontrovertible that a Rus' detachment took part in the Maniakes rebellion".[1] They too were defeated, with the help of Greek fire. Constantine married his daughter Anna (see below) to the future Prince Vsevolod I of Kiev, the favorite son of his dangerous opponent Yaroslav I the Wise by Ingegerd Olofsdotter. In 1045 Constantine annexed the Armenian kingdom of Ani, but this expansion merely exposed the empire to new enemies. In 1046 the Byzantines came into contact for the first time with the Seljuk Turks. They met in battle in Armenia in 1048, and settled a truce the following year. However, Constantine foolishly disbanded the Armenian troops to save money in 1053, leaving the eastern frontier poorly defended at precisely the moment when its defences should have been strengthened. Even if Seljuk rulers were willing to abide by the treaty, their unruly Turcoman allies showed much less restraint. Thus Constantine weakened the Byzantine forces, which in turn led to their cataclysmic defeat at the battle of Manzikert in 1071. In 1047 Constantine was faced by the rebellion of his nephew Leo Tornikios in Adrianople. Tornikios gained support in most of Thrace and vainly attempted to take Constantinople. Forced to retreat, Tornikios failed in another siege, and was captured during his flight. The revolt had weakened Byzantine defenses in the Balkans and in 1048 the area was raided by the Pechenegs, who continued to plunder it for the next five years. The emperor's efforts to contain the enemy through diplomacy merely exacerbated the situation, as rival Pech ...
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