Table of Contents Preface Maps Genealogies Introduction: The Byzantine Empire in the Tenth Century Romanía Imperial governance The army and war Landed aristocracy Anatolian magnates Part I: CONQUEST AND CONSOLIDATION "Avengers of Rome": The First Phase of Conquest in the East (955-963) The cast of the conquest: The final years of Konstantinos VII (d. 959) Turning the tide in the southeast Southern Italy A smooth succession: Romanos II The conquest of Crete The conquest of Cilicia (phase I) The rise of Phokas "The White Death of the Saracens": Nikephoros II Phokas (963-969) The new regime Failure in Sicily The conquest of Cilicia (phase II) and Cyprus The annexation of Taron Declining popularity Tension with Bulgaria Tension in Italy with the German empire Military victory, political failure: the final years "A Mind Full of Cares, Brave in Danger": Ioannes I Tzimiskes (969-976) The new regime The defeat of the Rus'' and Bulgaria Eastern incursions: toward a new balance of power An otherwise obscure reign "From Spectator to Contestant": Basil II (976-1025), Part I The new regime The first rebellion of Bardas Skleros The foreign policy of Lakapenos and Phokas, 979-985 The fall of Lakapenos and the rebellion of Phokas and Skleros "Guarding the Children of New Rome": Basil II (976-1025), Part II From status quo to peace in the east, 990-1001 The war against Bulgaria, 991-1003 The emperor and the "aristocracy" "No One Ever Saw My Spear at Rest": Basil II (976-1025), Part III The missing decade and conquest of Bulgaria, 1004-1018 Monitoring Aleppo, 1000-1025 The war with Abkhazia-Kartli and the last rebellion, 1021-1022 The apogee of Byzantine Italy The end of an era GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS: THE AGE OF CONQUEST PART II: NEW ENEMIES AND THE RETURN OF POLITICS "Intrigues of the Women''s Quarters": From Macedonians to Paphlagonians Konstantinos VIII (1025-1028) Romanos III Argyros (1028-1034): The same insecurity The debacle at Aleppo and the capture of Edessa Diplomacy and dynastic instability Michael IV (1034-1041): Family rule Frontier integrity The conquest, and loss, of Sicily The Bulgarian revolt The dramatic fall of Michael V (1041-1042) "No Less Laws than Arms": Konstantinos IX Monomachos (1042-1055), Part I Enter the Normans 1043: Trial by fire Domestic initiatives (phase I) The annexation of Ani Enter the Pechenegs - the revolt of Tornikios "Squaring the Circle": Konstantinos IX Monomachos (1042-1055), Part II Enter the Seljuks - the Pecheneg wars Domestic initiatives (phase II) Italy on the brink and the Schism of 1054 Coping with new challenges "With Sword Drawn": It All Comes to a Head, 1055-1059 Theodora (1055-1056) Michael VI (1056-1057) Isaakios I Komnenos (1057-1059): Fiscal reforms and the fall of Keroularios Barbarians of the east and west GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS: THE RETURN OF MULTI-POLARITY PART III: COLLAPSE "The Agony of a Virulent Poison": The Road to Mantzikert, 1059-1071 Konstantinos X Doukas (1059-1067): Domestic mispriorities Frayed frontiers: Seljuks and Oghuz The end of Byzantine Italy Eudokia and the succession: Romanos IV Diogenes (1068-1071) Chasing Turks Mantzikert Civil war "Squeezed by the Pangs of Death": The Empire on the Verge, 1071-1081 Michael VII Doukas (1071-1078): The new regime The state of the provinces A Norman statelet in Asia Minor Breakdown Nikephoros III Botaneiates (1078-1081) GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS: IMPERIAL COLLAPSE EPILOGUE A Byzantine History of the First Crusade Crusading in broader perspective The making of a surrogate Byzantine army Restoring the Roman east Guide to the ten most important narrative sources Glossary Bibliography Index of Persons and Places Restoring the Roman east.