Argyros

Argyros (Ἀργυρός) is the name of a prominent Byzantine aristocratic family dedicated to the civil service at Constantinople. The family produced one Byzantine emperor, Romanos III Argyros, who reigned from 1028 to 1034 through his marriage to Zoe the Macedonian. The feminine form of the name is Argyre.
==History==
The Argyros family is an old Byzantine family, established in the ninth century. They originated from the eastern theme of Charsianon in Anatolia as one of the foremost landed military aristocrats, providing several senior generals and officers to the Macedonian Emperors. Their founder was Leo Argyros, a general who distinguished himself by slaughtering the Paulicians and protecting the Eastern border. Ironically, the greatest Argyros of all was not a general, but the bureaucrat who would become Emperor Romanos III upon his marriage to Empress Zoe (who had him later murdered).
During the Komnenid period, the Argyroi declined in power and, curiously enough, or perhaps as a consequence of losing their heartlands to the Turks, moved to the civil service at Constantinople, also engaging in the arts and scholarly activities. Gregory Argyros supported Andronikos II Palaiologos' usurpation and consequently the Argyroi were one of the aristocratic families most targeted by emperor Theodore II Laskaris, who confiscated most of their wealth and estates, and had Gregory Argyros blinded as punishment.
Category:Byzantine families