Basil Melissenos

## Basil MelissenosΒασίλειος Μελισσηνός

**Basil Melissenos** (Greek: Βασίλειος Μελισσηνός, *Basileios Melissenos*, c. 1234, Philadelphia – 31 July 1285, Seleucia) was a thirteenth-century Byzantine general and aristocrat who served as Domestic of the Eastern Schools from 1281 to 1285 and who was the son of emperor Romanos V Melissenos and the father of Romanos VI.

## Biography

Coloquially known as the Emperor-Who-Was-Not after his death, Basil Melissenos was the first son and preferred heir of the powerful Byzantine magnate and general Romanos Melissenos, who would later rise to the throne as Romanos V. He born at Philadelphia while his father participated in the campaign which retook Iconium for the first time in 1234. His mother was Sophia Synadena, daughter of an important family of the Anatolian military aristocracy.

Basil was educated as his father was: as an Eastern aristocrat, bred for war and for challenging Constantinople's authority in the provinces. His adolescene coincided with the Scythian Wars, however, and Basil was never sent to the schools of Constantinople to learn from the masters of philosophy and oratory, a deficiency which was only mildly repaired by his Philadelphian private tutor and became a reason for mockery from political opponents later in his life. When Romanos the Elder overthrew Alexios Axouchos and declared for Theodore II Laskaris, Basil was not yet twenty, but it was he who delivered the rebel's blinded head to the Emperor at Pergamon. He had been married to the noblewoman Theochariste Petraliphene only weeks previously, in anticipation of his father's coup to win the support of the local magnate Thomas Petraliphas. For most of his adult life, Basil Melissenos served as his father's right-hand and several times as *Doux* in various Eastern themes.

When Skantarios Laskaris marched against his brother at Constantinople and became sole Emperor, Basil followed him to the capital as his father-in-law. Romanos the Elder attempted to have the prestigious title of *Basileopater* ("the Emperor's father") bestowed upon him after he failed to convince Skantarios to name him Co-Emperor, but that promotion never came either as Theodore II's legend was still too great. Upon his father's own promotion as *Megas Domestikos* and later Co-Emperor, Basil replaced him as Domestic of the East. He was an invaluable general and adviser to Emperor Skantarios in the successful war against the Latin Empire of the Outremer, but he ultimately paid for it with his life like his Emperor, at the Battle of Seleucia. He was survived by his widow and his five children: Romanos VI, Maria, Constantine, Epiphania and Martha. His eldest son had him buried in the cathedral of Antioch following his conquest of the former Latin capital

## Family

By his wife Theochariste Petraliphene, who outlived him, Basil was the father of five children:

1. Romanos VI Melissenos, who married Eudoxia Laskarina and ruled as emperor from 1292 to 1312.
2. Maria Melissene, who married Skantarios Laskaris and reigned as *Augusta* and Empress-Consort.
3. Constantine Melissenos, a Byzantine despot, general and provincial military governor.
4. Epiphania Melissene, who married twice.
5. Martha Melissene, who was given in marriage to the Eastern general Alexander Anatolios, formerly Osman of Nicaea.