Polymathenes crisis

The **Polymathenes crisis** was a series of civil wars in the Byzantine Empire following the death of Michael V, in which multiple princes from the Polymathenes family fought for power in the Empire. These wars were significant in expanding the decline of the Byzantine Empire.

## Background

Michael V died in the Battle of Theodosiopolis on 5 July 979. Since he had no children, he gave the Empire to his cousin Constantine, who became Constantine VI. Constantine was crowned on 23 September of the same year. Michael IV, the grandfather of Constantine VI and Michael V, had many daughters and married them to regional rulers in the Empire. Because of this, Constantine had many cousins who also had ambitions to the Imperial throne. These cousins started plotting against Constantine, hoping to get power for themselves. The most powerful of these was Alexios the Silent, son of Michael IV's daughter Irene. Hoping to gain an important ally, Constantine agreed that after him, Alexios the Silent would become Emperor.

Constantine ruled for six years, until in 985 when he died of sickness. Following their agreement, Alexios became the new emperor on 16 December 985. Although Constantine had a child, he was only an infant, so there was no dispute over the crown. However, one of Alexios' other cousins, John the Anatolian, wanted to claim the Imperial throne for himself, and he began plotting to take it.

## First Polymathenes War (986-989)

In the summer of 986, only a few months after Alexios' coronation, John the Anatolian rebelled from his hometown of Melitene. He quickly gained support among Eastern Anatolians due to his efforts to defend the border from raids. Quickly Alexios the Silent led an army to defend the city of Angora, which was besieged by John.

As Alexios' army arrived, John's forces quickly formed a shieldwall to defend against Alexios's cavalry. Overall, John the Anatolian had 12,000 infantry, 3,000 horsemen, and 6,000 archers, adding up to around 21 thousand men. Alexios' army was comprised of 9,000 infantry, 6,000 horsemen, and 5,000 archers, around 20,000 soldiers. The two armies were equally matched and it seemed that who won would depend on tactics and luck.

Alexios sent his cavalry forward, with his infantry on the sides and archers behind. The cavalry was halted by John's shieldwall, and what happened next was a brutal fight, during which no one came out on top for a few hours. It is said that Alexios charged forward and unsuccessfully attempted to flank John's army. After hours, 5,000 archers arrived on the side of John the Anatolian and massacred the army of Alexios the Silent.

Alexios was nearly killed, but escaped to Dorylaeum and raised an army of 5,000, however this would not be able to match John the Anatolian's forces. Alexios decided that the best move was to cross the Dardanelles into Thrace. There he would combine forces with Niketas, Prince of Moesia, who supported Alexios against John.

While Alexios escaped to Europe, John plotted his own takeover of Greece. He planned to take Smyrna, then sail to Athens and gain control of most of the Empire. John's army began marching to Smyrna just as winter began.

In the summer of 987 AD, John reached Smyrna. He saw little resistance and took the city. He seized around 20 warships and began to sail to Athens along with 30,000 men. However, a fleet of 24 warships stopped him at Andros and demanded that he sail back to Anatolia. John refused, and so the Battle of Andros began.

John's boats were not prepared for battle, so they were weak against the Greek warships. About 5 of John's ships were destroyed, but the rest of his boats were filled with archers who began to fire at the Greek warships, killing many of their men. However, halfway through the battle, Alexios recieved reinforcements, allowing him to defeat John the Anatolian. Alexios offered a truce for both of the men to recover. John accepted.

The war resumed in the summer of 988, when Alexios' army took over Nicaea, a city controlled by John the Anatolian. John rallied his forces and met Alexios at Cotyaeum. John lost this battle, allowing Alexios to advance up to Angora. Both armies would settle in for the winter, but in the spring, John the Anatolian, while patrolling his camp, would be killed by an arrow, ending the First Polymathenes War.

## Second Polymathenes War (999-1005)

Alexios the Silent would reign for another ten years, until his death in 999 started another succession war, between Alexios and Nikephoros, Alexios being the son of Constantine VI, and Nikephoros being son of Alexios the Silent. Alexios was already in Constantinople at the time of the previous emperor's death, while Nikephoros was in Anatolia fighting the Arabs. Alexios crowned himself Emperor in Constantinople in the fall of 999. Nikephoros, upon hearing of this, made a truce with the Arabs, and went to Constantinople with his army. In Spring of 1000, he attacked the city, putting it under siege. However, he did not have enough ships to blockade the city, so Constantinople would not starve. Nikephoros demanded Alexios to renounce his claim to the Empire. In response to this, Alexios sent out his army, which pushed back Nikephoros, however, Nikephoros would withdraw for the following year, to gain support.

In summer of 1001, Nikephoros would return, this time with much more troops than before. The Battle of Constantinople would occur, in which Nikephoros defeated Alexios, who withdrew to Adrianople. In Fall, another clash would occur, in which Nikephoros was wounded. This battle, however, was a victory for Nikephoros, bringing him to the gates of Adrianople.

However, Nikephoros had overestimated himself, and thought that by 1002, he would have become emperor already, so he had scheduled his truce with the Arabs to end in Summer of 1002. He had to leave Europe to fight back against the Arabs, with the Arabs and Alexios making an alliance against Nikephoros. Despite this powerful alliance, Nikephoros was able to continue fighting for three more years, until in 1005 when the combined forces of Alexios and the Arabs entered his camp. However, Nikephoros was nowhere to be found, fleeing to one of his allies' court.

## Third Polymathenes War (1005-1006)

Michael, a brother of Alexios the Silent, would revolt in Moesia. He would raise his troops, with support from the princes of Moesia, as well as the northern Greek and Thracian nobles. Alexios II would raise his troops and fought Michael in a battle near Adrianople, but Alexios lost, due to the exhaustion of his troops from the Second Polymathenes War. Alexios would then retreat into Anatolia, with his real control mostly limited to the lands of the future Empire of Trebizond.

Michael would be crowned Michael VI in late 1005, but in spring of the next year, he would die due to disease. Alexios II would then return, for his second reign.

## George the Murderous (1007-1016)

Alexios only reigned for two years in his second reign, until 1008, when George, the son of John the Anatolian, had Alexios murdered and he took the throne for himself. He would only reign for two years also, due to a revolt by Nikephoros, who would become emperor Nikephoros III. However, in 1014, he would be murdered too, again by George, who would become emperor once again. This caused George to get his nickname, George the Murderous.

In 1016, the son of Michael VI would overthrow George the Murderous, and he was crowned as Emperor Michael VII. George would be executed the next year, and it seemed that the crisis was over.

## Fourth Polymathenes War (1019-1022)

Leo, the Prince of Moesia, would revolt against Michael VII, with his base being in Philippopolis. He would raise an army consisting of most of the Greek dukes, and some Anatolian ones, as well as the former supporters of Alexios II. His supporters would March to Constantinople from both Anatolia and Thrace, which would help him take the capital more easily. In addition, his troops had barely fought in the previous wars, which was very different than those of Alexios, who had been exhausted by decades of warfare.