BATTLE OF MANZIKERT
When Byzantine emperor Romanos IV Diogenes assembled the imperial army in Anatolia shortly after he came to power on 1 January 1068, he was shocked at what he saw. The imperial standards were tattered and grimy, many of the infantrymen were armed with scythes or pruning hooks, and the cavalry was dismounted because it had not been furnished with horses. Furthermore, the emperor would need to hire additional foreign mercenaries to bring it up to strength in the face of a severe manpower shortage.
The army was so downtrodden that it would take several months at least to re-equip it for battle against the Seljuk Turks who plundered Anatolian cities nearly unopposed. The Christian Armenians who lived under Byzantine rule had become war-weary and harboured deep doubts about the Byzantines’ ability to defend them. Indeed, the frail empire was on the verge of a major disaster unless immediate steps were taken to strengthen frontier outposts in Byzantium’s easternmost provinces that bordered Seljuk vassal states.
A PROVEN COMMANDER
Upon the death of Constantine X Dukas in 1067, Empress Eudocia married Imperial general Romanos Diogenes to help her protect the empire during the minority of her son Michael
