Constantine VIII

Constantine VIII (960–1028) was de jure Byzantine emperor for sixty-six years, yet ruled in his own right only from 1025. Crowned co-emperor in 962, the younger son of Romanos II spent his life as nominal colleague to senior emperors, above all his brother Basil II.

Little interested in government, he loved wrestling and riding but later suffered from gout. When Basil died childless in 1025, his three-year reign saw Basil’s land laws abandoned under aristocratic pressure and cruel purges. On his death in 1028 he was succeeded by his daughter Zoe’s husband, Romanos III Argyros.