Battle of Manzikert and Capture By Alp Arslan
Early in the spring of 1071, whilst conducting negotiations with Alp Arslan over Manzikert, Romanos marched at the head of a large army with the intent of recovering the fortress. It was soon evident that the army had a serious discipline problem, with soldiers regularly pillaging the area around their nightly camps. When Romanos attempted to enforce some stricter discipline, a whole regiment of German mercenaries mutinied, which the emperor only managed to control with the greatest difficulty.
Believing that Alp Arslan was nowhere near Manzikert, he decided to divide his army. One part of the army he dispatched to attack Akhlat, at that time in possession of the Turks. Romanos himself advanced with the main body of the army on Manzikert, which he soon recaptured. At this point his advance guard met the Seljuk army which was rapidly approaching Manzikert. Romanos ordered the forces attacking Akhlat to rejoin the army, but their portion of the army unexpectedly came across another large Turkish army, forcing their retreat back into Mesopotamia. Already under strength, Romanos' army was further weakened when his Uzes mercenaries deserted to the Turks.
Arslan had no desire to take on the Byzantine army, and so proposed a peace treaty with favourable terms for Romanos. The emperor, eager for a decisive military victory, rejected the offer, and both armies lined up for a battle, which took place on August 26, 1071. The battle lasted all day without either side gaining any decisive advantage, until the emperor ordered a part of his centre to return to camp; the order was misunderstood by the right wing, and Andronikos Doukas, who commanded the reserves, and was the son of Caesar John Doukas, took advantage of the confusion to betray Romanos. Claiming that Romanos was dead, he marched away from the battle with some 30,000 men, instead of covering the emperor's retreat. The Turks now began to press in on the Byzantine army.
When Romanos discovered what had happened, he tried to recover the situation by making a defiant stand. He fought on valiantly after his horse was killed under him, but receiving a wound in the hand which prevented him from wielding a sword, he was soon taken prisoner.
According to a number of Byzantine historians, including John Skylitzes, Arslan at first had difficulty believing the dusty and tattered warrior brought before him was the Roman Emperor. He then stepped down from his seat and placed his foot on Romanos' neck. But after this sign of ritual humiliation, Arslan raised Romanos from the ground, and ordered him to be treated like a king. From then on he treated him with extreme kindness, never saying a cruel word to him in the Emperor's eight-day stay in his camp, and then released him in exchange for a treaty and the promise of a hefty ransom. At first Alp Arslan suggested a ransom of 10,000,000 nomismata to Romanos IV, but he later reduced it to 1,500,000 nomismata with a further 360,000 nomismata annually.
Read more about this topic: Romanos IV Diogenes
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