Marriage or Mirage? Rating Queen Zoe’s Husbands by Power and Politics / Husband #1: Romanos III Argyros

Marriage or Mirage? Rating Queen Zoe’s Husbands by Power and Politics 

Husband #1: Romanos III Argyros 

Vanessa Chen

Byzantium has seen its fair share of scandals, but let’s be honest: Queen Zoë of Byzantium was in a league of her own. Born into the purple, she was the heir to the throne in her own right, ruling not just with her imperial bloodline and inheritance but also with her ability to navigate an empire to ensure that her position and survival remained secure.

Queen Zoe knew how to work the system — husband by husband. Each husband represented an opportunity, a tool, or, at times, an obstacle in her quest to maintain her imperial standing. Yet, Zoe managed to adapt accordingly, turning setbacks into opportunities and ensuring her survival in the treacherous world of Byzantine politics. Her reign wasn’t a passive existence shaped by the men around her. Rather, marriage was her primary tool for stabilizing her royal status, and her shrewd maneuvering within these unions was the mode in which she truly solidified her power. Unlike her contemporaries, Queen Zoe transformed the very tool used to control royal women — marriage — into a weapon for her own agency and power.

Yet, it can be said that Queen Zoe’s story also highlights the limitations placed on her by the very system that crowned her. As a woman in a male-dominated imperial hierarchy, Queen Zoe’s authority was often mediated through her relationships with men. So, what happens when we dig deeper into Zoe’s relationships with her husbands? Were they her equals, her protectors, or her liabilities? In this issue, we will break down Zoe’s relationship with her first husband, Romanos III, to see what set up her ascent to power and who truly wielded the power in their royal union — and whether Queen Zoe truly needed it.

The scale to evaluate the relationship between Queen Zoe and her husband is split into three categories, each with a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being the highest of that attribute and 1 being the lowest. 

• Political Competence (1-10)

• Did the husband contribute effectively to governance?

• Zoe’s Dependency (1–10)

• How much did Zoe rely on this husband for her position, security, and legitimacy? 

• Husband’s Dependency (1–10)

• Was Zoe instrumental in his reign, or was she a figurehead?

Romanos III Argyros

Romanos III Argyros was Zoe’s first husband and, frankly, her most underwhelming. Born to a prominent aristocratic family in Byzantine society, this man should’ve been a grand match for an empress like Zoe. Yet somehow, he’s remembered more for his incompetence than his contributions to the Byzantine throne.

Political Competence: 3/10 

Husband’s Dependency: 9/10 

Zoe’s Dependency: 6/10

Overall Husband Rating: 5/10 

Although Romanos III held the title of emperor, his reign was marked by neglect and inaction, especially in the face of rising court factions. Instead of solidifying his power and governance, he allowed influential figures like the patriarch and his ministers to grow in strength. His policies were inconsistent, and Romanos failed to command the respect needed to consolidate his rule, taking more of a backseat to more ambitious players in his court. As such, I rate his political competence a mere 3 out of 10 and his dependence on Zoe a high 7 out of 10. Had Romanos ascended to the throne through military conquest, his lack of effectiveness would have seriously jeopardized his rule and made him an easy target for rival factions or ambitious generals. However, it is because he ascended to the throne through marrying Zoe that he was not ousted. Romanos drew legitimacy from Zoe’s imperial bloodline, which, although providing him security against opposition, did not guarantee him widespread respect or effective governance. It’s no surprise then that when he suddenly died (under suspicious circumstances, of course), the empire barely seemed to notice. Zoe moved on quickly, proving that she didn’t just tolerate Romanos, she carried him.

Romanos’s ineffectiveness also provided opportunities for Zoe to influence much of court politics. As empress, Zoe was naturally positioned to step in and manage the day-to-day operations of the empire, especially given her proximity to the imperial court and its inner workings. However, Zoe’s actions were not driven solely by necessity. She understood that her marriage to Romanos alone was insufficient to ensure the stability of her reign. To solidify her position, she took a proactive approach, embedding herself in the court’s inner workings. Her influence over key figures, particularly the eunuchs who controlled access to the emperor, allowed her to act as a gatekeeper, directing the flow of information and shaping the decisions that reached Romanos. In this way, Zoe ensured that even when Romanos faltered, her presence projected a sense of continuity and stability to the court and the empire. By leveraging this strategic role, she positioned herself as indispensable, maintaining her authority even as Romanos’s credibility continued to wane.

Still, Zoe did initially rely on Romanos to stabilize her position as empress, warranting a dependency rating of 6 out of 10. She was in her 40s, unmarried, and childless — a precarious situation in the Byzantine court, where lineage and alliances were everything. Her father, Constantine VIII, was aging and lacked a male heir, making Zoe’s marital status a matter of imperial urgency. At the time, Byzantine politics heavily relied on the interplay between the imperial family and the powerful aristocratic factions. Romanos’s background, being a member of a prestigious aristocratic family, gave him instant credibility with the Byzantine elite. By aligning the imperial crown with a respected and well-connected noble, the marriage played a crucial role in stabilizing Queen Zoe’s succession and dispelling doubts about her ability to govern. Therefore, Zoe was not initially seen as a crucial power broker or a central figure in determining the empire’s political future. This underscores the tension between dependency and autonomy in Zoe’s story: while she may have needed Romanos to ascend to power, she quickly learned to wield that power in her own right. By the end of their marriage, it was clear that Zoe no longer relied on Romanos for her imperial standing. 

 

In summary, Romanos III Argyros gets a score of 5 out of 10 overall, mostly because he lacked the political savvy and strength to be a real partner to Zoe. Still, his tenure as Zoe’s husband provided a necessary stepping stone for her to establish herself as irreplaceable to Byzantium’s rule. Now, with Romanos III out of the picture, Zoe’s next husband presented a different problem — how can she sustain her power when she is being sidelined by her husband (and brother)? Up next: Michael IV the Paphlagonian, a husband who brought a little more competence to the table, but also challenged her role in governance. Stay tuned!