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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Marsyas Mike, post: 3632771, member: 85693&quot;]Nice write-up Valentinian, and nice coins too.&nbsp; I just got a Romanus IV Diogenes from a local dealer&#039;s junk box.&nbsp; While researching it, I found the story of how Romanus was captured by the Turks - here&#039;s Wikipedia:</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;According to a number of Byzantine historians, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Skylitzes" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Skylitzes" rel="nofollow">John Skylitzes</a>, Arslan at first had difficulty believing the dusty and tattered warrior brought before him was the Roman Emperor.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanos_IV_Diogenes#cite_note-28" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanos_IV_Diogenes#cite_note-28" rel="nofollow">[28]</a> He then stepped down from his seat and placed his foot on Romanos&#039; neck.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanos_IV_Diogenes#cite_note-Norwich_1993,_p._354-29" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanos_IV_Diogenes#cite_note-Norwich_1993,_p._354-29" rel="nofollow">[29]</a> After this sign of ritual humiliation, however, 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 during the Emperor&#039;s eight-day stay in his camp.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanos_IV_Diogenes#cite_note-Norwich_1993,_p._354-29" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanos_IV_Diogenes#cite_note-Norwich_1993,_p._354-29" rel="nofollow">[29]</a> He then released the Emperor in exchange for a treaty and the promise of a hefty ransom. At first Alp Arslan suggested a ransom of 10,000,000 <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomismata" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomismata" rel="nofollow">nomismata</a></i> to Romanos IV, but he later reduced it to 1,500,000 <i>nomismata</i>, with a further 360,000 <i>nomismata</i> annually.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanos_IV_Diogenes#cite_note-Finlay_1854,_p._42-17" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanos_IV_Diogenes#cite_note-Finlay_1854,_p._42-17" rel="nofollow">[17]</a>&quot; (Wikipedia)</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]974593[/ATTACH] :</p><p><br /></p><p>By Boccace, De Casibus - Bibliothèque nationale de France, manuscrit Français 232, folio 323, Public Domain, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1551440" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1551440" rel="nofollow">https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1551440</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Heck of a lot better deal than Valerian got!&nbsp; Here&#039;s my Romanus IV:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]974594[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Byzantine Empire&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Æ Follis</b></p><p><b>Romanus IV Diogenes</b></p><p><b>(1068-1071 A.D.)</b></p><p><b>Constantinople Mint</b></p><p>IC-XC over NI-KA flanking bust of Christ facing,&nbsp; / Cross with C-R / P-Δ in angles.</p><p>SB 1866; DOC III, part 2, 8.</p><p><b>Overstrike:</b>&nbsp; Anonymous Class C Follis (?).</p><p>(5.51 grams / 25 mm)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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