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Constantine VIII Porphyrogenitus (960 – 11 November 1028) was de jure Byzantine Emperor from 962 until his death. He was the younger son of Emperor Romanos II and Empress Theophano. He was nominal co-emperor for 63 years, successively with his father; stepfather, Nikephoros II Phokas; uncle, John I Tzimiskes; and brother, Basil II.
Basil II died childless on 15 December 1025 and thus left the rule of the Byzantine Empire in Constantine's hands. Constantine had no interest in politics, statecraft or the military. His brief reign is said to have been "an unmitigated disaster", sparking "a collapse of the military power of the Empire". Constantine had no sons, so shortly before his death he married his daughter Zoë to his chosen successor, Romanos Argyros.
Constantine's father, Romanos II, was the sixth Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty. After the death of his first wife, Bertha (who took the name Eudocia), daughter of Hugh of Arles, he fell in love with and married an innkeeper's daughter from the Peloponnese, Theophano. Contemporaries called Theophano the most beautiful woman in Christendom as well as ambitious, an inveterate schemer and utterly amoral. She bore Romanos four children, including Constantine, born in 960, and his elder brother Basil, born in 958. His sister Anna's hand was considered such a prize that Vladimir I of Kiev converted to Christianity in order to marry her. Aged eight, Constantine was engaged to a daughter of Emperor Boris II of Bulgaria but in the end he married a Byzantine aristocrat, Helena, daughter of Alypius. By Helena he had three daughters: Eudokia, who became a nun; Zoë, who was empress for 22 years; and Theodora, who reigned for 18 months and was the last of the Macedonian line.
In January 976, Basil and Constantine took power. Although the sixteen year old Constantine was nominally co-emperor it was clear that Basil was senior emperor as Basileus Basil II. Constantine as a young man was tall and graceful, he was a superb horseman and trained his own horses. He competed in athletic and wrestling competitions, which he brought back into fashion. He had an excellent speaking voice and a good grasp of rhetoric. He was a gourmet and a gourmand. He had no interest in politics, statecraft or the military and never developed any. Constantine led troops alongside his brother in 989; the campaign ended without any combat and Constantine was not appointed to military command again.
Basil II had an illustrious reign, earning the sobriquet "Bulgar-slayer" (Bulgaroktonus). He died childless on 15 December 1025 and Constantine, a sixty-five-year-old widower, became sole emperor as Constantine VIII. He had been a co-emperor for sixty-three years but had always been content to enjoy the privileges of imperial status, without concerning himself with state affairs. He spent his life in the search of pleasure and entertainment, or amusing himself with riding and hunting. He was "of frivolous disposition, he desired nothing more than to pass his life wallowing in extravagant pleasures." Constantine as emperor carried on as he always had – hunting, feasting, and enjoying life – and avoided state business as much as possible.
By the time he became emperor he had chronic gout and could hardly walk. He met challenges with impulsive cruelty, persecuting the nobility and ordering an orgy of torture; blinding was a favoured punishment for crimes real or imagined. He filled the senior court and state positions with nonentities. Within months the land laws of Basil II were dropped, under pressure from the Anatolian aristocracy. "Devoid of any semblance of moral fibre" he would grant any concession. Favouritism failed to win him friends and he persecuted the nobility when he felt threatened by conspiracy. The start of the decline of the Byzantine Empire has been linked to Constantine's accession to the throne. His reign has been described as "an unmitigated disaster", "a break up of the system" and causing "a collapse of the military power of the Empire".
He ruled for less than three years before his death on 11 November 1028. On his deathbed, and without a male heir, Constantine recalled the senior aristocrat Constantine Dalessenos, Duke of Antioch, to the capital in order to marry his daughter Zoë. The Dalassenus were one of the few powerful patrician families who had been unswervingly loyal to the Macedonian dynasty. Constantine Dalassenos set out from his estates in the Armeniac Theme, but before reaching Constantinople the situation changed: the emperor's advisors preferred a weak ruler whom they could control, and, typically, Constantine was persuaded. He choose Romanos Argyros instead, forcing him to divorce his wife and marry Zoë. The wedding took place only three days before Constantine died on 11 November 1028. Romanos was crowned Romanos III (r. 1028–1034) four days later.