1028 Constantine on his death-bed appoints Romanus (III) Argyrus his successor, makes him divorce his wife, and marry his daughter Zoe.
1030 Romanus defeated by the Mohammedans at Azaz and takes refuge in Antioch. He becomes the prey of melancholy, and Zoe takes the reins of government.
1031 Mohammedan pirates ravage Illyricum and Corfu. They are driven off by the people of Ragusa.
1032 Conspiracy and death of Constantine Diogenes.
1033 Capture of Edessa by the imperial fleet.
1034 Death of Romanus, probably by slow poison administered by Zoe, who now causes her paramour, Michael (IV) the Paphlagonian, to be proclaimed emperor, and marries him the day of her husband’s death. Earthquake at Jerusalem lasting forty days. Great famine throughout the empire.
1037 The Mohammedans attack the empire on all sides. They capture Edessa. The Patzinaks invade Thrace.
1038 The Mohammedans regain Edessa, by a stratagem that is the origin of the Tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.
1039 The imperial force and the Normans attack the Mohammedans in Sicily. Messina (Messana) and Syracuse taken.
1040 A fresh Mohammedan army from Africa utterly defeated in Sicily. The Norman power begins to get the control in the island. The Bulgarians attempt to recover independence. They invade Thrace and Macedonia.