Diplomacy gone to seed: a history of Byzantine foreign relations, A.D. 1047-57

International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Jan, 2004 by Paul A. Blaum

At last, Constantine IX--with the help of Sarkis and the pro-Byzantine faction at Ani--finagled Gagik II into traveling to Constantinople to discuss terms, sending him as a sign of his good faith holy relics and one of the multitudinous fragments from the True Cross. Prodded by Sarkis and the others, Gagik went to plead his cause in the Byzantine capital, leaving as his representatives in Ani Sarkis and the Catholicus Peter Getadartz.

Gagik was at first treated as an honored guest in Constantinople, then badgered him to surrender Ani for other lands. When he balked, Constantine IX deported him to an island. Now in a quandary, the Armenian defenders of Ani weighed three candidates for the Bagratid throne: David Anholin (David Lackland), the aged but still pugnacious Bagratid king of Tashir; Bagrat IV of Georgia, whose mother Mariam was daughter of the late king Senek'erim, king of Vaspurakan; and--in their desperation--even Abu'l-Aswar, who was married to the sister of David Anholin. At this juncture, the Catholicus Peter and Sarkis turned over Ani to the Byzantine troops. The Georgian Chronicles note, curiously enough, that the inhabitants of Ani surrendered their city to Mariam, mother of Bagrat IV and a royal Armenian of the Ardzrunian house. The pro-Byzantine party sent the forty keys of Ani to Constantine IX, who summoned Gagik and showed him the keys and the letter of capitulation. For thirty more days, Gagik refused to accept the surrender, then, with all hope gone for recovered his ancestral domain, he agreed to abdicate. In return, he was awarded the title of magistros and, while barred from Ani, he received large estates in three Byzantine themes, all in eastern Anatolia, as well as a palace in Constantinople. According to John Scylitzes, Gagik resigned himself "to a peaceful and tranquil life." The greatly truncated kingdom of Ani was now attached to the theme of Iberia and placed under the jurisdiction of its doux or duke. In modern eyes, the episode of Ani might appear utterly sordid, reflecting no credit on any of the parties and certainly not Constantine IX. Nevertheless, many, if not most, of the Armenian populace resigned themselves to this new state of affairs, and Gagik's faithful old generalissimo, Vahram Pahlavuni, was content to serve as an auxiliary commander in the subsequent Byzantine expedition against Abu'l-Aswar. "Thus," writes George Finlay, "the oldest Christian kingdom was erased from the list of independent states by a Christian emperor."