Why an Atheist Thinks the Shroud of Turin is the Real Deal

The Fall and Rise of Zoe

One of his first acts was to ban Zoe from court. She was sent away to a convent to spend the rest of her life. However, the archbishop arranged an unpopular peace treaty with Bulgaria. It was so unpopular at court that it allowed Zoe to muster enough support to return from the convent and take the reins of government. She revoked the treaty, which proved disastrous when the Bulgarians defeated her forces. It was then that Romanus, an admiral in the Byzantine navy, led a coup d'état to overthrow Constantine’s mother but not Constantine.

Romanus declared himself regent and named himself co-emperor along with Constantine. Because he controlled the military, he was, for all practical purposes, the sole emperor, purple room or not. Eventually, Romanus’ own sons, fearing that their father favored Constantine over them to become the eventual sole emperor, managed to have him arrested and exiled to a monastery to spend the rest of his life as a monk. However, during a popular revolt, fomented it seems by Zoe, Romanus’ sons were also arrested and sent to join their father. Constantine the Purple Born was sole emperor once again, and regent.