into Egypt, ruled from a.d. 909 by Shia caliphs of the Fatimid dynasty; northward through the Caucasus toward the lands of the Rus’; and all the way across Asia Minor as far as the Bosphorus strait on which sat Constantinople. That was why Romanus had been compelled to stand up to them. That was why his failure, ensured by defeat and embarrassment at Manzikert, mattered.
