The Byzantine empress Zoë (ca. 978-1050) and her sister, the last living members of the great Macedonian dynasty, prolonged their house through marriages and independent rule. The frivolities of their court, however, helped hasten the empire's rapid decline.

Zoë was the second of three daughters of Emperor Constantine VIII (reigned 1025-1028), younger brother and unworthy successor to the great Basil II (reigned 976-1025). Little is known of her early life. She remained unmarried until her father lay dying and, with no son to continue the dynasty, sought a son-in-law. Zoës elder sister, scarred by disease, had become a nun, while her younger sister, Theodora, was unattractive and uninterested in marriage. Zoë herself, still lovely despite her 50 years, eagerly accepted long-delayed conjugality. Her husband, the vain and incompetent aristocrat Romanus III Argyrus, soon tired of her, and his neglect drove her ardently to various...