…the Bagratid king of Ani, Hovhannes-Smbat III,…

…the Bagratid king of Ani, Hovhannes-Smbat III, is compelled to make the emperor heir to his estates.

His enthronement in 1020 had been strongly opposed by his younger brother Ashot, who one year later in 1021 rebels against him, driving his forces to Ani, the capital, surrounding and conquering the city and dethroning his brother and usurping power from him.

Following a compromise agreement between the two feuding brothers, he agrees to withdraw his rebel forces from Ani and allow the legal heir to return to power, continuing rule as Hovhannes-Smbat III of Ani over limited areas around the capital, whereas Ashot (known as Ashot IV Qadj) is enthroned as a concurrent king and ruler in further Armenian provinces closer to Persia and Georgia.

The annexation of Armenia, the homeland of many of the East Roman empire’s great emperors and soldiers, will help to solidify Empire’s eastern wall for nearly a century.