Constantine IX is not outstanding for his diplomacy.

It is under his auspices, however, that the University of Constantinople is reorganized, with an efflorescence of learning and letters.

He endows the university with a new charter in 1045, partly to ensure a steady flow of educated civil servants for the bureaucracy.

The urban aristocracy of Constantinople, reacting against the brutalization of war, is striving to make the city a center of culture and sophistication.

Constantine belongs to the civil party, the opponents of the military magnates, and he neglects the defenses of the empire and reduces the army.

He spends extravagant sums on luxuries and magnificent buildings and seriously debases the coinage.

Rebellions have broken out at home and abroad.