1. Birth-Family background

Romanos Lakapenos was born around 870 in the village of Lakape, near Melitene and was of Armenian descent, like many of the soldiers and officers coming from Asia Minor in this period. The first of his lineage, named after their place of descent, was Romanos’ father, Theophylaktos Avestaktos. According to 10^th-century sources (written during the reign of Romanos, possibly under his influence), Theophylaktos happened to save the life of the Emperor Basil I in battle. Apparently Romanos’ father belonged to the higher ranks of Byzantine society and was not a simple peasant from Armenia. Romanos Lekapenos was married to Theodora, with whom he had four sons, Christopher, Stephanos, Constantine and Theophylaktos, and one daughter, Helen. He also had an illegitimate son, Basil, an eunuch, with a woman of ‘‘Skythian’’ (Slavic?) origin.

2. Activity

Romanos Lekapenos was a characteristic example, attesting that every Byzantine could rise to the higher levels of Byzantine society by means of his skills and activity. One of the most effective ways was by pursuing a military career. Romanos Lekapenos had been a strategos of the theme of Samos, before ascending to the office of droungarios of the Byzantine fleet; this was the highlight of his career in the army. This office was not one of the highest in the Byzantine army, since these were reserved for the commanders of the eastern army (as opposed to the navy). However, it gave Romanos the chance to excel and enter the higher levels of society.

3. Ascension to the imperial throne

After the death of the Emperors Leo VI (May 912) and Alexander (June 913), the throne was left to Leo’s seven-year-old son, Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos. At the time, the Byzantine Empire was almost constantly at war with the ruler of Bulgaria Symeon, who aspired to seize the imperial throne. The first regent, the Patriarch Nicolas I Mystikos, was overthrown for conceding too much to the wishes of Symeon. The regency then passed to Zoe Karbonopsina, Constantine’s mother, who decided to defeat the Bulgar ruler in battle.

At the time, commander of the Byzantine army was Leo Phokas, domestikos ton scholon, a most capable and famous general (son of Nikephoros Phokas the Old and uncle of the future emperor Nikephoros II Phokas). Romanos Lekapenos was in charge of the fleet. On August 20, 917, the Byzantine forces suffered a great defeat by the river Acheloos, near Anchialos, and Symeon found the opportunity to march against northern Greece in 918. This caused great rivalry for the imperial throne among the leading generals, who sensed the Empress Zoe’s inability to rule. With the support of the fleet, Romanos Lekapenos managed to overtake his opponents, especially his most important rival, Leo Phokas. He led the fleet to Constantinople and negotiated with one of the most influential people inside the city walls, the Patriach Nicolas Mystikos. Reaching an agreement with the Patriarch and teacher of the young Emperor Constantine, Romanos Lekapenos entered the Great Palace. After swearing his allegiance to the underage emperor and marrying him with his own daughter Helen (May 919), he received the title of basileopator (lit. father of the emperor).

In 920, in association with the Patriarch Nicolas Mystikos, Lekapenos organised a council in Constantinople, in order to resolve an internal issue of the Church, between the supporters of Mystikos and the former Patriarch Euthymios (907-912). In the wake of the dispute on the tetragamy of Emperor Leo VI, Mystikos had been removed from the patriarchal throne and replaced by Euthymios. After Leo VI’s death, Nikolas Mystikos returned to the patriarchal throne, but was not recognised as patriarch by Euthymios’ supporters. The situation was further aggravated by the issue of the tetragamy, which remained unresolved. The Council that Romanos had called resulted in the Tomos of Union, in which the emperor condemned the tetragamy and was hailed by the Patriarch Mystikos as the man who had restored peace in the divided Church.¹

Within the next few months, Romanos’ position to the throne was further strengthened, as he received the title of caesar and on December 17, 920, he was crowned co-emperor by his son in law, Constantine VII; by that action, the imperial throne was practicaly handed over to him.²

4. Policy

4.1. Foreign policy

Upon his ascension to throne, Romanos I Lekapenos was faced with a twofold external threat to the Empire: Symeon, who ruled the Balkans, and the Arabs, who were threatening Byzantine territory in Asia Minor.

Symeon demanded his previous agreement with the Patriarch Nicolas Mystikos, which provided that Symeon’s daughter would marry Constantine Porphyrogennetos, to be brought to effect. Romanos, aided by Nicolas Mystikos, managed to reach an agreement with Symeon, whom he met in person near the walls of Constantinople in 923/934. However, the real danger was completely eradicated only after Symeon’s death in 927. Symeon’s son Peter was more willing to restore peace, as was Byzantium. A peace treaty was signed between the two states and Romanos’ granddaughter (the daughter of his son Christopher) Maria, was married to the Bulgarian tsar. The wedding was performed by the Patriarch Stephen II near the Byzantine capital; in honour of the restored peace, Romanos’ granddaughter was renamed Eirene (lit. peace).³

The battles against the Arabs in the East, during the reign of Romanos Lekapenos, were very successful, mainly thanks to the leader of the army, John Kourkouas; Romanos I made him a member of his family and gave him the title of domestikos ton scholon in 923. One of the greatest successes against the Arabs, especially for its symbolic meaning, was the transport, in 944, of the Holy Mandylion from Edessa to Constantinople; the Mandylion was the most illustrious acheiropoietos icon of Christ.⁴

4.2. Internal policies

Even though he had sworn to protect the rights of Constantine Porphyrogennetos and to preserve the legitimacy of the Macedonian dynasty, Romanos Lekapenos, shortly after his rise to power, was quick to crown co-emperors his own sons Christopher, Stephen and Constantine. Christopher was even crowned first co-emperor, placing Constantine VII to the third place in the hierarchy after Romanos I and Christopher. Romanos managed to ordain his fourth son Theophylaktos patriarch of Constantinople (possibly with the help and support of Arethas, bishop of Caesarea), on February 2, 933, when he was only 16 years old. Having secured his authority by appointing members of his family in the highest offices, Romanos aspired to quietly push Constantine VII aside and establish his own dynasty. However, after the death of his beloved son Christopher in 931 and disappointed by the behaviour of his two other crowned sons, Stephen and Constantine, Romanos did not promote either of them to the position of first co-emperor .⁵

What is more, Romanos I founded the monastery of Myrelaion, whose catholicon (mod. Bodrum Camii) was intended to become the funerary church for his family (according to Theophanes Continuatus, Romanos converted his own palace into a monastery). This church was one of the first to be built on a cross-in-square plan, an architectural type which became very popular in the following centuries, and it was attached to the complex of Romanos’ palace. It was possibly completed in 922, when Romanos’ wife Theodora was buried there. In 931 his first born son Christopher was also buried there, followed by his son Constantine in 946 and his wife a little earlier. In 948 Romanos’ own remains were transferred in the crypt. The last member of the Lekapenos family to be buried in the church of Myrelaiou was Helen, Romanos Lekapenos’ daughter, the widow of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos and mother of Romanos II.⁶

Apart from his dynastic problems, Romanos I had to address the issue of the small landowners, who were constantly becoming poorer and were forced to sell their land in a very low price to the dynatoi. In order to protect these small landowners – on whom the tax system of the state depended – Romanos I issued two novellae in 928 and 934. He granted the right of the protimesis, with which on the instance of a piece of land being bought, there was a priority of potential buyers who belonged in five categories, all related to the owner (co-owners and neighbours); this made it more difficult for the large landowners to buy land from poorer peasants. The second novella of 934 was issued after a period of great hardship, during which the dynatoi had taken the opportunity to buy small landowners’ land in very low prices. The novella gave the right to the small landowners to buy their land back in a low price, using the right of protimesis. The struggle of the state to stop the powerful noble families, who could easily challenge the imperial power, from accumulating large amounts of land continued for decades after Romanos’ death.⁷

5. Dethronement and death

Romanos I’s efforts to establish his own dynasty were undermined by the actions of his own sons, Stephen and Constantine. On December 20, 944, the two co-emperors, fearing that their father might make Constantine VII his heir instead of one of them, arrested Romanos I and sent him in exile to the island Proti. Only a month later, on January 27, 945, Constantine VII eliminated the two brothers, who had lost their right to the throne by trying to usurp the imperial power; they were sent to exile and died there. Thus, the Lekapenos family was overthrown from imperial power but the Macedonian dynasty was united with the Lekapenoi in Romanos II, son of Constantine VII Porphyrogennitos and Helen, daughter of Romanos I.

As for Romanos I Lekapenos, he died as a monk, in exile, on June 15, 948. His remains were transported to his own institution, the church of Myrelaion.⁸