Constantine VII (Porphyrogenetos) ascended the throne as a child, with a regency composed of his mother, Zoë, the patriarch Nikolas, and John Eladas. Constantine was a learned man of artistic tastes. He never really governed, leaving the actual conduct of affairs to strong men who were associated with him.
The Bulgarian threat. Symeon styled himself emperor (tsar) of the Romans and undoubtedly hoped to possess himself of the imperial crown. In 913 he appeared at Constantinople; in 914 he took Adrianople, only to lose it again. But in 917 he defeated a Byzantine army at Anchialus. The war ended only after Symeon's death in 927.
Romanus Lecapenus, coemperor with Constantine. He was the emperor's father-in-law, an able but ruthless Armenian whose whole policy was designed to strengthen his own control and establish that of his family.
Brilliant campaigns of the Byzantine general John Kurkuas in the east. He took the modern Erzerum (928) and Melitene (934) and extended the imperial power to the Euphrates and Tigris.
The empire suffered from a great famine, which probably explains the stringent legislation of the government to prevent the purchase of small holdings by the great landed magnates.
