Romanos Lakapenos (son of Christophoros)

Romanos Lakapenos (also Lekapenos , Middle Greek Ρωμανός Λακαπηνός ; * around 920; † before April 927 probably in Constantinople ) was a Byzantine co-emperor.

Life

Romanos was probably the oldest son of Christophoros Lakapenos and his wife Sophia . His siblings were Michael , Maria-Irene (who later became the wife of the Bulgarian Tsar Peter I ) and another sister who died early. From his grandfather Romanos I. Lakapenos , the young Romanos was raised to co-emperor (Symbasileus) as a toddler , either at the same time or shortly after his uncles Stephanos and Konstantin, who were about the same age . On December 25, 923 (or 924) they were promoted to the Imperial College, to which at that time, in addition to their grandfather and father, Constantine VII , who had been relegated as main emperor in 921, also belonged. Romanos died soon after, still as a child, because after April 927 he was no longer mentioned in any imperial documents or acclamation lists .

swell

Michael Psellos , Historia Syntomos 102
John Zonaras 16, 18-19

literature

Alexander P. Kazhdan (Ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford University Press, New York NY 1991, ISBN 0-19-504652-8 , pp. 1203-1204.
Otto Kresten , Andreas E. Müller : Samtherrschaft, legitimation principle and imperial document title in Byzantium in the first half of the 10th century (= session reports Austrian Academy of Sciences, philosophical-historical class. Volume 630). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1995, ISBN 3-70-012226-8 .
Ralph-Johannes Lilie , Claudia Ludwig, Thomas Pratsch, Beate Zielke, Harald Bichlmeier, Bettina Krönung, Daniel Föller, Alexander Beihammer , Günter Prinzing : Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period . 2nd department: (867-1025). Volume 5: Niketas (# 25702) - Sinapes (# 27088). Created after preliminary work by F. Winkelmann . Published by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. De Gruyter, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-11-016670-5 , pp. 606-607 No. 26840.

Remarks

↑ The name is only passed down from Zonaras and Michael Psellos.
↑ Since Romanos, unlike his younger brother Michael , is not referred to in the sources as Porphyrogennetos , he must have been born before his father's coronation as co-emperor in May 921.
↑ Cf. Zonaras 16, 18: “ Romanus (...) suo et filii natu maximi (sc. Christophoros) diademate non contentus, etiam reliquos filios (sc. Stephanos, Konstantin), et nepotem ex Christophoro coronavit. "In connection with the rise of Christophoros before Constantine VII on October 10, 927, Zonaras (16, 19) adds:" etiam duos reliquos suos filios ante Constantinum salutare iussit, et primus quintus est factus (note: von Kresten / Müller refuted; Constantine VII always ranks before the two in the documents), eique minor etiam Romanus praepositus fuisset, nisi ante decessisset . “This“ unrealized elevation intention ”of the young Romanos refers to his rise in rank within the imperial college, not to the earlier elevation to co-emperor as such. This passage also shows that the young Romanos must have been dead by this time.
↑ See Kresten / Müller, Samtherrschaft. S. 37. Its absence in a document dated April 927 for the southern Italian monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno is particularly noteworthy, because otherwise all five reigning emperors are named (cf. Kresten / Müller, p. 24f.).

personal data
SURNAME	Romanos Lakapenos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Romanos Lekapenos; Ρωμανὸς Λακαπηνός (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Byzantine co-emperor
DATE OF BIRTH	around 920
DATE OF DEATH	before April 927
Place of death	Constantinople

[1] The name is only passed down from Zonaras and Michael Psellos.

[2] Since Romanos, unlike his younger brother Michael , is not referred to in the sources as Porphyrogennetos , he must have been born before his father's coronation as co-emperor in May 921.

[3] Cf. Zonaras 16, 18: “ Romanus (...) suo et filii natu maximi (sc. Christophoros) diademate non contentus, etiam reliquos filios (sc. Stephanos, Konstantin), et nepotem ex Christophoro coronavit. "In connection with the rise of Christophoros before Constantine VII on October 10, 927, Zonaras (16, 19) adds:" etiam duos reliquos suos filios ante Constantinum salutare iussit, et primus quintus est factus (note: von Kresten / Müller refuted; Constantine VII always ranks before the two in the documents), eique minor etiam Romanus praepositus fuisset, nisi ante decessisset . “This“ unrealized elevation intention ”of the young Romanos refers to his rise in rank within the imperial college, not to the earlier elevation to co-emperor as such. This passage also shows that the young Romanos must have been dead by this time.

[4] See Kresten / Müller, Samtherrschaft. S. 37. Its absence in a document dated April 927 for the southern Italian monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno is particularly noteworthy, because otherwise all five reigning emperors are named (cf. Kresten / Müller, p. 24f.).