The Byzantines considered themselves the true Romans. This follis by Leo VI bears the Byzantine Emperors' offcial title, BASILEVS ROMEON, Emperor of the Romans.

Leo VI the Wise (September 19, 866 – May 11, 912) was Byzantine emperor from 886 to 912 during one of the most brilliant periods of the state's history. The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. ... A follis of Galerius as caesar The follis (plural folles) was a large bronze coin introduced in about 294 with the coinage reform of Diocletian. ... September 19 is the 262nd day of the year (263rd in leap years). ... Events Fujiwara no Yoshifusa becomes regent of Japan, starting the Fujiwara regentship. ... May 11 is the 131st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (132nd in leap years). ... Events Orso II Participazio becomes Doge of Venice Patriarch Nicholas I Mysticus becomes patriarch of Constantinople Births November 23 - Otto I the Great Holy Roman Emperor (+ 973) Abd-ar-rahman III - prince of the Umayyad dynasty Deaths Oleg of Kiev Categories: 912 ... This is a list of Byzantine Emperors. ... Events The Glagolitic alphabet, devised by Cyril and Methodius, missionairies from Constantinople, is adopted in the Bulgarian Empire. ... Events Orso II Participazio becomes Doge of Venice Patriarch Nicholas I Mysticus becomes patriarch of Constantinople Births November 23 - Otto I the Great Holy Roman Emperor (+ 973) Abd-ar-rahman III - prince of the Umayyad dynasty Deaths Oleg of Kiev Categories: 912 ...

Background

He inherited from his father Basil I an empire that was stronger than it ever had been since the height of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century. However, he and his father hated each other; it is possible that Leo was not Basil's son at all, but the son of his predecessor, Michael III. Basil had almost had Leo blinded as a teenager. In 886, Basil died in a hunting accident, though he claimed on his deathbed that there was an assassination attempt in which Leo was possibly involved. Basil, his son Constantine, and his second wife, emperess Eudoxia Ingerina. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation) The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Augustus), until its radical reformation in what was later to be known as the Byzantine... // Overview Events The Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east, 230 - 232 Crisis of the Third Century shakes Roman Empire Emperor Valerian I is taken captive by the Persian King of Kings Shapur I, 260 End of Yayoi era and beginning of... This coin struck during the regency of Theodora shows how Michael was less prominent than his mother, who is represented as ruler alone on the obverse, and even than his sister Thecla, who is depicted together with the young Michael on the reverse of this coin. ... It has been suggested that Targeted killing be merged into this article or section. ...

Leo's somewhat absurd surname may be explained by the facts that he "was less ignorant than the greater part of his contemporaries in church and state, that his education had been directed by the learned Photius, and that several books of profane and ecclesiastical science were composed by the pen, or in the name, of the imperial philosopher" (Gibbon). Leo completed work on the Basilica, the Greek translation and update of the law code created by Justinian I, which had been started during the reign of Basil. Photius (b. ... Edward Gibbon (1737-1794). ... Justinian I depicted on a mosaic in the church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy The Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law) is a fundamental work in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor. ... Justinian I depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the St. ...

Fourth marriage dispute

Leo caused a major scandal with his numerous marriages which failed to produce a legitimate heir to the throne. His first wife, whom Basil had forced him to marry, died in 897, and he re-married Zoë Zaützina, daughter of his counsellor Zaützes, though she died as well in 899. Upon this marriage Leo created the title of basilopator ("father of the emperor") for his father-in-law. Events January - the Cadaver Synod July/August- Pope Stephen VII dies and is succeeded by Pope Romanus. ... Events Edward the Elder becomes King of England. ... The Byzantine Empire had a complex system of aristocracy and bureaucracy. ...

After Zoë's death a third marriage was technically illegal, but he married again, only to have his third wife die in 901. Instead of marrying a fourth time, which would have been an even greater sin than a third marriage (according to the Patriarch Nicholas Mysticus) Leo instead took a mistress, Zoe "of the coal eyes". He was allowed to marry her when she gave birth to a son in 904, but with many penalties, such as the refusal to legitimize his wife as empress. Events Mesoamerican ballgame court dedicated at Uxmal Kingdom of Taebong established in Korean peninsula Fuzhou city was expanded with construction of a new city wall (Luo City). Births Deaths February 18 - Thabit ibn Qurra, Arab astronomer and mathematician Categories: 901 ... Nicholas Mysticus (d. ... Zoe and her son, emperor Constantine VII. Zoe Karvounopsina, or Carbonopsina (Coal-Eyes), was fourth wife of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI and mother of Constantine VII. Leo had caused a controversy in the Orthodox church by marrying for a third time. ... Constantine and his mother Zoë. Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos (the Purple-born) (Constantinople, 905 – Constantinople, November 9, 959) was the son of Byzantine emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife Zoe Karvounopsina. ... Events Accession of Sergius III Destruction of Changan, the capital of Tang Dynasty and the largest city in the ancient world. ...

War troubles

Leo VI and his father Basil.

Leo was a weak-minded ruler, chiefly occupied with unimportant wars with barbarians and struggles with churchmen. He was not as successful in battle as Basil had been. Basil had never lost to the Bulgarians, but in 894 they routed Leo's army. In 895 he was more successful, after first allying with the Magyars, but in 896, without Magyar help, the Byzantines were again defeated. Finally, Bulgarian Symeon, who assumed the title of "Czar of the Bulgarians and autocrat of the Romaei" secured the independence of his church by the establishment of a patriarchate. Image File history File links Emperors Basil I and Leo VI. Illumination from the chronicle of John Scylitzae. ... Image File history File links Emperors Basil I and Leo VI. Illumination from the chronicle of John Scylitzae. ... Births Deaths Events Northumbrians and East Angles swear allegiance to Alfred the Great. ... Events Bohemia breaks away from Great Moravia Arnulf of Carinthia undertakes his second Italian campaign Approximate date of composition of the Musica enchiriadis, the beginnings of western polyphonic music Births Athelstan of England Erik Bloodaxe, king of Norway 933-935 (+954) Deaths Categories: 895 ... Magyars are an ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary. ... Events The Bulgarians, under Simeon I, defeat the Byzantine Empire at Bulgarophygon. ... Tsar Simeon the Great (Bulgarian: Цар Симеон Велики, Tsar Simeon Veliki) (lived c. ... Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. ...

The chief event of his middle reign was the capture of Thessalonica (904) by Muslim pirates (described in The Capture of Thessalonica by John Cameniata) under the renegade Leo of Tripolis. In 907 Constantinople was attacked by the Kievan Rus', who were seeking favourable trading rights with the empire. Leo paid them off, but they attacked again in 911, and a trade treaty was finally signed. The White Tower The Arch of Galerius Map showing the Thessaloníki prefecture Thessaloníki (Θεσσαλονίκη) is the second-largest city of Greece and is the principal city and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia. ... Events Oleg leads Kievan Rus in a campaign against Constantinople Yelü Abaoji establishes Liao (Khitan) dynasty Births Deaths Categories: 907 ... Map of Constantinople. ... Kievan Rus′ was the early, mostly East Slavic state dominated by the city of Kiev, located in modern Ukraine, from about 880 to the middle of the 12th century. ... the towers fell hahaha i hate black people and jews ...

In Sicily and Calabria the imperial arms were unsuccessful, as the Arabs defeated his fleet when he attempted to take back Crete in 912. After this defeat Leo quickly became ill and died. As his son was still a child, Leo's brother and nominal (though powerless) co-emperor Alexander became full emperor. Sicilian disambiguates here; see also Sicilian language or Sicilian Defence. ... Calabria, formerly Brutium, is a region in southern Italy which occupies the toe of the Italian peninsula south of Naples. ... -1... Greece and Crete Crete (Greek Κρήτη / Kriti, in Turkish: Girit) is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. ... Events Orso II Participazio becomes Doge of Venice Patriarch Nicholas I Mysticus becomes patriarch of Constantinople Births November 23 - Otto I the Great Holy Roman Emperor (+ 973) Abd-ar-rahman III - prince of the Umayyad dynasty Deaths Oleg of Kiev Categories: 912 ... Alexander III (870 - 913) was the son of Basil I and the brother of Byzantine emperor Leo VI. Alexander had been named co-emperor during Leos rule. ...

Legends

Probably inspired by stories about the ways of Harun al-Rashid, he would sometimes disguise himself and look for injustice or corruption. On one account, he was even captured by the city guards during one of his investigations. He wanted to know if the city patrol was doing its job appropriately. He was walking alone, disguised, late in the evening without any documentation. He bribed two patrols for 12 nomizmas, and moved on. But, the third city patrol arrested him. When a terrified guardian recognized the ruler in the morning, he was rewarded to his duty, and other patrols have been dismissed and punished severely. Persian miniature depicting Harun al-Rashid. ...

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Leo VI