Constantine VIII
960 – 1028 · Generation XXV · Emperor (r. 1025–1028) · Macedonian
Constantine (AD 960 – 1028). Emperor (r. 1025–1028). Co-emperor from 962, sole ruler only 1025–1028. Across sixty-six years Constantine wore the purple in name beside a parade of stronger men — his father, his stepfather Nikephoros Phokas, his uncle John Tzimiskes, and finally his brother Basil II — making him, on paper, the longest-reigning Roman emperor since Augustus. Ruling never interested him: he cared nothing for government, diplomacy or the army, and when Basil's death at last left him alone on the throne, the administration slid into disorder and drift. Having no son, he settled the succession by marrying his daughter Zoe to Romanos Argyros, who followed him as emperor.
One of 16 people of Macedonian (811–1057) in this archive. The empire’s widest reach — a house of soldier-emperors and scholars.
Line of descent: Basil I → Leo VI → Constantine VII → Romanos II → Constantine VIII.
Parents
- Romanos II (938 – 963)
- Theophano (941 – 976)
Siblings
Children
- Theodora III (980 – 1056)
- Zoe (978 – 1050)