Constantine VII in the context of "Romanos II"

Basil Lekapenos (Greek: Βασίλειος Λεκαπηνός, romanized: Basíleios Lekapēnós; c. 925 – c. 985), also called the Parakoimomenos (ὁ παρακοιμώμενος) or the Nothos (ὁ Νόθος, "the Bastard"), was an illegitimate child of the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos. He served as the grand chamberlain and chief minister of the Byzantine Empire for most of the period 947 to 985, under emperors Constantine VII (his brother-in-law), Romanos II (his nephew), Nikephoros II Phokas, John I Tzimiskes, and Basil II (his great nephew).

Autokrator or Autocrator (Ancient Greek: αὐτοκράτωρ, romanized: autokrátōr, lit. 'self-ruler', from αὐτός, autós, 'self' + κράτος, krátos, 'dominion') is a Greek epithet applied to an individual who is unrestrained by superiors. It has been applied to military commanders-in-chief as well as Roman and Byzantine emperors as the translation of the Latin title imperator. Its connection with Byzantine and Russian-style absolutism gave rise to the modern terms autocracy and autocrat.

Hierocles (Greek: Ἱεροκλῆς Hierokles) was a Byzantine geographer of the sixth century and the attributed author of the Synecdemus or Synekdemos, which contains a table of administrative divisions of the Byzantine Empire and lists of the cities of each. The work is dated to the reign of Justinian but prior to 535, as it divides the 912 listed cities in the Empire among 64 Eparchies. The Synecdemus is thus one of the most invaluable monuments which we have to study the political geography of the sixth century East. The work of Hierocles along with that of Stephanus of Byzantium were the principal sources of Constantine VII's work on the Themes (De Thematibus). Hierocles was published by Parthey (Hieroclis Synecdemus; Berlin, 1866) then in a corrected text, by A. Burckhardt in the Teubner series (Hieroclis Synecdemus; Leipzig, 1893). The most recent major publication was by E. Honigmann (Le Synekdèmos d'Hiéroklès et l'opuscule géographique de Georges de Chypre; Brussels, 1939).

The Synecdemus of Hierocles should not be confused with a Greek Orthodox prayer book by the same name.

Chaldia (Greek: Χαλδία, Khaldia) was a historical region located in the mountainous interior of the eastern Black Sea, northeast Anatolia (modern Turkey) in Western Asia. Its name was derived from a people called the Chaldoi (or Chalybes) that inhabited the region in antiquity. Chaldia was used throughout the Byzantine period and was established as a formal theme, known as the Theme of Chaldia (Greek: θέμα Χαλδίας), by 840. During the Late Middle Ages, it formed the core of the Empire of Trebizond until its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1461.

Anthony Bryer traces the origin of its name not to Chaldea, as Constantine VII had done, but to the Urartian language, for whose speakers Ḫaldi was the Sun God. Bryer notes at the time of his writing that a number of villages in the Of district were still known as "Halt". Other scholars, however, reject the Urartian connection. Χάλυψ, the tribe's name in Greek, means "tempered iron, steel", a term that passed into Latin as chalybs, "steel". Sayce derived the Greek name Chalybe from Hittite Khaly-wa, "land of Halys". More than an identifiable people or tribe, "Chalybes" was a generic Greek term for "peoples of the Black Sea coast who trade in iron".

The Belojević clan (Serbian Cyrillic: Белојевић), colloquially Travunian dynasty, was a local Slavic ruling clan from region surrounding Trebinje, a center of an early Slavic polity, Travunia. The clan was in vassal relations with the first Serbian Principality's ruling Vlastimirović's, but constantly strived for independence starting with the clan's progenitor Beloje, who sought to free himself of Serbian rule. Beloje was mentioned as the župan of Travunia in the chapter on the Serbs in De Administrando Imperio (DAI) of Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII (r. 945–959). Prince Vlastimir (r. 836–851) married his daughter to Beloje's son Krajina, and elevated him to the rank of archon, sometime prior the Bulgar–Serb War (839–842). Krajina's descendants were entitled to rule the region comprising the hinterland of Dubrovnik and Boka Kotorska, with seat at Trebinje, still under Serbian suzerainty. The clan is later mentioned in the semi-mythical Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, which mentioned that a descendant of Hvalimir, Dragomir, ruled Travunia in the second half of the 10th century, his brother Petrislav ruling Duklja and his son Stefan Vojislav later ruling Duklja and founding the Vojislavljević dynasty.

De Administrando Imperio (lit. 'On imperial administration'; Greek: Πρὸς τὸν ἴδιον υἱὸν Ῥωμανόν, lit. 'to my son Romanos') is a Greek-language work written by the 10th-century Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII. It is a domestic and foreign policy manual for the use of Constantine's son and successor, the Emperor Romanos II. It is a prominent example of Byzantine encyclopaedism.

Romanos I Lakapenos or Lekapenos (Greek: Ῥωμανός Λακαπηνός or Λεκαπηνός, romanized: Rōmanos Lakapēnos or Lekapēnos; c. 870 – 15 June 948), Latinized as Romanus I Lacapenus or Romanus I Lecapenus, was Byzantine emperor from 920 until his deposition in 944, serving as regent for and senior co-ruler of the young Constantine VII.

Bibliotheca Historica (Latin; Greek: Βιβλιοθήκη Ἱστορική, Bibliothḗkē Historikḗ), also known as the Historical Library or Library of History, is a work of universal history by Diodorus Siculus. It consisted of forty books, which were divided into three sections. The first six books are geographical in theme and describe the history and culture of Egypt (Book I), of Mesopotamia, India, Scythia, and Arabia (II), of North Africa (III), and of Greece and Europe (IV–VI). In the next ten books, he recounts human history starting with the Trojan War (Book VII) down to the death of Alexander the Great (XVII). The final section concerns the historical events from the successors of Alexander (Book XVIII) down to the time of the First Triumvirate of the late Roman Republic (XL). The end of the work has been lost, and it is unclear whether Diodorus actually reached the beginning of Caesar's Gallic War in 59 BC (as he promises at the beginning of the work) or, as evidence suggests, he stopped short at 60 BC owing to old age and weariness from his labors. He selected the name "Library" as an acknowledgement that he was assembling a composite work drawing from many sources. Of the authors he used, some who have been identified include Hecataeus of Abdera, Ctesias of Cnidus, Ephorus, Theopompus, Hieronymus of Cardia, Duris of Samos, Diyllus, Philistus, Timaeus, Polybius, and Posidonius.

Diodorus's immense work has not survived intact. Only Books I–V and Books XI–XX remain in their entirety. The rest exists only in fragments preserved in Photius and in the Excerpta of Constantine Porphyrogenitus.