Editing Romanos I Lekapenos (section)

==Internal policies==
[[File:BodrumCamii20070529 01.jpg|thumb|The palace church at [[Bodrum Mosque|Myrelaion]], commissioned by Romanos I as a family shrine in 922 in Constantinople.]]

Romanos I Lekapenos attempted to strengthen the Byzantine Empire by seeking peace everywhere that it was possible—his dealings with Bulgaria and Kievan Rus' have been described above.  To protect Byzantine Thrace from Magyar incursions (such as the ones in 934 and 943), Romanos paid them protection money and pursued diplomatic avenues.  The [[Khazars]] were the allies of the Byzantines until the reign of Romanos, when he started persecuting the [[Jew]]s of the empire. According to the [[Schechter Letter]], the Khazar ruler [[Joseph (Khazar)|Joseph]] responded to the persecution of Jews by "doing away with many [[Christians]]", and Romanos retaliated by inciting [[Oleg of Novgorod]] (called ''Helgu'' in the letter) against Khazaria.<ref name="Rus">"[https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-1/rus-SIM_3730 Rus]". ''[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]''</ref>

Similarly, Romanos re-established peace within the church and overcame the new conflict between [[Papacy|Rome]] and Constantinople by promulgating the ''Tomos of Union'' in 920.  In 933 Romanos took advantage of a vacancy on the patriarchal throne to name his young son [[Patriarch Theophylaktos of Constantinople|Theophylaktos]] [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|patriarch of Constantinople]].  The new patriarch did not achieve renown for his piety and spirituality, but he added theatrical elements to the Byzantine liturgy and was an avid horse-breeder, allegedly leaving mass to tend to one of his favorite mares when she was giving birth.

Romanos was active as a legislator, promulgating a series of laws to protect small landowners from being swallowed up by the estates of the land-owning nobility (''[[dynatoi]]'').  The legislative reform may have been partly inspired by hardship caused by the famine of 927 and the subsequent semi-popular revolt of [[Basil the Copper Hand]].  The emperor also managed to increase the taxes levied on the aristocracy and established the state on a more secure financial footing.  Romanos was also able to effectively subdue revolts in several provinces of the empire, most notably in Chaldia, the [[Peloponnese]], and [[Southern Italy]].

He incorporated the Armenian fortress of [[Citharizum]] into the empire in 942 and renamed it Romanopolis (Ρωμανούπολις). In Constantinople, he built his palace in the place called Myrelaion, near the [[Sea of Marmara]]. Beside it Romanos built [[Bodrum Mosque|a shrine]] which became the first example of a private burial church of a Byzantine emperor. Moreover, he erected [[Arslan Hane, Istanbul|a chapel]] devoted to [[Christ Chalkites]] near the [[Chalke|Chalke Gate]], the monumental entrance to the [[Great Palace of Constantinople|Great Palace]].