De Administrando Imperio

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.

The emperor Constantine VII "Porphyrogenitus" (905–959) was only surviving son of the emperor Leo VI the Wise (886–912). Leo VI gave the crown to young Constantine VII in 908 and he became the co-emperor. Leo VI died in May 912, and his brother and co-emperor Alexander became the ruler of Constantinople, but Alexander died in 913.

Constantine VII was too young to rule on his own, and the governorship was created. Later in May 919 Constantine VII married Helena Lekapene, daughter of Romanos Lekapenos. In December 920, Romanos I Lekapenos (920–944) was crowned a co-emperor, but he really took over the imperial reign in Constantinople. From 920, Constantine VII become increasingly distant from the imperial authorities; until December 944, when the sons of Emperor Romanos I suddenly rebelled and cloistered their father. Constantine VII, with the help of his supporters, cloistered his brothers-in-law, and personally ruled by the Eastern Roman Empire from January 945 to his death in November 959.

Constantine's father, Leo was known for his learning and writings, and, correctly or not, Constantine VII also believed that his mother, Zoe Karbonopsina, was a relative of the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor, one of the Middle Byzantine Historians. Constantine VII was a scholar-emperor, who sought to foster learning and education in the empire. He gathered a group of educated people and dedicated himself to writing books about the administration, ceremonies, and history of the empire. A circle of educated people formed around Constantine VII wrote three unfinished books (De Administrando Imperio, De Ceremoniis and On the Themes) and finished a biography of his grandfather, Basil I.

The text known as De Administrando Imperio was written by emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, but he had at least one educated "Anonymous Collaborator". Constantine VII's direct appeals to his son Romanus II and Constantine's first-person commentaries are located both at the beginning of the treatise in the Proem and in chapter 13, as well as at the end of the text, in chapter 51. In this text his son Romanus II is never designated as a self-sustained ruler. Thus, the whole De Administrando Imperio must have been written while Constantine VII was still alive.

It is said that De Administrando Imperio was written between 948 and 952. Chapters 27, 29, and 45 of the work support that view. Chapter 29 says, "now (today) is the VII indiction, the year 6457 from the creation of the world," and Byzantine year 6457 from the creation of the world corresponds with 948/949. Chapter 45 says, "now (today) is the X indiction, the year from the creation of the world 6460 in the reign of Constantine [VII] and Romanus [II]," and Byzantine year 6460 from the creation of the world corresponds with 951/952. From this, it would appear that some parts of the work were written in the period 948-952. According to other researchers, De Administrando Imperio was compiled at some point after 952 and before November 959 when Constantine VII died. Still others believe the book just an unfinished manuscript written between about 926 and November 959.

In the beginning of the De Administrando Imperio, Constantine VII wrote that the work was a set of knowledge which his son Romanos II (born in 938, and ruled 959–963) will need. The intention of Emperor Constantine VII to write a manual for his successor, Romanos II, reduces the possibility that large untruths have been written. Therefore, De Administrando Imperio is one of the most important sources for the study of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) and its neighbors.

It contains advice on ruling the heterogeneous empire as well as fighting foreign enemies. The work combines two of Constantine's earlier treatises, "On the Governance of the State and the various Nations" (Περὶ Διοικήσεως τοῦ Κράτους βιβλίον καὶ τῶν διαφόρων Ἐθνῶν), concerning the histories and characters of the nations neighbouring the Empire, including the Hungarians, Pechenegs, Kievan Rus', South Slavs, Arabs, Lombards, Armenians, and Georgians; and the "On the Themes of East and West" (Περὶ θεμάτων Ἀνατολῆς καὶ Δύσεως, known in Latin as De Thematibus), concerning recent events in the imperial provinces. To this combination were added Constantine's own political instructions to his son, Romanus.