Romanos I Lakapenos or Lekapenos (, Rōmanos I Lakapēnos or Lekapēnos; 870 – 15 June 948), Latinized as Romanus I Lecapenus, was Byzantine emperor from 920 until his deposition in 944, serving as regent for the young Constantine VII. Origin Romanos, born in Lakape (later Laqabin) between Melitene and Samosata (hence the name), was the son of a peasant with the remarkable name of Theophylact the Unbearable (Theophylaktos Abastaktos), usually identified as Armenian. However, according to the Byzantinist Anthony Kaldellis, Romanos is discussed in many Byzantine sources, but none of them calls him an Armenian. His father came from humble origin in the Armeniac Theme and that's the reason he was assumed to have been Armenian. This alleged ethnicity has been repeated so often in literature that it has acquired the status of a known fact, even though it is based on the most tenuous of indirect connections. Nevertheless, his father Theophylact, as a soldier, had rescued the Emperor Basil I from the enemy in battle at Tephrike and had been rewarded by a place in the Imperial Guard. Romanos' byname, now usually treated as a family name, was derived from his place of birth, Lakape, and is found mostly as Lakapenos in the sources, although English-language scholarship in particular prefers the form Lekapenos, in large part due to Sir Steven Runciman's 1928 study on the emperor. Although he did not receive any refined education (for which he was later abused by his son-in-law Constantine VII), Romanos advanced through the ranks of the army during the reign of Emperor Leo VI the Wise. In 911 he was general of the naval theme of Samos and later served as admiral of the fleet (droungarios tou ploimou). In this capacity he was supposed to participate in the Byzantine operations against Bulgaria on the Danube in 917, but he was unable to carry out his mission. In the aftermath of the disastrous Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Acheloos in 917 by the Bulgarians, Romanos sailed to Constantinople, where he gradually overcame the discredited regency of Empress Zoe Karvounopsina and her supporter Leo Phokas. Rise to power On 25 March 919, at the head of his fleet, Lekapenos seized the Boukoleon Palace and the reins of government. Initially, he was named magistros and megas hetaireiarches, but he moved swiftly to consolidate his position: in April 919 his daughter Helena was married to Constantine