 With Romanos I approaching the end of his life , the matter of his succession became urgent . In 943 , Romanos drafted a will which would leave Constantine VII as the senior emperor following his death . This greatly upset his two sons , who feared that their brother @-@ in @-@ law would have them deposed and force them to take monastic vows . Motivated , in the opinion of Steven Runciman , partially by self @-@ preservation and partially from genuine ambition , they started planning to seize power through a coup d 'état , with Stephen apparently the ringleader and Constantine a rather reluctant partner . 
