Michael Psellos was educated in Constantinople. At around the age of ten, he was sent to work outside the capital as a secretary of a provincial judge, to help his family raise the dowry for his sister. When his sister died, he gave up that position and returned to Constantinople to resume his studies. While studying under John Mauropus, he met the later Patriarchs Constantine Leichoudes and John Xiphilinos, and the later emperor Constantine X Doukas. For some time, he worked in the provinces again, now a judge. Some time before 1042 he returned again to Constantinople, where he got a junior position at court as a secretary () in the imperial chancellery and began a rapid ascent at court. He became an influential political advisor to emperor Constantine IX Monomachos (reigned 1042–1055) and became the leading professor at the University of Constantinople, bearing the honorary title of "Chief of the Philosophers" ( hypatos tōn philosophōn). Despite his eminence and prowess in learning, his knowledge of Latin was cloudy enough for him to confuse Cicero with Caesar. This is cited as a prime example of how the Eastern Roman Empire had lost nearly all of its connections to its Roman roots by the High Middle Ages.
Michael Psellos was educated in Constantinople. At around the age of ten, he was sent to work outside the capital as a secretary of a provincial judge, to help his family raise the dowry for his sister When his sister died, he gave up that position and returned to Constantinople to resume his studies. While studying under John Mauropus, he met the later Patriarchs Constantine Leichoudes and John Xiphilinos, and the later emperor Constantine X Doukas. For some time, he worked in the provinces again, now a judge. Some time before 1042 he returned again to Constantinople, where he got a junior position at court as a secretary () in the imperial chancellery and began a rapid ascent at court. He became an influential political advisor to emperor Constantine IX Monomachos (reigned 1042–1055) and became the leading professor at the University of Constantinople, bearing the honorary title of "Chief of the Philosophers" ( hypatos tōn philosophōn). Despite his eminence and prowess in learning, his knowledge of Latin was cloudy enough for him to confuse Cicero with Caesar. This is cited as a prime example of how the Eastern Roman Empire had lost nearly all of its connections to its Roman roots by the High Middle Ages