Co-emperor Romanus I Lekapenos had in 917 been admiral of the imperial fleet on the Danube when, hearing of the defeat of the army at Achelous, he resolved to sail for Constantinople.

Soon after the marriage of his daughter Helena to Emperor Constantine VII, he was crowned colleague of his son-in-law and, from 920, has exercised all real power.

In 927, after a series of eco-disasters, including a plague, he calls for another forced conversion of Jews, and in 932 commands that the Jews in the realm be forcibly baptized.

Though it results in a mass emigration of Jews, many of whom find welcome in Khazaria, his decree is never fully realized.