Yaropolk’s Kievan forces defeat his brother Oleg’s Drevlian troops in 977; Oleg is slain while fleeing.

Vladimir goes to Scandinavia to seek aid against his surviving sibling.

Returning in 978 with Norse mercenaries, he seizes Polotsk.

Boleslaus II, the son of Boleslaus I and Biagota, had become Duke (or Prince) of Bohemia on his father's death.

Boleslaus has maintained good relations with the Ottonian German kings, and from 975 supports Otto II during the civil war against Henry II, Duke of Bavaria.

Called Henry the Wrangler, he is defeated in 976 and stripped of his Duchy.

Bavaria has lost her first southeastern marches, including Austria, as a consequence of Duke Henry’s revolt.

Boleslaus again attacks Bavaria in 977, but on this occasion is barred from annexing any lands by Otto II.

Roman is the second surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria by his marriage with Maria (renamed Eirene) Lekapene, the granddaughter of the Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos.

It is possible that he had the double name Roman-Simeon, but this may be due to confusion with another man in the sources.

He was born around 930, and had probably visited Constantinople with his mother and older brothers soon after 931.

We know nothing about Roman's life until 968, when he joined his older brother Boris in Constantinople to negotiate a peace agreement between Bulgaria and the Empire, during which they apparently served as honorary hostages at the imperial court.

On their father's abdication in 969, Boris and Roman had returned to Bulgaria, where Boris II had succeeded as emperor.

Roman may have been proclaimed co-emperor in accordance with imperial Greek usage, but the evidence for that is vague.

In Bulgaria, Roman probably had shared his brother's destiny, becoming first a pawn in the hands of Prince Sviatoslav I of Kiev and then in those of the Emperor John I Tzimiskes.

After the latter's victory in 971, Roman had been taken to Constantinople together with his brother's family.

To ensure that the Bulgarian royal dynasty will die out (Boris II apparently has only daughters), the emperor has Roman castrated.

Boris and Roman had remained in honorary captivity at the imperial palace until after the death of the emperor in 976.

At this point the raids of the Kometopouloi into Constantinople’s possessions in Macedonia lead to an imperial stratagem intended to divide the leadership of the still-unconquered Bulgarian lands in the west.

After the Empire’s plan to use Aaron to cause instability in Bulgaria fails, they try to encourage the rightful heirs to the throne, Boris II and Roman, to oppose Samuel.

Basil II hopes that they will win the support of the nobles and isolate Samuel or perhaps even start a Bulgarian civil war.

Temporarily jailed, Boris and Roman are allowed to escape in 977.

During their attempt to cross the Bulgarian border, Boris II is taken for an enemy and killed by a guard who had been misled by Basil’s clothing.

Roman, who is walking some distance behind, manages to identify himself to the Bulgarian patrols, and is taken to Vidin, where he is proclaimed Emperor of Bulgaria.

Samuel becomes his first lieutenant and general and together they gather an army to fight the Empire.

Samuel is certain to eventually succeed Roman.

The new emperor entrusts Samuel with the state administration and becomes occupied with church and religious affairs.

The Ghaznavids, a Muslim Turkish dynasty, establish rule over the region of present Afghanistan and eastern Iran from 977, championing Sunnite Islam against the Shiite Buyid dynasty in Iran.

The Hamdanids in northern Syria had allied themselves with the Qarmatians to drive the Fatimids from Syria in 976.

The Fatimids return the following year with a greater force and rout the allies at the Battle of Ramleh, thus consolidating southern Syria under Fatimid rule.

A conspiracy has meanwhile arisen in Bavaria.

The conspirators—Henry I, Bishop of Augsburg; the recently deposed Duke Henry II; and Henry I, Duke of Carinthia—even have the support of the Church.

Otto, allied with Otto I, Duke of Swabia and Bavaria, marches first on Passau, held by the rebels.

The town surrenders in September due to his siege tactics, which include a bridge of boats.

The Song make enormous gains in commerce and rice cultivation in this era.

Chinese scholars initially publish the Tàipíng guǎngjì (Extensive Records of the Taiping Era) in 978.

One of the Four Great Books of Song, the work documents various stories of Chinese myths and subjects of theology.

Divided into five hundred volumes when complete, it consists of over three million written Chinese characters.

Emperor Taizu had been successful in nearly completing the incorporation of the southern kingdoms into the Song Dynasty by his death in 976.

His younger brother, Emperor Taizong, wishes to emulate his older brother’s successes.

The last king of Wuyue, Qian Chun, in the face of certain annihilation from northern imperial Chinese troops, pledges allegiance to the Song Dynasty in 978, saving his people from war and economic destruction.

While Qian Chu nominally remains king, Wuyue is absorbed into the Song Dynasty, effectively ending the kingdom.