The queen dowager Mariam had paid a visit in 1030 to the new emperor Romanos III, negotiated a peace treaty, and returned with the high imperial title of curopalates for her son in 1032.

Mariam also brings him an imperial princess, Helena, as wife.

Helena is a daughter of Basil Argyros, brother of the emperor Romanos, and the marriage is a diplomatic effort to establish a strategic association.

However, Helena's death shortly afterwards at Kutaisi presents the Georgian court with the opportunity to pursue yet another diplomatic initiative through Bagrat's marriage with Borena, daughter of the king of Alania, a Christian country in the North Caucasus.