Constantine VII sat from 913 to 959 on the Byzantine throne. As emperor he was not very successful. But he was an outstanding man of learning. His works are mines of information on Byzantine and its neighbors. He was declared successor to the throne already as a baby. When his father died and then his uncle, Constantine VII became emperor of Byzantium in 913. He was seven years old. The empire was in fact reigned by Nicholas, the patriarch of Constantinople, who was soon to be replaced by Zoe, however, the emperor's mother. This follis depicts Zoe and Constantine VII, mother and son. It must have been issued between 914 and 920, the years in which Zoe became regent and in which she lost her power. In 920 Romanos I took the helm when he ascended to the throne as co-emperor to Constantine VII.