# Talk:Constantine VIII

In the article on Bardas Skleros it is noted (without any references) that Bardos Skerlos had a grandson called Basil Skleros who married a sister of Romanus III. Basil Skleros' daughters became the mistress and the wife of Constantine VIII.
Can anyone confirm a source for this assertion? Is Constanine VIII's empress Helena Skleria (or whateverever the right feminine end is)? 60.229.46.131 13:27, 6 September 2007 (UTC)Jim Jaocbs

The article lists three daughters in the Family section, none named Irene. Then at the bottom it states that a daughter Irene married Vsevolod I of Kiev, but his page says he married Anastasia and mentions no Irene.  I'm removing the unsupported statement. Laszlo Panaflex (talk) 16:29, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

Is he the longest reigning Roman emperor (using 'Roman' rather loosely here)?--Gen. Quon (Talk)  14:35, 22 April 2016 (UTC)

If you count his time as co-emperor, I think so. But that is a big if, as co-emperorship was more a device for strengthening the position of the heir(s) apparent. He certainly only "reigned" in the conventional sense of the word for only the period 1025–28. If he had died before 1025, he would have been a footnote in history. Constantine   ✍  12:09, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

Cheeky little drive-by ce, joined several staccato sentences, auto ed, Englished and added isbns etc to biblio. Quite a trip down Memory Lane but can Connie really be blamed for everything that went wrong? Great man manque. All changes are suggestive and rv as desired. Regards Keith-264 (talk) 14:00, 29 March 2018 (UTC)

Keith-264 Thanks for the improvements. I spent 4-5 hours going through sources and had had enough. I should have left it for a couple of days and then re-looked at it, but thought that it was up to B class and I would revisit it before a possible GAN. Sloppy of me.
I was careful to use direct quotes to damn Constantine. Norwich gives his chapter on C the title "The Decline Begins"; Ostrogorsky "The Disintergration [...]". I could go on. And on. The sources are near unanimous. I think that the article is a fair reflection, but, obviously, am happy to entertain other, sourced, opinions. (I am not, personally, saying that C was "to blame", but that the sources mark his accession as a turning point and lay a high proportion of the blame at his feet.) Gog the Mild (talk) 16:27, 29 March 2018 (UTC)