Prior to his accession, he had served as genikos logothetēs, whence he is sometimes surnamed "the Logothete" (ὁ Λογοθέτης) and "Genikos" or "Genicus" (ὁ Γενικός).
Sebelum aksesinya, ia menjabat sebagai genikos logothetēs, di mana ia kadang-kadang dinamai "Logothete" (ὁ Λογοθέτης) dan "Genikos" atau "Genicus" (ὁ Γενικός).