During his reign, the renaissance of letters, begun by his predecessor Basil I, continued; but the empire also saw several military defeats in the Balkans against Bulgaria and against the Arabs in Sicily and the Aegean.

[15] One of the first actions of Leo VI after his succession was the reburial, with great ceremony, of the remains of Michael III in the imperial mausoleum within the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.

[17] His attempts to control the great aristocratic families (e.g., the Phokadai and the Doukai) occasionally led to serious conflicts,[18] the most significant being the revolt of Andronikos Doukas in 906.

[20] Using his former tutor Patriarch Photios's excommunication by Pope John VIII as an excuse, Leo dismissed him[21] and replaced him with his own 19-year-old brother Stephen in December 886.

Leo also completed work on the Basilika, the Greek translation and update of the law code issued by Justinian I, which had been started during the reign of Basil.

[25] Bishop Liutprand of Cremona gives an account similar to those about Caliph Harun al-Rashid, to the effect that Leo would sometimes disguise himself and go about Constantinople looking for injustice or corruption.

When a terrified guardian recognized the jailed ruler in the morning, the arresting officer was rewarded for doing his duty, while the other patrols were dismissed and punished severely.

[28] However, deprived of his new allies, he lost the major Battle of Boulgarophygon in 896 and had to make the required commercial concessions and to pay annual tribute.

[31] Nevertheless, Leo continued to apply pressure on his eastern frontier through the creation of the new thema of Mesopotamia, a Byzantine invasion of Armenia in 902, and the sacking of Theodosiopolis, as well as successful raids in the Arab Thughur.

[33] Leo VI caused a major scandal with his numerous marriages which failed to produce a legitimate heir to the throne.

[30] Instead of marrying a fourth time, which would have been an even greater sin than a third marriage (according to the Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos)[39] Leo took as mistress Zoe Karbonopsina.

Leo VI was a prolific writer, and he produced works on many different topics and in many styles, including political orations, liturgical poems, and theological treatises.

[38] The supposed Book of the Prefect and the Kletorologion of Philotheos were also issued under Leo's name and testify to his government's interest in organization and the maintenance of public order.