His origin and family are unknown, except that he was a relative by marriage of a certain patrikios Nikephoros, who was appointed by Constantine VII (r. 945–959) as teacher of geometry at the University of Constantinople.
[1] He is first mentioned in 945 as the Eparch of Constantinople, having evidently occupied the office already under Romanos I Lekapenos (r.
[1][2] In the aftermath of an earthquake in 945/6 he was charged with caring for the citizens whose homes were destroyed, but his officials, especially a certain Zonaras, wasted the allocated funds.
[1] Nevertheless, soon after (before March 947), he was promoted successively to the senior legal office of quaestor and the rank of patrikios.
[1][2] He may have been a maternal ancestor of Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, founder of the Komnenian dynasty.