When it comes to diplomatic relations, the phrase "too close for comfort" perfectly describes the relationship between the medieval Byzantine and Bulgarian states in the Balkan peninsula. In the early 10th century, shortly after Bulgaria's conversion to the Eastern rite of Christianity, the two states engaged in a bloody and lengthy conf lict over not just territory and wealth but also over the now exacerbated issues of diplomatic equality and prestige. Marching on Constantinople, the Bulgarian monarch Simeon I demanded the imperial title itself and was partly accommodated by the Ecumenical patriarch Nicholas I in an idiosyncratic ceremony that has caused much debate among Byzantinists and Slavicists. This study explores the main features of the historiographical debate and attempts to find the correct answers in the testimony of the relevant sources. And while the incident under investigation might appear self-contained, it lies at the heart of a major preoccupation of Byzantine diplomacy: Byzantium's monopoly on the political heritage of Rome and the Roman imperial title. Correctly interpreted and compared to Byzantium's diplomatic relations with the Frankish ruler Charlemagne, Simeon's recognition as a non-Roman emperor and peer of his Byzantine counterpart in 913 suggests a pattern of grudging and incomplete accommodation designed to guarantee both the safety and the identity of the Byzantine Empire.August 913. The Bulgarian ruler Simeon I (893-927) reached Constantinople with a large army and proceeded to blockade the peninsular city by land, digging a ditch from the Blachernai Palace on the Golden Horn in the north to the Golden Gate on the Sea of Marmara in the south. Allegedly surprised by the strength of the defenses, he retired to Hebdomon, southwest of Constantinople, and made overtures for peace. The regency for the underage Byzantine emperor Constantine VII (913-958) readily accepted the proposal and brought in two of Simeon's sons to dine with the emperor at the Blachernai. At this point, the leading regent, Patriarch Nicholas I Mystikos (901)(902)(903)(904)(905)(906)(907)(912)(913)(914)(915)(916)(917)(918)(919)(920)(921)(922)(923)(924)(925), went out to Simeon; Simeon bowed his head before the patriarch, and the latter, having read out a prayer, placed on Simeon's head his own veil or cowl (epirriptarion) instead of an imperial crown (stemma).This far, our narrative follows the Chronicle of the Logothete and the early chroniclers who followed his mid-tenth-century account. 1 A later and largely derivative set of accounts, first represented by John Skylitzes (late eleventh century), related the same general story, but altered some of the details, bringing the Bulgarian monarch himself into the city for the banquet at the Blachernai after an exchange of suitable hostages, omitting any going out by the patriarch, calling Simeon a barbarian, and using a different, more generic, term for the crown (stephanos). 2 The two narrative traditions end the same way: laden with gifts, Simeon and his sons returne...