 He first appears in 1050, when he inflicted a heavy defeat on the Pechenegs, who had been raiding the Empire's Balkan provinces for years.This victory put an end to these raids for some time.In early 1055, as Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos (r. 1042–1055) lay dying, he was persuaded by his councillors, chiefly the "logothetes tou dromou" John, to pass the throne to the "doux" of Bulgaria, Nikephoros Proteuon.