In June 968 AD, Bishop Liutprand of Cremona was sent as ambassador to the Basileus of Rome, Nicephorus II Phocas, by the German Emperor Otto I. The Lombard bishop was no stranger to this assignment: twenty years earlier, he had travelled to Constantinople as a diplomat for Berengar II of Ivrea, King of Italy; it is therefore likely that he could express himself in Greek, although not at a high level. This time, the purpose of the embassy was to negotiate the marriage of the emperor's namesake heir, Otto II, to a Byzantine princess; however, this did not take place until years later, with the noblewoman Theophano, the great-niece of Nicephorus.

First, it must be considered that Liutprand, who likely arrived in Byzantium with several prejudices toward the Greeks typical of the time, found these preconceptions confirmed during his mission. He described in detail the terrible welcome he received and the local wine, which he deemed substandard. Building on these negative impressions, the bishop did not spare a monstrous portrait of Nicephorus, portraying him as an abject and deformed being.

The negotiations foundered due to a heated argument between the bishop, Nicephorus, and his dignitaries over the royal title: the basileus disparaged Otto as rex rather than, precisely, basileus or imperator. When Liutprand pointed out that the term used to describe his lord had the same weight and meaning as his own, namely, Roman emperor, Nicephorus flew into a rage and bickered with the bishop throughout his stay. During a banquet, the basileus taunted his guests by claiming they were not Romans, but Lombards. Liutprand, maintaining a heated tone within the bounds of diplomacy, responded by declaring that the first Romans were nothing more than thieves and murderers gathered by Romulus, a race they, the Lombards and other peoples of Germanic origin, were right to despise, thus explicitly insulting his hosts. Nikephoros, however, had to let this slide in the name of international relations with Otto.

The strong reaction from Nikephoros can be better understood when placed in the context of his recognition—like his predecessors—of himself as the sole Roman emperor. Although more than 150 years had passed since the coronation of Charlemagne, the memory of the usurpation of the imperial title by the Frankish king, with the support of Pope Leo III, in 800, remained vivid among the Romans. This title, according to the Byzantine perspective, had rightfully belonged to the Eastern emperor since Odoacer, in 476, sent the imperial insignia to Zeno.