He rose to rule Arbanon through marriage with the daughter of
sebastos Gregorios Kamonas and
Komnena Nemanjić and then succeeded him to rule Arbanon. The ascension of Golem is regarded as a reversion to the native rule of Albania. Komnena was the daughter of
Stefan the First-Crowned and grand-daughter of
Alexios III Angelos, the last Byzantine Emperor before the
Fourth Crusade. The exact date of Golem's rise to power is unknown. In his time, Arbanon had moved from independence under
Dhimitër Progoni to semi-independence under the high suzerainty of
Theodore Komnenos Doukas of the
Despotate of Epirus until 1230 when
Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria expanded westwards. When he died in 1240, the Despotate of Epirus under the Komneno-Doukai exerted again its influence in central Albania. This was the era of the rise of the
Nicaean Empire which sought to take hold of all post-Byzantine states and reform the Byzantine Empire. In this context, the struggle between
Michael II Komnenos Doukas and
John III Doukas Vatatzes developed. In 1246, the two expanded in the region of Macedonia and the new border between them in the area between Albania and western Macedonia. Golem was in control of Ohrid at the time. He, Theodore Petraliphas and others who were allies of Michael Doukas negotiated with Vatatzes and changed sides. Golem was probably in control of
Ohrid and Petraliphas of
Kastoria. ==In historiography==