Theophobos

Theophobos () or Theophobus, originally Nasir (), Nasr (), or Nusayr (), was a commander of the Khurramites who converted to Christianity and entered Byzantine service under Emperor Theophilos (). Raised to high rank and married into the imperial family, Theophobos was given command of his fellow Khurramites and served under Theophilos in his wars against the Abbasid Caliphate in 837–838. After the Byzantines' defeat at the Battle of Anzen, he was proclaimed emperor by his own men, but did not pursue this claim. Instead he peacefully submitted to Theophilos in the next year and was apparently pardoned, until he was executed by the dying emperor in 842 to prevent a challenge to the accession of Michael III.

==Biography== thumb|250px|right|Follis of Emperor Theophilos. Theophobos was born to a family originally belonging to the Iranian aristocracy. He was originally a member of the Khurramite sect in western Iran, which was being persecuted by the Abbasid Caliphate. In October/November 833, they were defeated by the armies of Caliph al-Mu'tasim () under Ishaq ibn Ibrahim. Thus, in 834, Nasr with some fourteen thousand other Khurramites, crossed the Armenian highland and fled to the Byzantine Empire. There, they converted to Christianity, were given widows from military families as wives, and enrolled into the Byzantine army in the so-called "Persian ". Nasr, now baptized Theophobos ('), was placed at the head of these troops, raised to the high rank of and given the hand of either Theophilos's sister or a sister of Empress Theodora in marriage. The addition of the "Persian" corps greatly strengthened the Byzantine military: not only were its members implacable enemies of the Arabs, but they may have raised the number of effectives in the Byzantine army by as much as a sixth. A seal belonging to Theophobos affords him the style of " of the Persians", indicating that Theophilos may have intended to install him as a ruler of a Byzantine-allied principality, probably in Azerbaijan and Kurdistan.