 The letter stated that they called themselves Rhos – ""qi se, id est gentem suam, Rhos vocari dicebant"" – and had journeyed to Constantinople; but now they were fearful to return home, because the roads they had travelled were not safe.They had therefore set out with the Byzantine embassy hoping to obtain the Franks' assent for travelling via Germany.At Ingelheim royal residence, near Mainz, they were queried by Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious, as he suspected they might be on reconnaissance (), and they could assure him in the rationale for their northern destination, as they belonged to the Sueones