 Theophanes the Confessor calls him the private "chartoularios" of Emperor Leo III the Isaurian, while Patriarch Nikephoros I of Constantinople calls him a loyal and close confidante ("oikeios") of Leo's, and that he was experienced in military matters.As a result, when the governor ("strategos") of Sicily, Sergios, driven by a false message that Constantinople had fallen to the Arabs, declared a rival emperor in the person of Basil Onomagoulos, Leo named him as Sergios' replacement and sent him to Sicily to restore control.It was probably on this occasion that he was raised to the rank of "patrikios", although Patriarch Nikephoros implies that he already held the title.