Aetios (eunuch)

Aetios first appears in 790, when he was a protospatharios and a confidant of Irene, then the Byzantine empress-mother and regent for her young son, Emperor Constantine VI (r. 780–797).

[1][3] In August 797, Irene and her powerful eunuch minister Staurakios succeeded in overthrowing and blinding (and possibly also killing) Constantine, thus assuming governance of the state.

This began a period of intense rivalry between the two and their respective supporters, as they raced to place their relatives in positions of power, so as to secure control of the Byzantine Empire after Irene's eventual death.

[5][6] This competition came to the fore in 797/798, and intensified in May 799, when Irene fell seriously ill. Aetios, who had won the backing of Niketas Triphyllios, the commander of the Scholai guards, accused Staurakios before the Empress of plotting to usurp the throne.

[6][7] Staurakios in turn began to distribute bribes amongst the men and lower officers of the Scholai and Exkoubitores regiments, trying to win their support for an eventual coup.

Controlling thus the armies closest to Constantinople, which comprised about a third of the Byzantine Empire's entire military forces, he was well placed to make Leo emperor.

Chief among them were Nikephoros, Irene's finance minister (logothetes tou genikou), but also Niketas Triphyllios, Aetios's former ally, and Leo Sarantapechos, a relative of the Byzantine empress.