Ashot Taronites

[2] In 991, Emperor Basil II led a campaign in the Balkans, against Samuel of Bulgaria, and appointed Gregory doux of Thessalonica.

A raiding party had approached the city, and Gregory sent out Ashot with the vanguard to make contact with them and reconnoitre.

The over-eager Ashot engaged the Bulgarians and drove them back, but was drawn into a prepared ambush and encircled with his men.

Modern research holds that it must have happened at the latest in mid-995, as John Chaldos is attested as doux of Thessalonica later in the same year.

[2] It is, however, possible that this episode actually took place as late as 1018, at the end of the Bulgarian war, since the chronology of Skylitzes is often unreliable;[8] while the Italian chronicle of Lupus Protospatharius gives a completely different date for the recovery of Dyrrhachium, 1004/5, and does not mention Ashot.