He was the eldest son of the magistros Eustathios Argyros, Drungary of the Watch under Leo VI the Wise (ruled 886–912).
The two brothers brought their father's body for burial to the monastery of Saint Elizabeth in the Charsianon district, founded by their grandfather Leo Argyros.
The Byzantine army suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Pegae in early April 922, losing many dead and captives.
Pothos and his brother however managed to escape and find refuge in a nearby fort, while the Bulgarians plundered and burned down the imperial palaces at Pegaea and Stenon.
[2] A man of the same name, holding the rank of patrikios and the post of Domestic of the Excubitors, is attested in 958, when he defeated a Magyar raid that had reached the vicinity of Constantinople on 11 April.