Aetios 1 was a eunuch: Theoph. AM 6283, AM 6290, AM 6291, Zon. XV 13.19 (Ἀέτιος οὖν ὁ εὐνοῦχος) and Zon. XV 13.23 (ὁ ἐκτομίας Ἀέτιος), Chron. 1234, §188 (II, p.4). Brother of Leo 12: Theoph. AM 6294, AM 6295, Zon. XV 13.23-24 (ὁμαίμονα Λέοντα). In 790 he was protospatharios and confidant of the empress Eirene 1 (Ἀέτιον τὸν εὐνοῦχον, πρωτοσπαθάριον καὶ ἐπιστήθιον αὐτῆς); in December 790 he was exiled by the emperor Constantine VI (Konstantinos 8) together with all the other eunuchs of her household (πάντας τοὺς οἰκειακοὺς αὐτῆς εὐνούχους): Theoph. AM 6283. A patrikios, he was one of the closest confidants of the empress Eirene 1, together with Staurakios 1 (οἱ δὲ δύο πατρίκιοι, ὅ τε Σταυράκιος καὶ Ἀέτιος, ἐπιστήθιοι ὄντες τῆς βασιλείας), after she became sole ruler; he and Staurakios 1 were open rivals, each allegedly aiming to secure the throne for one of their own relatives after the death of Eirene 1; when an attempt was made to proclaim a new emperor from among the sons of Constantine V (Konstantinos 7), who then sort sanctuary in Hagia Sophia, Aetios 1 (Ἀέτιος ὁ εὐνοῦχος πατρίκιος) persuaded them to leave sanctuary and then sent them into exile to Athens: Theoph. AM 6290, Zon. XV 13. 19. When Eirene 1 became sole ruler, "she appointed Aetios the eunuch ('tyws 'wnwks') as her second-in-command and head of the patrikioi (p'tryqw)": Chron. 1234, §188 (II, p. 4). In summer 799, after Eirene 1 fell ill, Aetios approached Niketas 11 and they persuaded the empress that Staurakios 1 was conspiring against her; Staurakios 1 defended himself with difficulty and barely escaped with his life, and thereafter bore a grudge against Aetios 1 and Niketas 11: Theoph. AM 6291. In 800 Aetios 1 and Niketas 11 continued to resist Staurakios 1; a revolt in Cappadocia, stirred up by Staurakios 1, was directed against Aetios 1, but quickly collapsed after the death of Staurakios 1 in June: Theoph. AM 6292. A patrikios, in 801/802 Aetios 1, once free of Staurakios 1, began scheming to transfer the imperial authority to his own brother (Leo 12); he made his brother sole strategos of both Thrace and Macedonia (μονοστράτηγον εἴς τε τὴν Θρᾴκην καὶ Μακεδονίαν), while he himself took the "peratic" themes (i.e. those across the water, on the Asiatic side), the Anatolikoi and the Opsikion (αὐτὸς τὰ περατικὰ θέματα κατέχων, ἀνατολικοὺς καὶ τὸ Ὀψίκιν; he was presumably strategos of the Anatolikoi and komes of the Opsikion); he allegedly despised the other members of the government (τοὺς ἐν τέλει ἄρχοντας κατευτελίζων), who took umbrage at him and revolted against the empress; he resisted the proposal brought by the envoys of Charlemagne (Karoulos 1) for a marriage between Charlemagne (Karoulos 1) and Eirene 1 and made sure that nothing came of it; he was still aiming to secure the throne for his brother: Theoph. AM 6294, Zon. XV 13. 23-25 (he resisted the proposal of Charlemagne (Karoulos 1) and favoured his brother (Leo 12)'s hopes; Ἀέτιος τῶν ἑῴων ἦρχε θεμάτων τοῦ Ὀψικίου καὶ τῶν ἀνατολικῶν). In October 802 the supporters of Nikephoros 8 won backing for their seizure of power by asserting that Aetios 1 was forcing the empress Eirene 1 to proclaim Leo 12, his brother, as emperor: Theoph. AM 6295 (τὸν πατρίκιον Ἀέτιον), Zon. XV 13.28 (ὁ πατρίκιος Ἀέτιος). In 811 he was a patrikios and was present on the campaign conducted by the emperor Nikephoros I (Nikephoros 8) against the Bulgars; he was one of the high officials (τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ μεγιστάνων) who were killed in the Roman defeat on 26 July, 811: Theoph. AM 6303 (Ἀέτιος πατρίκιος). According to Bar Hebraeus, Aetios was a eunuch, who was made second in command and chief of the patricians by the empress Eirene 1 after the overthrow of her son Constantine VI (Konstantinos 8); he defeated the Arabs when they invaded the lands of the Romans, but was defeated when they invaded again in the following year; when the Romans planned to make Nikephoros 8 emperor, Aetios 1 concealed him to prevent the empress from blinding him; then when Nikephoros 8 became emperor he and Eirene 1 are said to have treated him with honour but to have then conspired with some monks to murder him; the plot was disclosed, Eirene 1 was exiled and Aetios 1 was punished ("he paid his debt for crime, according to what he had done"): Bar Hebr., p. 120. Possibly identical with Aetios 4.

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