Anonymus 38 was an unnamed individual recorded in an anecdote about the emperor Theophilos 5; he apparently lived in the Opsikion theme; wanting to become a scholarios (ὁ δὲ ἔφη ὅτι ἐπεζήτει γενέσθαι σχολάριος: Leo. Gramm. 223), he approached the komes of the Opsikion, Anonymus 37, and offered a horse which he owned in payment; the komes Anonymus 37 judged him unsuitable, but wanting to keep the horse Anonymus 37 offered Anonymus 38 a hundred solidi in payment; Anonymus 38 refused to accept the cash payment, but the komes Anonymus 37 kept the horse, and sent it to the emperor Theophilos 5; one day the emperor was riding it in Blachernai when the rightful owner (Anonymus 38) claimed it; the emperor Theophilos 5 ordered a confrontation between Anonymus 38 and the komes Anonymus 37, and Anonymus 38 claimed that the komes Anonymus 37 had taken it by force, giving neither payment nor a rank (μήτε τίμημά μοι δοὺς μήτε ἀξίωμα ποιήσας); the emperor Theophilos 5 decided in favour of Anonymus 38 and offered him the horse back; Anonymus 38 refused it and received instead two pounds (of gold) for it; the emperor Theophilos 5 punished the komes Anonymus 37 and then ordered Anonymus 37 to test Anonymus 38 to see if he was worthy to become a scholarios; Anonymus 38 was then sent to the war but he was caught fleeing in battle like a coward and was killed: Leo Gramm. 223, Georg. Mon. Cont. 803-804, Ps.-Symeon 637-638.

Another story also involving the emperor Theophilos 5 and a horse and supposedly illustrating the emperor's sense of justice is told in Theophanes Continuatus where the details are different but the essence of the tale is the same; the two stories are apparently fictional variants on the same subject. An able and successful soldier Anonymus 38 owned a clever horse which had often saved his life; the strategos Anonymus 37 coveted it but neither persuasion nor force could induce Anonymus 38 to part with it; eventually the strategos Anonymus 37 brought lying charges against Anonymus 38 and dismissed him from his office (διεδέξατο τοῦτον τῆς ἧς εἶχεν ἀρχῆς); Anonymus 38 fell into great poverty and by chance at just that time the emperor Theophilos 5 was on the look out for a good horse; the strategos Anonymus 37 stole the animal and sent it to the emperor Theophilos 5 as if it were his own to give; later a war broke out and Anonymus 38 was among those recalled to fight; he was killed and at his death left a widow Anonyma 106 and children in poverty; unable to provide for her children the widow Anonyma 106 went to Constantinople to seek help from the emperor Theophilos 5, whose reputation for caring for his subjects was well known; seeing him riding her husband's horse at Blachernai, Anonyma 106 accused him of responsibility for her husband's death and claimed the horse as hers; Theophilos 5 investigated the matter and decided in her favour; the strategos Anonymus 37 was dismissed and the widow Anonyma 106 and her children received portions of his estate as if they were his legitimate heirs: Theoph. Cont. III 7 (pp. 92-94).

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