Demetrios 34 was an hypatos; addressee of two letters from Theodoros 15 (Theodore the Stoudite) (both addressed Δημητρίῳ ὑπάτῳ): Theod. Stud., Epp. 443, pp. 623-625; 504, pp. 745-747. The date of one letter, Theod. Stud., Ep. 443, was possibly between 824 and 826; Theodoros 15 is heavily critical of the adulterous marriage of the emperor Constantine VI (Konstantinos 8) and describes the contents of the letter as dangerous, asking Demetrios 34 to keep them secret; this is possibly an allusion to the marriage of Michael II (Michael 10) with Euphrosyne 1, daughter of Constantine VI, in 824; if so the letter was written between 824 and 826. In this letter Demetrios 34 is addressed as δέσποτα (p. 623, line 3), and Theodoros 15 sends greetings to his wife and children (σὺν τῇ κυρίᾳ ὑπατίσσῃ καὶ τοῖς εὐγενέσιν ὑμῶν κλάδοις: p. 623, line 7): Ep. 443, pp. 623-625. Also in Ep. 443 Theodoros 15 refers to a letter which he had recently written to Demetrios 34, possibly identical with Ep. 504, which is not otherwise dateable. According to Ep. 504, Demetrios 34 had recently been appointed to office and Theodoros 15 had been anxious to know how he was faring (ἐν τῇ πιστευθείσῃ σοι παρὰ τῶν βασιλέων ἀρχῇ: p. 746, line 10), when he heard the further news that Demetrios 34 had been appointed, against his own wishes, to a second office, by the emperor (presumably Michael II); the new post was taking him much further away than the first one and nearer to hostile barbarian territory (μανθάνομεν τῇ προτέρᾳ ἀρχῇ ἑτέραν ἐπιτεθῆναι σοι, οὐκ ἐθέλοντι, ἀλλὰ προστάσσοντος τοῦ κρατοῦντος, καὶ ὅτι πορρωτέρω τῆς προτέρας οὖσαν, ἐγγίζει τοῖς βαρβάροις: p. 746, lines 11-14); Demetrios 34 was not willing to take part in warfare and had not been trained as a soldier (μήτε ἐθέλουσαν μήτε ἐξηρτυμένην εἰς τὸ φορεῖν μάχαιραν καὶ πολεμεῖν καὶ πολεμεῖσθαι: p. 746, lines 15-16); Theodoros 15 prays for his safety in both offices (ἐν ἀμφοτέραις ταῖς ἀρχαῖς, p. 746, line 18; this implies that he is holding both offices at once); he is styled ὦ φίλων ἄριστε (p. 745, line 3) (suggesting that he was a personal acquaintance of Theodoros 15), δέσποτα ἡμῶν ἐπιπόθητε (p. 746, line 23), and ὁ κύριός μου (p. 746, line 29), and is addressed as σου τῇ ἀγάπῃ (p. 746, line 4), and τῆς τιμιότητός σου (p. 747, line 39); Theodoros 15 alludes also to his piety: Ep. 504, pp. 745-747. It appears therefore from Theod. Stud., Ep. 504 that Demetrios 34 held two archai simultaneously, one of which involved him in moving close to a barbarian people, presumably near a frontier, with whom there was the danger of warfare; it is impossible however to identify what offices he held.

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