Karbeas 1 was a protomandator serving under the strategos of the Anatolikoi, Theodotos 16 Melissenos (τὴν τοῦ πρωτομανδάτωρος πληρῶν ἀρχήν: Theoph. Cont. IV 16, p. 166) (in 843 or 844, see below for the date); he was a convinced Paulician and decided to desert after his own father (Anonymus 202) was killed during the attacks on the Paulicians ordered by the empress, Theodora 2; with five thousand Paulician followers he deserted to the Arabs, visiting first Amr 2, the emir of Melitene, and then the caliph (see al-Wathiq 1), receiving a warm welcome; thereafter he conducted warfare against the Romans with enough success to attract many more followers, for whom he founded cities at Argaoun and Amara and then, as their numbers still grew, at Tephrike; in conjunction with Amr 2 of Melitene and Ali 3 of Tarsos he continued to raid the Roman empire; later he and Amr 2 joined forces and met the Romans in battle under Petronas 5: Theoph. Cont. IV 16 (pp. 165-167), Scyl., pp. 92-93. In c. 856 he fought with distinction at Samosata when a Roman army under the emperor Michael 11 was routed while laying siege to the city; he took a number of senior officers captive, later releasing them on payment of a ransom; among them were Abessalom 2 and Seon 1, of whom he released the former on payment of a ransom but not the latter; Karbeas 1 is said to have been the founder of Tephrike: Theoph. Cont. IV 23 (pp. 176-177).

Further details are recorded in the work of Peter of Sicily on the Paulicians, where Karbeas 1 is one of their leaders. After the death of Sergios 1, no one was for a time appointed leader of the Paulicians at Argaoun, all the disciples having equal standing; eventually Karbeas 1 emerged as their leader; he increased the numbers of their people until Argaoun became too small, and he then founded Tibrike (Tephrike), on the borders of Armenia and the Roman empire (Ῥωμάνια), partly to escape from the rule of the Arabs of Melitene, partly to withdraw his people from other human contact (see Peter of Sicily, 34); those who obeyed him he used for taking prisoners, those who did not he sold to the Arabs; he plundered the Roman frontier districts near the Pontus and made Tephrike a refuge for fellow-heretics persecuted by the Romans; he also welcomed rebellious spirits from the border areas; on his death he was succeeded by his nephew and son-in-law Chrysocheris 1: Peter of Sicily, 184-186. He is described in the Acts of the Forty-Two Martyrs of Amorion as ruler of the Manichees living near Koloneia under Arab rule, to whom their fellow Manichees at Koloneia surrendered the δοὺξ Κολωνίας Kallistos 2 (τοῖς ὑπὸ τὴν ἐξουσίαν τοῦ τριτάλανος Καρβέα τελοῦσι ... ἀποστάταις): Mart. XLII Amor., BHG 1213, p. 29, lines 23-4, with lines 15-18. The date was 845, the date of the martyrdom of the martyrs of Amorion; see Kallistos 2. Since Karbeas 1 was already under Arab rule in 845, his flight to the Arabs presumably took place in 843 or 844, near the beginning of the reign of Theodora 2, when the anti-Paulician expedition which she sent under Leo 109, Andronikos 3 and Soudales 1 also has to be dated.

(Publishable link for this person: )