Petronas 7 s family name was Kamateros; in c. 833 when he was spatharokandidatos he was sent by the emperor Theophilos (Theophilos 5) to build the fortress of Sarkel on the Don at the request of the khagan of the Khazars, Anonymus 197, and Pech 1: Theoph. Cont. III 28, p. 123 (τὸν σπαθαροκανδιδᾶτον Πετρωνᾶν τοῦ ἐπονομαζομένου Καματεροῦ). Accompanied by the katepano of Paphlagonia (Anonymus 198), Petronas 7 sailed to Cherson and then by smaller craft to Sarkel, where he accomplished the difficult task successfully; on his return he told the emperor about conditions at Cherson and advised that the area could not be controlled unless it was placed under the command of a strategos of its own; Theophilos 5 then raised him to the status of protospatharios and sent him there as the first strategos of Cherson, since he was familiar with the area, ordering the existing authorities at Cherson to obey him (οὐκ ἄλλον ἀλλὰ τὸν εἰρημένον Πετρωνᾶν, ὡς ἔμπειρον κρίνας τοῦ τόπου, πρωτοσπαθάριόν τε ἐτίμησεν καὶ στρατηγὸν ἐξαπέστειλεν) (and see Anonymus 199): Theoph. Cont. III 28 (pp. 122-124). Petronas 7 was sent by the emperor Theophilos 5 to build a fortress at Sarkel in response to an embassy to Theophilos 5 by Anonymus 197, Khagan of Khazaria: Scyl., p. 73, lines 78-83. Petronas 7 advised the emperor Theophilos 5 that Cherson required a strategos to hold it, and the emperor Theophilos 5 appointed him strategos of Cherson: Scyl., p. 73, lines 88-91. Known as Kamateros; he was a spatharokandidatos and the builder of the city of Sarkel in Khazaria; following a request from the khagan of Khazaria (Anonymus 197) for the building of the city, Petronas 7 was sent by the emperor Theophilos 5 with a fleet consisting of warships of the imperial fleet and of the katepano of Paphlagonia (Anonymus 198) to Cherson; from there he went on to the river Tanais where he built the city out of bricks; he then returned to Constantinople and advised the emperor to appoint a military governor for the region; Theophilos 5 then made Petronas 7 protospatharios and appointed him as the first strategos of Cherson: Const. Porph., DAI 42, 25-54.

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