Philotheos 9 was a ktetor and the addressee of three letters from Theodoros 15 (Theodore the Stoudite) between 821 and 826: Theod. Stud., Epp. 507, pp. 753-754; 525, pp. 783-784; 535, pp. 807-808 (all addressed Φιλοθέῳ κτήτορι). He came of noble blood and was of very distinguished appearance, but instead of pursuing a public career devoted his life to religious devotion (ὑπάρχων καὶ κατὰ εἰδέαν ἄξιος τυραννίδος καὶ κατὰ γένος ὑπέρλαμπρος τὸ αἷμα, ἀλλ' ὁ θεῖος πόθος, σβέσας ταῦτα πάντα καὶ ὡς οὐδαμινὰ δείξας, ὅπερ καὶ ἄληθες, πρὸς τὴν ὑπέρφωτον τῆς θείας ὡραιότητος ἦρέν σου τοὺς διανοίας ὀφθαλμοὺς αἴγλην: Theod. Stud., Ep. 525, p. 783, lines 16-20). He was a member of a lay order (ἐν τῷ λαϊκῷ τάγματι: Theod. Stud., Ep. 507, p. 753, line 7), and had convinced himself that the veneration of icons was correct, following his own reading of the Fathers; however he had been compelled by an unnamed strategos (cf. Anonymus 629) to join the iconoclasts in worship and communion. He is said to have been praised for his piety by monks and pious laymen throughout Macedonia (διὰ πάσης Μακεδονίας: Theod. Stud., Ep. 535, p. 807, line 8). He may therefore have lived in Macedonia and owned estates there. He is styled τῆς τιμιότητός σου or similar: Theod. Stud., Epp. 507, p. 753, line 2; 525, p. 783, line 2; 535, p. 808, line 16; and ἡ χρηστότης σου, Ep. 507, p. 754, line 30; and addressed as ὦ δέσποτα, Ep. 535, p. 808, line 34; ὦ θαυμάσιε καὶ ἐπιπόθητε ἡμῖν, Ep. 525, p. 783, line 23; ἀδελφὲ τιμιώτατε, Ep. 507, p. 753, line 9; and ἀδελφὲ φίλτατε and ὦ Φιλόθεε κράτιστε, Ep. 535, p. 808, line 21 and line 13 respectively. The interpretation of ὑπάρχων in Theod. Stud., Ep. 525, p. 783, line 16, as indicating that he once held office (see Winkelmann, Quellenstudien, p. 30, n. 69a) is not correct; the word means "being" and is followed by "both ... and", i.e. ὑπάρχων καὶ ... ἄξιος ... καὶ ... ὑπέρλαμπρος: Theod. Stud., Ep. 525, p. 783, lines 16-17).

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