Sergios 16 was a son of Zacharias 5 and was the father of Photios 1 (the future patriarch); he was a spatharios (ὁ Φώτιος υἱὸς Σεργίου σπαθαρίου ἦν); described as of provincial family (if that is how ἐθνικοῦ αἵματος ὤν should be understood), he married a nun whom he removed forcibly from her convent and by her became father of Photios 1: Ps.-Symeon 668. This account of Photios 1's origins is extremely hostile, and relates various anecdotes and prophecies about his birth and the harm that he would do. According to one, Sergios 16 was a friend of Michael 6, bishop of Synnada (martyred in 826), who foretold when the baby was in the womb that Photios 1 would become patriarch and would lead many astray into impiety; Sergios 16 allegedly suggested killing the mother and the baby but was told by Michael 6 that the will of God would not be denied; he is also alleged to have alluded to a Jewish prophecy that a nun would give birth to the Anti-Christ and hoped that his wife was not that nun: Ps.-Symeon 668-669. He supposedly took the boy to the elderly holy man Ioannikios 2 (who died in 846) on Mt Olympus and entreated his prayers: Ps.-Symeon 669-670. His wife was Eirene 6: Theoph. Cont. IV 22 (p. 175). He is not to be confused with Sergios patrikios named at Scyl., p. 98; see Sergios 107. He abandoned wealth and the glories of office for the sake of orthodoxy and died in exile: Photius, Ep. 289, lines 52-56. He was anathematised: Photius, Ep. 114. He and his wife both suffered persecution: Photius, Ep. 234.

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