Theophobos 1 is described as a Persian (Πέρσης): Leo Gramm. 215, 227, Georg. Mon. Cont. 793, 803, 810, Ps.-Symeon 625, 637, 646, Theoph. Cont. III 19 (p. 110), Scyl., p. 65, 57, Zon. XV 27. 22. Theophobos 1 is to be identified with Nasr, leader of the Khurramite rebels, who after their defeat in 833 went to live under the Romans: Mich. Syr. III 84, 88, Bar Hebr. 128-135, Tabari (cf. Vasiliev, Byzance et les Arabes I 292, 294), Mas`udi (Vasiliev, Byzance et les Arabes I, 333-334). Nasr was a Kurd: Bar Hebr., p. 138 (see below). The Greek sources give various accounts of his origins; see below.

Nasir (Theophobos 1) was the commander of the army of the rebel Babek (Babak 1); after Babak 1's defeat he and his followers fled to the emperor Theophilos 5 and became Christians: Mich. Syr. III 88, Bar Hebr., p. 135. For his earlier career as a rebel against the Arabs, see Mich. Syr. III 22, 25-27, 30-31, 36-39, 46-47, 52-55, 59, 60-61, Bar Hebr., pp. 124-130.

During the reign of Theophilos 5, Theophobos 1 fled to join the Romans, accompanied by his father and fourteen thousand Persian soldiers whom Theophilos 5 settled around the themes and enrolled in regiments called turmae, known as the turmae of the Persians; Theophobos 1 himself married a sister of the empress Theodora 2 (Anonyma 4) and so became brother-in-law of the emperor: Leo Gramm. 215, Georg. Mon. Cont. 793, Ps.-Symeon 625-626. According to the other tradition Theophobos 1 married the sister of the emperor himself: Theoph. Cont. III 19 (p. 110).

According to Pseudo-Symeon Theophobos 1 was descended from the Persian royal family and was chosen to lead the Persians because no other descendants survived in Persia; his father (Anonymus 33) was allegedly living in Sinope when the Persian rebel Babak 1 found him and then submitted to Roman rule; one story was that Theophobos 1 was born to his father from a liaison with an inn-keeper (Anonyma 88); he was apparently discovered living in obscurity by Babak 1 and the Persians, after his father's death, and brought to the palace in Constantinople, aged twelve, to be brought up under the emperor's supervision: Ps.-Symeon 626-627.

Two versions of his origins are recorded side by side in Theophanes Continuatus, corresponding only in part to the stories in the chronicle tradition derived from Symeon the Logothete. According to one, Theophobos 1 was the offspring of a liaison between a Persian envoy to Constantinople (Anonymus 33) and a local girl (Anonyma 88); his father, who gave him the name Theophobos 1 and then returned to Persia after the completion of the embassy, was of royal Persian descent; later, when all those of royal descent in Persia had perished, men were sent secretly to Constantinople to look for Theophobos 1 and he was discovered living with his mother in the district known as Oxeia; once satisfied by various physical marks and by other enquiries that he was really the person they sought, they informed the emperor and offered peace and submission if he would restore Theophobos 1 to them; the emperor readily agreed and arranged for the boy to be brought up in the imperial palace and given a good education (ἐν βασιλείοις τοῦτον αὐλιζέσθαι καὶ κατασκηνοῦν ποιεῖ, μαθήμασί τε καὶ παιδείᾳ ἐπιμελούμενον): Theoph. Cont. III 19 (pp. 110-111).

The other version, says the author, differs as to Theophobos 1's origins but agrees on his later career; his father (Anonymus 33) was a Persian and either a king or a member of the royal family, who, following a wartime reverse, fled from Persia to Constantinople where he lived in poverty; he was servant to a tradeswoman (Anonyma 88) with whom eventually he fell in love; they married and a child, Theophobos 1, was born; the father died but when subsequently the authorities in Persia began inquiring if any representatives of the royal family survived they learned about Theophobos 1, allegedly through the arts of astrologers and soothsayers; having gone to Constantinople and found him, they told the emperor; when the news reached Persia the reaction was one of joy; they determined to revolt from the overlordship of the Arabs and to submit themselves to Rome, in order to enjoy the rule once more of one of their own legitimate rulers: Theoph. Cont. III 20 (pp. 111-112). The same two accounts are also recorded in Scylitzes, pp. 65-66. The Persian rebel Babek (Babak 1), after five years of rebellion, fled to Sinope and subjected himself and his people to the Romans because of Theophobos 1; as a reward for this Theophilos 5 made Theophobos 1 a patrikios (διά τοι τοῦτο τόν τε Θεόφοβον ὁ Θεόφιλος τιμῇ τῇ πατρικίων ἐναριθμεῖ) and gave him the hand of his sister in marriage: Theoph. Cont. III 21 (p. 112), cf. Scyl., p. 67, 3-4 (τόν τε Θεόφοβον ὁ Θεόφιλος ἀνάγει εἰς πατρικίων τιμὴν). Zonaras records simply that Theophobos 1 grew up in obscurity in Constantinople but was of royal Persian stock and was eventually traced by the Persians; Theophobos 1 then became famous and prosperous and was made patrikios by the emperor and then married the emperor's sister: Zon. XV 27. 22-24.

Theophobos 1 and Manuel 1 were the two leading military commanders under the emperor Theophilos 5; they were courageous and experienced soldiers: Theoph. Cont. III 19 (pp. 109-110), Zon. XV 27. 20-21. Theophobos 1 and Manuel accompanied Theophilos 5 on an expedition against the Arabs; they gave him conflicting advice when confronted by an Arab army (under Abuchazar 1); Theophobos 1 thought that the emperor should be present in the line of battle and wanted to lead his Persian infantry on a night attack so that the cavalry could at the appropriate moment encircle the enemy; Theophobos 1 was accused of seeking personal glory by this plan and the advice of Manuel 1 was adopted instead; the battle ended in a Roman defeat but Theophobos 1 and his Persians succeeded in saving the emperor and the prestige of Theophobos 1 was enhanced: Theoph. Cont. III 22 (pp. 112-114), cf. Scyl., pp. 67-68, Zon. XV 27. 26-28 (he saved the emperor). Following a battle against the Arabs, in which the emperor was allegedly nearly handed over to the Arabs by his Persian troops in order to save themselves, threats were made against Theophobos 1 as a rebel and a traitor; he took his Persian troops and seized Sinope; the emperor, fearing lest he and his men desert to the Arabs, gave promises of their safety and Theophobos 1 returned with the emperor to Constantinople while his men returned to the places where they had previously been stationed; Theophobos 1 was allegedly highly popular among the people because of his religious views; he was orthodox (i.e. he was an iconophile): Georg. Mon. Cont. 803, Ps.-Symeon 637. This story is not recorded in Leo Grammaticus.

It is repeated with some differences in Theophanes Continuatus; after a campaign against the Arabs in which Sozopetra was sacked, Theophilos 5 returned to Constantinople and Theophobos 1 remained in the East intending to arrange the affairs of his Persian troops before returning to Constantinople; the Persians however took him away with them to Sinope and proclaimed him emperor, much against his will; they at first refused to change their minds for fear of the consequences of their actions, but Theophobos 1 persuaded the emperor Theophilos 5 that he was not responsible and the emperor gave him a pardon and recalled him, restoring him to his former glory (τὴν ἀρχαίαν εὐκληρίαν ἀποδιδούς); the Persians were also forgiven and were transferred first from Sinope to Amastris and then from Amastris to be distributed in regiments each two thousand strong throughout the themes; these events are said to have contributed later to the downfall and death of Theophobos 1: Theoph. Cont. III 29 (pp. 124-125), Zon. XV 29. 1-6.

Theophobos 1's downfall is also connected in Theophanes Continuatus with the battle of Anzen, near Dazimon, in 838; Theophobos 1 and Manuel 1 were among the emperor's leading advisors, but their preference for a night attack on the Arab army was overruled and the Romans attacked by day; at first successful, they were later routed by the Turkish archers in the Arab army, apart from the emperor, Manuel 1, some leading commanders and the Persians troops with Theophobos 1, who were trapped and encircled; the Persians allegedly began to consider whether to betray the emperor and save themselves by changing sides, but were overheard by Manuel 1, who understood their language; he therefore compelled the emperor to escape with him and took him to safety; this action of the Persians undermined Theophobos 1's influence and gave an excuse for his enemies to accuse him: Theoph. Cont. III 31-32 (pp. 127-129). According to an account in Theophanes Continuatus III 38 (pp. 135-136) the downfall of Theophobos 1 followed his military failures, especially the supposed secret negotiations with the Arabs, which gave his enemies the excuse to accuse him; accusations of treason turned the emperor against him and he fled to Amastris with his children and followers and their wives; a fleet was sent against him under Ooryphas 3, but Theophobos 1 declined to fight and submitted to the emperor on promises of safety; he was imprisoned and kept under guard in the palace of Boukoleon until the emperor, feeling his own death approaching, had him murdered; another version reported in this source alleged that it was Ooryphas 3 who was responsible for his murder, not the emperor; the secrecy surrounding his end led to a legend among the Persians that he had not really died but had achieved a form of immortality. For a similar version, see also Scylitzes, pp. 74, 76-77, 80. Other sources report that during his last illness the emperor allegedly feared that Theophobos 1 might seize the throne and overthrow Theophilos 5's son and successor Michael 11; he therefore summoned Theophobos 1 to the palace and detained him there; as his illness worsened he imprisoned him in the palace of Boukoleon and secretly had him murdered, by Petronas 5 and the unnamed logothetes (see Theoktistos 3); after Theophilos 5's death, the body of Theophobos 1 was secretly brought out from Boukoleon and interred in his own house close to the palace of Narses, later known as the monastery of Theophobia: Leo Gramm. 228, Georg. Mon. Cont. 810, Ps.-Symeon 646, Zon. XV 29. 23-25. The differences in the various accounts perhaps reflect contemporary rumour and gossip about secret events. Possibly in 840 he and Bardas 5 led a military expedition to Abasgia; it ended in disaster and they lost most of their men: Theoph. Cont. III 39 (p. 137). On the date, cf. Treadgold, Revival, pp. 449-450, n. 442.

His story is told also in Genesius. One of Theophilos 5's helpers in his wars against the Arabs, Theophobos was a native of Persia (τὸν ἐκ Περσίδος Θεόφοβον), and was pious and learned; he and Manuel 1 once helped save the life of Theophilos 5 in battle: Genesius III 2. Theophobos 1 was allegedly of royal Persian descent and living in Constantinople, with his mother in the district of Oxeia; when his identity was discovered the Persians under Babak 1 migrated to Roman territory and submitted to Roman rule, to serve under him; Theophilos 5 gave him the dignity of patrikios and married his own sister to him (τὸν μὲν εὐγενῆ νεανίαν Θεόφοβον καταγεραίρει πατρικιότητι καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀδελφὴν τούτῳ πρὸς γάμον ἐκδίδωσιν); Theophobos 1 was later executed treacherously by Theophilos 5: Genesius III 3. Another version of his story was also told; his father, of royal Persian descent, went to Constantinople where he lived in poverty; there he met a woman who ran an inn and took service under her; they became lovers and had a son; his presence in Constantinople was revealed to the Persians by soothsayers, and envoys were sent to find him; Theophilos 5 supported the search and eventually discovered Theophobos 1, who was then twelve years old; Theophobos 1 was taken to the emperor with his mother and his royal Persian descent was established; Theophobos 1 was then brought up and educated in the imperial palace on orders of the emperor Theophilos 5; Theophobos 1 had great natural abilities and made excellent progress, and was made patrikios (εὐμοιρῆσαι πατρικιότητα), afterwards distinguishing himself in the emperor's service as a bodyguard; in consequence the emperor enrolled the Persians into the army and created a Persian regiment: Genesius III 4.

Theophobos 1 accompanied the emperor on his campaigns against the "Ismaelites" (the Arabs); he was keen to lead his Persians alone against them, and so Theophilos 5 gave him command over them; when Theophilos 5 once had to return to Constantinople, he gave Theophobos 1 command in the war, but when Theophobos 1 was later told to return to Constantinople his followers refused to let him go and in the vicinity of Sinope or Amastris they proclaimed him emperor, wishing to restore the ancient Persian customs; Theophobos 1 opposed their wish and communicated secretly with the emperor asking pardon and swearing his loyalty; he was believed and he was able to obtain pardon and forgiveness for his followers, who then left Sinope and Amastris: Genesius III 5. Theophobos 1 resumed his life in the imperial palace and again enjoyed the emperor's favour: Genesius III 6. When Theophilos 5 was on his death bed he was told that Theophobos 1 planned a rebellion against his heirs; Theophobos 1 was then imprisoned in the palace of Boukoleon and secretly murdered; his death was so secret that for long he was believed among the Persians to be still alive: Genesius III 7.

Another story about Theophobos 1 said that he claimed to have led his Persians in a night battle against the Arabs and defeated them, at a time when the emperor had had a failure; the emperor became suspicious of him and prompted by malicious advisers accused Theophobos 1 of treacherous intentions; Theophobos 1 defended himself but failed to convince Theophilos 5 and therefore fled with some of his chief followers for refuge to Amastris; a naval expedition was mounted against him; Theophobos 1 avoided bloodshed by submitting to the emperor but was subsequently murdered, by Ooryphas 3 according to one account, according to another by one of the imperial eunuchs at the district of Pelagios while the emperor lay on his deathbed: Genesius III 8. He was with the emperor and Manuel 1 at the battle of Anzes, when he and Manuel 1 both urged Theophilos 5 to use his superior numbers and engage in battle by night; they were overruled and Theophilos 5 was defeated; the emperor was saved by Manuel 1 after the latter suspected the Persians (under Theophobos 1) of planning treachery: Genesius III 14.

After the destruction of Amorion, the caliph al-Mutasim 1 demanded the surrender of Nasir the Kurd and the patrician Manuel (Manuel 1) as a condition of making peace; the demand was rejected by Theophilos 5; during the fighting that ensued Nasir and his Kurds rescued captives from Bashir 1 but were then defeated by Abu Sa`id 1 and suffered heavy losses; among those killed was Nasir himself: Bar Hebr., p. 138.

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