Andrew the Scythian

Andrew the Scythian (died after 887) was a senior Byzantine military officer who distinguished himself in the Arab–Byzantine wars, going on to hold the post of Domestic of the Schools during the last years of the reign of Basil I the Macedonian and in the early reign of Leo VI the Wise, until his death. He played a major role in the domestic affairs of Leo's early reign, especially in the dismissal and trial of Patriarch Photios.

Life
Andrew may be identifiable as the man of the same name who commanded the imperial bodyguard, the Hetaireia, when the young Basil the Macedonian served there during his swift rise from a simple stable groom to high office in the late 850s and early 860s as a protégé of Emperor Michael III (reigned 842–867). When Basil came to power after assassinating Michael, Andrew rose to higher office. In the 870s, as hypostrategos of the Opsician Theme, he distinguished himself in the wars against the Arab raids into Asia Minor, and was rewarded by the titles of patrikios and later magistros, and the post of Domestic of the Schools (commander-in-chief). By 883, however, he had transferred his loyalty to Basil's son, the future Leo VI (r. 886–912), as he was accused of being privy to a plot of the circle around Leo to depose his father. Along with other high-ranking officials connected to the heir-apparent, Andrew lost his post, even though he was on campaign at the time. Other sources on the other hand attribute his dismissal to timidity against the Arabs, which led to military defeats and the failure to capture Tarsus. His disgrace did not last long, however, as his successor, Kesta Styppeiotes, was decisively beaten by the Arabs, and Andrew soon regained his post.

When Leo succeeded his father, Andrew quickly emerged as the new emperor's right-hand man. Thus it was Andrew who headed the delegation of senior officials and senators sent by Leo immediately after his accession on 29 August 886 to Chrysopolis in order to retrieve and bring back to the capital for reburial in the Church of the Holy Apostles the corpse of Michael III, whom Leo believed to have been his real father. Andrew was also instrumental in the downfall of the Patriarch Photios, who along with his protégé Theodore Santabarenos was accused by Andrew and the magistros Stephen of plotting to overthrow Leo. As the emperor's trusted agent, it was Andrew who, along with the Logothete of the Course, John Hagiopolites, went to the Hagia Sophia, read the charges brought against Photios from the pulpit, and arrested the patriarch. Photios' trial for treason took place in 887, with Andrew presiding over a tribunal composed of senior officials. Photios and Theodore were found guilty, with the former banished to the monastery of Gordon, where he died, while Theodore was exiled to Athens.

After his death, he was replaced as Domestic of the Schools by Nikephoros Phokas the Elder.