Eustathios Argyros (admiral under Leo VI)

Eustathios Argyros (Εὐστάθιος Ἀργυρός) was a Byzantine admiral under Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912).

Eustathios Argyros first appears in the war with Bulgaria in 894, under the overall command of Nikephoros Phokas the Elder. At the time, he was already patrikios and commander of the imperial fleet (droungarios tou ploimou) was sent to the Danube to ferry across the allied Magyars and put pressure on Bulgaria from the rear; the strategy worked, and Tsar Simeon asked for peace. As soon as the Byzantines withdrew for negotiations to take place, however, Simeon drove back the Magyars and renewed war with Byzantium.

In 902, he was accused of treason for failing to prevent the fall of Taormina in Sicily to the Arabs. He faced execution, but was saved by the intervention of Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, and simply confined to the Monastery of Stoudios. In 904, he was again entrusted with command of the fleet against the Saracen fleet of Leo of Tripoli, but hesitated to confront him, and was even pursued into the Hellespont, within striking distance of Constantinople. Leo replaced him with Himerios, but he too was unable to effectively oppose the Saracens, who went on to sack the Empire's second city, Thessalonica.