Pothos and Leo both followed military careers and reached high office. In ca. 921 Pothos was appointed to the post of Domestic of the Schools by Romanos I (r. 920–944) in succession to Adralestos, who had died recently. A "most handsome and experienced man", according to Theophanes Continuatus, he was sent to counter a Bulgarian invasion into Thrace during the Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927. Pothos led the "tagmata" of the capital to meet them, but a scouting detachment under a certain Michael was ambushed and annihilated. In 922 Pothos was sent to meet another Bulgarian incursion, that had reached Pegae, a suburb of Constantinople. Pothos and John the Rhaiktor commanded the forces of the "tagmata" and the Hetaireia, along with elements of the fleet under Alexios Mosele. The Byzantine army suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Pegae in early April 922, losing many dead and captives. Pothos and his brother however managed to escape and find refuge in a nearby fort, while the Bulgarians plundered and burned down the imperial palaces at Pegaea and Stenon. This disaster evidently spelled the end of Pothos' career as Domestic, of whom nothing further is heard during Romanos I's reign.