Eustathios Argyros first appears during the outbreak of 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"), and he 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.