Saborios Saborios or Saborius ( ) was a Byzantine general who rose in revolt against Emperor Constans II ( r . 641 – 668 ) in 667 – 668 . He sought and obtained the aid of the Caliph Muawiyah I ( r . 661 – 680 ) , but was killed in a horse accident before confronting the imperial troops . Biography . Saborios is mentioned as being of Persian descent by Theophanes the Confessor ( his name is a rendering of the Persian Shapur ) , but most modern scholars regard him an Armenian . He is sometimes identified with a certain Pasagnathes , " " patrikios " of the Armenians " , who rebelled in 651 / 652 . In 667 , Saborios was the governing general ( " strategos " ) of the theme of the Armeniacs , covering the northeastern part of Byzantine Anatolia . At the time , and for several years , Emperor Constans II had been residing in Syracuse in Sicily , having left the capital Constantinople at the hands of his young son , co - emperor , and eventual successor , Constantine IV ( r . 668 – 685 ) . In the emperor ' s absence , Caliph Muawiyah had sent a series of devastating raids into Anatolia , targeting chiefly the Armeniac theme . Taking advantage of the absence of many soldiers of the other themes with Constans in Sicily , Saborios launched a revolt in late 667 . In order to secure his rear , he sent one of his generals , Sergios , to Damascus to enlist Muawiyah ' s support . Constantine , learning of the rebellion , also sent an envoy , the eunuch " koubikoularios " Andrew , to the caliph . Andrew , however , could not match the rebel ' s offer of a heavy tribute ( " the entire public revenues " according to Theophanes ) and Muawiyah agreed to support Saborios with troops . Despite this setback , Andrew arranged for Sergios , who had insulted him during the negotiations , to be captured at a pass near Arabissus in Cilicia by troops loyal to the emperor . Sergios was then castrated and impaled on a stake . Nevertheless , with his eastern flank secure , Saborios marched west towards Constantinople , and succeeded in gaining control over most of Anatolia . He camped with his men at Hexapolis , also known as Hadrianopolis , in Bithynia , where he drilled his troops and awaited the arrival of the Muslim army . Saborios was readying his men to face an oncoming loyalist army under the " patrikios " Nikephoros , when his horse bolted , slamming his head on a city gate and killing him . The Armeniac troops , left leaderless , quickly submitted , and by the time the Arab troops arrived , the revolt was effectively over . The Arab army used the turmoil to raid as far as the Bosporus and capture Amorion , but the city was retaken by the Byzantines during the following winter . Legacy . Saborios ' s rebellion did not result in any territorial losses for Byzantium , but was important nonetheless as the first attested rebellion of a thematic force , heralding a number of similar revolts during the remainder of the 7th and throughout the 8th centuries . Despite the continued occurrence of revolts , however , Saborios ' s fate also encouraged a belief , oft - repeated in Byzantine and Syriac sources , that death would result from rebelling against the lawful emperor in Constantinople , and from dealing with the infidel Muslims .