Gregoras' surname may suggest an
Iberian origin. He was related by marriage to the powerful
Doukas clan, with whom his career was intertwined. He was almost certainly the father-in-law of
Constantine Doukas, son of general
Andronikos Doukas. When the latter rose in revolt in the winter of 906/7, possibly due to the machinations of the powerful eunuch
Samonas, Gregoras, who at the time held the supreme military position of
Domestic of the Schools, was sent by Emperor
Leo VI the Wise (reigned 886–912) to confront the Doukai, who had taken refuge in the fortress of Kabala near
Ikonion. Andronikos however called upon the Arabs for aid, and in spring of 907, an army under the
Abbasid governor of Tarsus,
Rustam ibn Baradu, arrived to help him. According to
al-Tabari, Andronikos managed to take Gregoras captive, defeat his troops, and flee to the
Abbasid Caliphate. At a later point, but no later than the reign of Leo's brother and successor,
Alexander (r. 912–913), Gregoras Iberitzes rose to the supreme court rank of
magistros. As a result, he is possibly to be identified with the nameless
magistros who in late 912 delivered letters from the emperor and Patriarch
Nicholas I Mystikos to
Pope Anastasius III. Following Alexander's death on 6 June 913, Constantine Doukas tried to seize the throne. He entered
Constantinople and spent the night in the mansion of Gregoras, where he planned his action with his followers. The usurpation attempt failed with the death of Constantine in the ensuing melee at the
imperial palace, whereupon Gregoras and
Leo Choirosphaktes sought sanctuary in the
Hagia Sophia. They were forcibly removed,
tonsured as monks, and sent to the
Stoudios Monastery. Gregoras' mansion, which lay in the
acropolis of ancient
Byzantium, apparently passed to
John Toubakes. ==References==