Thomas the Slav (engine) question :)

[Kyriakos]

I have a Byzantine/Slavic question About Thomas the Slav. There is a painting of him in some Byzantine chronicle (an illustrative edition of the Synopsis of Histories, by Ioannes Skylitzes), but i am unsure what the exact text below it is. I think it reads "Αυτός υποχείριο μα θέαθαι αρχήν", which would mean "He was a tool (for the arabs, in this context of the painting where he meets them) but regarded (or sought?) himself to be a power". Can you help?

The image (and text) are the following:

 

[Abdul Goatherd]

What's the question?

 

[Kyriakos]

If that line from Skylitzes indeed has that meaning and is the sentence i think it is

 

[gagenater]

Here I was thinking this was about steam engines.

 

[Kyriakos]

He did try to steamroll the other usurper (Michael II Amorian), but he was defeated at sea by the Greek Fire vessels, and on land by the Bulgarian ally of Michael II.

There is likely less significant pun there about a childrens tv show too :ninja:

 

[Andre Bolkonsky]

He did try to steamroll the other usurper (Michael II Amorian), but he was defeated at sea by the Greek Fire vessels, and on land by the Bulgarian ally of Michael II.

There is likely less significant pun there about a childrens tv show too :ninja:

Yeah, I would guess most people came in here looking for Thomas the Tank Engine questions. Much less greek translations in those.