ABSTRACT
The figure of Manuel has been the object of much debate since Henri Grégoire wrote two studies about his life and the confrontation he had with Theophobos during Theophilos’ reign. 1 I have discussed elsewhere the apparent contradictions of the sources 2 and it is not my intention here to reconsider again the whole series of problems related to the two Lives of Manuel that supposedly were the main source of the Continuator and Genesios, the authors who had preserved most of the information about Manuel. However, as Manuel is in fact one of the main protagonists during the reign of Theophilos, it is unavoidable to discuss piecemeal the evidence provided by our sources as far as it is connected with events. Thus we will now review briefly the report of the sources on the origins and exile of Manuel.
