Theodore (Vicarius)

Theodore, described by the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes as a Vicarius (a Roman military-administrative title) and identified as Heraclius's own brother, is named in the Chronicle of Theophanes as the commander who, tipped off by a paid Qurayshite informant about the timing of the Muslim advance, struck the Muslim force at what Theophanes calls Moutos, understood to be Mu'tah. Theophanes's account, though containing errors (inflating Muslim losses, mistiming the battle relative to Abu Bakr's caliphate), independently corroborates the battle's basic shape from the Byzantine side, and even records Khalid ibn al-Walid's title "Sword of God" reaching Roman ears.