divested of his imperial insignia and was given the Byzantine court title of magistros as compensation. The Bulgarian lands in Thrace and lower Moesia now became part of the Byzantine Empire and were placed under Byzantine governors. Although the ceremony in 971 had been intended as a symbolic termination of the Bulgarian empire, the Byzantines were unable to assert their control over the western provinces of Bulgaria. These remained under the rule of their own governors, and especially of a noble family led by four brothers called the Kometopouloi (i.e., "the sons of the Count"), named David, Moses, Aron, and Samuel. The movement was regarded as a "revolt" by the Byzantine emperor, but it apparently saw itself as a sort of regency for the captive Boris II. As they began to raid neighboring territories under Byzantine rule, the Byzantine government resorted to a stratagem intended to compromise the leadership of this "revolt". This involved allowing Boris II and his brother Roman to escape from their honorary captivity at the Byzantine court, in the hope that their arrival in Bulgaria would cause a division between the Kometopouloi and other Bulgarian leaders. As Boris II and Roman entered the region under Bulgarian control in 977, Boris II dismounted and went ahead of his brother. Mistaken for a Byzantine notable due to his attire, Boris was shot in the chest by a deaf and mute border patrol. Roman managed to identify himself to the other guards and was duly accepted as emperor. Family By his marriage to an unknown woman, Boris II had several children, as the Byzantine historian Kedrenus refers to Emperor John I Tzimisces finding "cum coniuge et liberis Borises Bulgarorum rex" among the Russian prisoners when he invaded Bulgaria. His children may include: (possibly) Maria, wife of Tsar Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria; this descent has been proposed by Christian Settipani based on prosopographical and onomastic elements which appear to link Maria to the Krum dynasty. An unnamed daughter, engaged to the Byzantine Emperor Basil II in 968 An unnamed daughter, engaged to the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VIII in 968 References John V.A. Fine Jr., The Early Medieval Balkans, Ann Arbor, 1983. Jordan Andreev, Ivan Lazarov, Plamen Pavlov, Koj koj e v srednovekovna Bălgarija, Sofia 1999. Settipani, Christian, Continuité des élites à Byzance durant les siècles obscurs. Les princes caucasiens et l'Empire du VIe au IXe siècle, Paris: De Boccard, 2006.