 The Argyroi apparently originated in the province of Charsianon, where they had large estates.They hence belonged to the Anatolian land-holding military aristocracy (the ""dynatoi""); indeed, they are among the earliest, and almost archetypal, such families to emerge, along with the Doukai.The family is first securely attested in the mid-9th century, but may have its origins in a certain "patrikios" Marianos and his son Eustathios, who was captured by the Umayyads in 740/41 and executed after refusing to convert to Islam.