Demetrios Hestiun was an aristocrat living in Constantinople in the 860s. He was an ally to the Hidden Ones.
Biography[]
In 867, Demetrius allowed the Hidden Ones Basim Ibn Ishaq and Hytham the use of his house while on their mission to root out Emperor Basil I's possible ties to the Order of the Ancients.[1] While Hestiun was host, Hytham and Basim made a deal with Empress Eudocia Ingerina and the Varangian guard's leader Thyra of the Eagle Clan to protect Eudocia's son Leo in exchange for an alliance between the two groups.[2]
In a matter of weeks, Demetrius offered his house to the Empress again in order to meet with Hytham privately and discuss recent events on how he and Basim recently saved her son.[3] A few days after Basil's Hippodrome race,[4] and with the Order's leadership eliminated,[5] Hestiun offered his house once more, letting the Empress and Leo secretly pay their heartfelt gratitude and good-byes to Hytham, who was leaving the city after he and Basim successfully rooted out the Order's influence over the emperor.[6]