Cometopulus Moses

Moses was one of the four sons of Komit Nikola and Ripsimia. After Veliki Preslav, the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire, fell under Byzantine rule in 971, Moses and his brothers took control of the free southwestern Bulgarian territories.

Despite the lack of precise historical evidence, Moses is thought to have governed the Vardar comitatus, centred on Skopje, while living in Strumica. In 976, taking advantage of instability in Byzantium after Emperor John I Tzimiskes's death, he and his brothers launched a military campaign against Byzantine possessions in Thessaly, around Edessa and along the lower Struma.

Moses operated along the Struma, attacking the Byzantine fortress of Serres, defended by a Byzantine commander of the rank of doux, governor of the theme, or province, of Thessaloniki or Edirne. In the battle beneath the walls of Serres, Moses was killed by a stone thrown from the fortress. According to the accepted chronology, he fell in 976–977, although there are no reliable sources for the exact date.

By the time Moses died, the eldest brother, David, was already dead. The remaining brothers, Aaron and Samuel, agreed to divide authority over the Bulgarian lands free from Byzantine rule.