Leo 22 was a Macedonian, of the family of the Gomostai (or Gemostai); he was one of the "Macedonians" from Adrianople carried away captive by Krum 1 in 813 and living under the Bulgars north of the Danube; when they began to return in 836/838 (on the date, see Basilios 7) and were threatened by the Turks (also called the Huns), Leo 22 and other leaders led an attack and routed them; they then boarded boats sent by the emperor Theophilos (Theophilos 5) and escaped to Constantinople; from there they returned to their homelands; subsequently Leo 22 held office as hetairiarches: Leo Gramm. 232 (ἀναστὰς δὲ Μακεδόνων ἕτερος, Λέων ὀνόματι, ἐκ γένους τῶν Γημοστῶν, ὃς μετὰ ταῦτα γέγονεν ἑταιριάρχης), Georg. Mon. Cont. 819 (ἀναστὰς δὲ Μακεδόνων νεώτερος, Λέων ὄνοματι, ἐκ γένους τῶν Γωμοστῶν, ὃς μετὰ ταῦτα γέγονεν ἑταιρειάρχης). Also called ὁ Γομοστός; cf. Winkelmann, Quellenstudien, p. 164 (citing Moravcsik, "Sagen und legenden über Kaiser Basileios I", in DOP 15 (1961), 118,37; 119, 49).

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