“While the slain dragon can be thought of allegorically, perhaps representing the triumph of good over evil or the conquest of civilization over the primeval world, the slain man represents either the gladiator Lyaeus, a known persecutor of Christians in late antiquity, or tsar Kaloyan of Bulgaria, who died under mysterious circumstances in 1207 AD while laying siege to Thessaloniki. According to hagiographic legend, the ghost of Saint Demetrios rode through the Bulgarian camp on the eve of battle, slaying the tsar with a blow from his spear and thereby saving Byzantium.”