Arsaber

Arsaber (Greek: Ἀρσαβήρ, from Armenian Arshavir), was a Byzantine noble who attempted an unsuccessful usurpation of the Byzantine imperial throne in 808.

Biography

Arsaber was a noble of Armenian origin, holding the rank of patrikios, and served as quaestor of Emperor Nikephoros I Logothetes (r. 802–811). In February 808, a group of secular and ecclesiastic officials, who were dissatisfied with Nikephoros's rule, formed a conspiracy and acclaimed Arsaber as emperor.^[1][2][3] Nikephoros, however, discovered the plot and arrested the participants, who were beaten, had their properties confiscated, and were ultimately exiled. Arsaber himself was tonsured and exiled to a monastery in Bithynia. Arsaber's daughter, Theodosia, had been married to the future Emperor Leo V the Armenian (r. 813–820).^[1][2] Leo, then a general and hitherto enjoying Nikephoros's favour, was exiled for a time, likely on account of this connection to Arsaber.^[4]

References

Citations

1. Kazhdan 1991, p. 186.
2. Winkelmann et al. 1999, p. 193.
3. Brubaker & Haldon 2011, p. 361.
4. Kazhdan 1991, p. 1209.

Sources

• Brubaker, Leslie; Haldon, John (2011). Byzantium in the Iconoclast Era c. 680-850: A History. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-43093-7.
• Kazhdan, Alexander Petrovich, ed. (1991). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. New York, New York and Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
• Winkelmann, Friedhelm; Lilie, Ralph-Johannes; Ludwig, Claudia; Pratsch, Thomas; Rochow, Ilse (1999). "Arsaber (#600)". Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit: I. Abteilung (641–867), 1. Band: Aaron (#1) – Georgios (#2182) (in German). Berlin, Germany and New York, New York: Walter de Gruyter. p. 193. ISBN 978-3-11-015179-4.