Artabasdos

Artabasdos
Seal of Artabasdos as kouropalates
Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Reign	June 741 – November 743
Predecessor	Constantine V
Successor	Constantine V
Born	Unknown
Died	743
Consort	Anna
Issue	Nikephoros, Niketas
Full name Արտավազդ, Artavazd
Dynasty	Isaurian dynasty

Isaurian dynasty
Chronology
Leo III		717–741
with Constantine V as co-emperor, 720–751
Constantine V		741–775
with Leo IV as co-emperor, 751–775
Artabasdos' usurpation		741–743
Leo IV		775–780
with Constantine VI as co-emperor, 776–780
Constantine VI		780–797
under Irene as regent, 780–790, and with her as co-regent, 792–797
Irene as empress regnant		797–802
Succession
Preceded by Twenty Years' Anarchy		Followed by Nikephorian dynasty

Artavasdos or Artabasdos (Greek: Ἀρταύασδος or Ἀρτάβασδος, from Armenian: Արտավազդ, Artavazd, Ardavazt), Latinized as Artabasdus, was a Byzantine general of Armenian descent who seized the throne from June 741 or 742 until November 743. His reign constitutes a usurpation against Constantine V, who had retained control of several themes in Asia Minor.

Rise to power

In about 713, Emperor Anastasius II appointed the Armenian Artabasdos as governor (stratēgos) of the Armeniac theme (Θέμα Άρμενιάκων, Thema Armeniakōn), the successor of the Army of Armenia, which occupied the old areas of the Pontus, Armenia Minor, and northern Cappadocia, with its capital at Amasea. After Anastasius' fall, Artabasdos made an agreement with his colleague Leo, the governor of the Anatolic theme, to overthrow the new Emperor Theodosius III. This agreement was sealed with the engagement of Leo's daughter Anna to Artabasdos, and the marriage took place after Leo III ascended the throne in March 717.

Artabasdos was awarded the rank of kouropalates ("master of the palace") and became commander (count, komēs) of the Opsikion theme, while retaining control of his original command. In June 741 or 742, after the accession of Leo's son Constantine V to the throne, Artabasdos resolved to seize the throne and attacked his brother-in-law while the latter was traversing Asia Minor to fight the Arabs on the eastern frontier. While Constantine fled to Amorion, Artabasdus seized Constantinople amid popular support and was crowned emperor.

Reign and downfall

Artabasdos abandoned his predecessor's religious policy of Iconoclasm and restored Orthodoxy with some support, including that of Pope Zacharias. Soon after his accession, Artabasdus crowned his wife Anna as Augusta and his son Nikephoros as co-emperor, while putting his other son Niketas in charge of the Armeniac theme. But while Artabasdus could rely also on the support of the themes of Thrace and Opsikion, Constantine secured for himself the support of the Anatolic and Thracesian themes.

The inevitable clash came in May 743, when Artabasdus led the offensive against Constantine but was defeated. Later the same year Constantine defeated Nicetas, and on November 2, 743 Artabasdus' reign came to an end as Constantine V entered Constantinople and apprehended his rival. Artabasdus and his sons were publicly blinded and relegated to the monastery of Chora on the outskirts of Constantinople.^[1] The date of his death is unknown.

Family

By his wife Anna, the daughter of Emperor Leo III, Artabasdos had nine children, including:

• Nikephoros, who was co-emperor from 742 to 743.
• Niketas, who was strategos of the Armeniac theme from 742 to 743.

Bibliography

Notes

1. Garland 2006, p. 9

References

• Garland, Lynda (2006). Byzantine women: varieties of experience 800–1200 (2006 ed.). Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 0-7546-5737-X. - Total pages: 226

Further reading

• Venetis, Evangelos (31 July 2003). "Artabasdos (Byzantium)". Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor. Retrieved 2010-04-27.