Petronas (general)

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Petronas the Patrician
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Petronas
Arab–Byzantine frontier wars

Petronas (

magistros and the office of Domestic of the Schools
, he died in 865.

Biography

Petronas was born to the

Theodora, the wife of Emperor Theophilos.[1][2] Three other sisters, Kalomaria, Sophia, and Irene, are recorded by Theophanes Continuatus.[1]

Under Theophilos, he was appointed commander (droungarios' of the guard regiment (

patrikios.[3] In 842, as Theophilos lay dying, Petronas and the eunuch Theoktistos carried out the execution of the patrikios Theophobos,[3][2] a former Khurramite convert and general, whose troops had rebelled and proclaimed him emperor at Sinope some years before.[4] Despite his kinship with Theophilos, the tale is told that the Emperor once had Petronas stripped naked and flogged in public because he had built a palace that overshadowed the house of a widow, in contravention of the law. The palace itself was then torn down, and both the building materials and the plot were left to the widow.[1][3]

Michael III with Theodora and Theoktistos, from the Madrid Skylitzes

When Theophilos died in 842, Theodora was left as regent to her infant son,

Cretan Saracens, leaving the eunuch minister the dominant figure throughout Theodora's regency.[8]

In 855, however, Michael III turned fifteen and thus came nominally of age. The young ruler began resenting the dominance of his mother and of Theoktistos, especially after they selected

Samosata and Amida in Upper Mesopotamia. After penetrating deeper into Arab territory than any Byzantine commander since the beginning of the Muslim conquests, he returned victorious with many captives.[3][12]

Clash between Byzantines and Arabs at the Battle of Lalakaon.

In 863, an Arab army, led by the emir of Melitene,

magistros and the position of Domestic of the Schools (commander-in-chief of the army).[3]

The defeat of the Arabs and their Paulician allies became a turning point in the

Gastria Monastery, where his stone sarcophagus was placed opposite those of his sister, the Empress Theodora, and his nieces.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Lilie et al. 2000, p. 564.
  2. ^ a b Whittow 1996, p. 154.
  3. ^ a b c d e ODB, "Petronas" (P. A. Hollingsworth), pp. 1644–1645.
  4. ^ ODB, "Theophobos" (P. A. Hollingsworth, A. Cutler), pp. 2067–2068.
  5. ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 446.
  6. ^ Whittow 1996, pp. 154–155.
  7. ^ Treadgold 1997, pp. 446–447.
  8. ^ Treadgold 1997, pp. 447–450.
  9. ^ Jenkins 1987, p. 160.
  10. ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 450.
  11. ^ Jenkins 1987, pp. 160–161.
  12. ^ Treadgold 1997, pp. 450–451.
  13. ^ Jenkins 1987, p. 162.
  14. ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 453.
  15. ^ a b Whittow 1996, p. 311.

Sources

  • Jenkins, Romilly James Heald (1987). Byzantium: The Imperial Centuries, AD 610–1071. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
    ISBN 0-8020-6667-4
    .
  • ISBN 0-19-504652-8
    .
  • ISBN 0-8047-2630-2
    .
  • ISBN 978-0-520-20496-6
    .
  • ISBN 978-3-11-016673-6
    .
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