Theodosius III

Theodosius was allegedly unwilling to be emperor and according to Theophanes:[29]

When the malefactors arrived at Adramyttium, being leaderless they found there a local man named Theodosius, a receiver of public revenues, non-political and a private citizen. They urged him to become Emperor. He, however, fled to the hills and hid. But they found him and forced him to accept acclamation as Emperor.^[29]

He was acclaimed as Emperor Theodosius III by the troops of the Opsician Theme at Adramyttium in c. May 715.^[27][29] Anastasius led his army into Bithynia in the Opsician Theme to crush the rebellion. Rather than remaining to fight Anastasius, Theodosius led his fleet to Chrysopolis, across the Bosporus from Constantinople. From Chrysopolis, he launched a six-month-long siege of Constantinople, before supporters within the capital managed to open the gates for him, allowing him to seize the city in November 715. Anastasius remained at Nicaea for several months, before finally agreeing to abdicate and retire to a monastery.^[27][30][31]

Reign

One of Theodosius' first acts as emperor was to reinstate the depiction of the

Around this time, Sulayman had begun advancing into Byzantine territory, laying siege to Amorium, and a separate force entered Cappadocia.^[39] Negotiations with Leo led them to withdraw.^[40] Leo began to march his troops to Constantinople soon after declaring himself emperor, first capturing Nicomedia, where he found and captured, among other officials, Theodosius' son, and then marched to Chrysopolis. After his son was captured, Theodosius, taking the advice of Patriarch Germanus and the Byzantine Senate, agreed to abdicate and recognize Leo as emperor.^[34][41][42] Bury states that the elite of Constantinople, who might otherwise have sided with the inoffensive Theodosius, who would be unlikely to politically weaken them, sided with Leo, as Theodosius was not competent enough to deal with the Arab threat. He further states that the meeting of the Patriarch, senate, and chief officials, which chose Leo over Theodosius, was done with the knowledge and consent of Theodosius himself, who accepted the decision.^[43] Bury postulates that, without the threat of the Arabs, it is possible that Theodosius may have retained power, and a succession of nominal emperors might have followed him, controlled by court officials and the elites.^[44]

Leo entered Constantinople and definitively seized power on 25 March 717, allowing Theodosius and his son, also named Theodosius, to retire to a monastery as monks.^[34][42][45] After his retirement to a monastery, Theodosius might have become the bishop of Ephesus, if he was the same person as Theodosius, son of Tiberius, in c. 729, and, if he is the same, died on 24 July 754 according to Sumner. Either he or his son is buried in the Church of St. Philip in Ephesus.^[27][46] Little is known of the reign of Theodosius III.^[47]

References

Notes