Leo the Isaurian and his son Constantine V.

Leo III the Isaurian or the Syrian (Greek: Λέων Γ΄, Leōn III ), (c. 685–June 18, 741) was Byzantine emperor from 717 until his death in 741. He put an end to a period of instability, successfully defended the empire against the invading Arabs, and adopted the religious policy of Iconoclasm. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Constantine V Copronymus (The Dung-named) was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. ... Isauria, in ancient geography, is a rugged isolated district in the interior of South Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering much of what is now Antalya province of Turkey, or the core of the Taurus Mountains. ... June 18 is the 169th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (170th in leap years), with 196 days remaining. ... Events June 18 - Constantine V succeeds Leo III as emperor of the Byzantine Empire. ... This is a list of the Emperors of the late Eastern Roman Empire, called Byzantine by modern historians. ... Languages Arabic other languages (Arab minorities) Religions Predominantly Islam Some adherents of Druze, Judaism, Samaritan, Christianity Related ethnic groups Mizrachi Jews, Sephardi Jews, Ashkenazi Jews, Canaanites, other Semitic-speaking groups An Arab (Arabic: ‎); is a member of a Non-Semetic group of people whose cultural, linguistic, and in certain cases... Illustration of the Beeldenstorm during the Dutch reformation Iconoclasm is the destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually for religious or political motives. ...

Life

Early life

Leo, whose original name was Konon, was born in Germanikeia (Maraş) in the Syrian province of Commagene. His family had been resettled in Thrace, where he entered the service of Emperor Justinian II, when the latter was advancing on Constantinople with an army of 15,000 horsemen provided by Tervel of Bulgaria in 705. KahramanmaraÅŸ is the capital city of KahramanmaraÅŸ Province in southeastern Turkey. ... Roman province of Commagene, 120 CE Commagene (Greek Kομμαγηνη Kommagênê) was a small sometime kingdom, located in modern south-central Turkey, with its capital at Samosata (modern Samsat, near the Euphrates). ... Thraciae veteris typvs. ... Justinian II, known as Rhinotmetus (the Split-nosed) (669-711) was a Byzantine emperor of the Heraclian Dynasty, reigned from 685 to 695 and again from 704 to 711. ... Map of Constantinople. ... Tervel (Bulgarian: Тервел) also called Tarvel, or Terval, or Terbelis in some Byzantine sources, was the ruler of the Bulgars at the beginning of the 8th century. ...

After the victory of Justinian II, Leo was dispatched on a diplomatic mission to Lazica to organize an alliance against the Umayyad Caliphate under Al-Walid I. Leo was appointed commander (stratēgos) of the Anatolic theme by Emperor Anastasius II. On his deposition Leo joined with his colleague Artabasdus, the stratēgos of the Armeniac theme, in conspiring to overthrow the new Emperor Theodosius III. Egrisi (or Kolkheti) was a kingdom in the western part of Georgia, which flourished between the 6th century BC and the 7th century AD. It was covered the territory of the former kingdom Kolkha (Colchis) and the territory of modern Abkhazia). ... The Courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, one of the grandest architectural legacies of the Umayyads. ... For main article see: Caliphate Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, or global Islamic nation. ... Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik (Arabic: ) or Al-Walid I (668 - 715) was an Umayyad caliph who ruled from 705 - 715. ... The term strategos (plural strategoi; Greek στρατηγός) is used in Greek to mean general. In the hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor. ... The themata in 950. ... Anastasios II kept his name, Artemios, also on his coinage; this solidus bears the legend APTEMIUS ANASTASIUS. Anastasios II or Anastasius II (Greek: Αναστάσιος Β΄), (died 718), Byzantine emperor, from 713 to 715. ... Artavasdos (erroneously Artabasdos or Artabasdus), (Greek: Αρταύασδος, Artauasdos, from Armenian: Ô±Ö€Õ¿Õ¡Õ¾Õ¡Õ¦Õ¤, Artavazd ), was Byzantine Emperor from June 741 or 742 until November 743. ... Theodosios III or Theodosius III (Greek: Θεοδόσιος Γ΄), was Byzantine Emperor from 715 to March 25, 717. ...

Siege of Constantinople

Leo entered Constantinople on March 25, 717 and forced the abdication of Theodosios III, becoming emperor as Leo III. The new emperor was immediately forced to attend to the Second Arab siege of Constantinople, which commenced in August of the same year. The Arabs were Ummayad forces send by Caliph Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik and serving under Maslama. They had taken advantage of the civil discord in the Roman Empire to bring a force of 80,000 men and a massive fleet to the Bosphorus. March 25 is the 84th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (85th in leap years). ... March 21 - Battle of Vincy between Charles Martel and Ragenfrid. ... Combatants Umayyad Caliphate Byzantine Empire, First Bulgarian Empire Commanders Maslama, Admiral Suleiman Leo III, Khan Tervel Strength About 400,000 men, 1,800 ships 30,000 Byzantines, 50,000 Bulgarians Casualties 130,000-170,000 men, About 1,795 ships Unknown The Second Arab siege of Constantinople (717-718), was... Suleiman bin Abd al-Malik (c. ... Maslama bin Abdul-Malik (685–738), (Arabic: مَسلَمة بن عبد الملك), was a famous Muslim military commander of the Arabs heralding from the Umayyad Dynasty. ... Bosphorus - photo taken from International Space Station. ...

Careful preparations and the stubborn resistance put up by Leo wore out the invaders. An important factor in the victory of the Romans was their use of Greek fire. The Arab forces also fell victim to Bulgarian reinforcements arriving to aid the Romans. Leo was allied with the Bulgarians but the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor was uncertain if they were still serving under Tervel or his eventual successor Kormesiy of Bulgaria. Unable to continue the siege in the face of the Bulgarian onslaught and lack of successes, the Arabs were forced to abandon their ambitions on Constantinople in August, 718. Sulayman himself had died the previous year and his successor Umar II would not attempt another siege. The siege had lasted 12 months. Greek fire was a burning-liquid weapon used by the Byzantine Greeks, typically in naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning even on water. ... Saint Theophanes the Confessor (about 758/760, Constantinople - March 17, 817 or 818, Samothrace) was an aristocratic but ascetic Byzantine monk and chronicler. ... Kormesiy or better Kormesij was a ruler of Danubian Bulgaria in the first half of the 8th century. ... Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (c. ...

Administration

Having thus preserved the Empire from extinction, Leo proceeded to consolidate its administration, which in the previous years of anarchy had become completely disorganized. In 718 he suppressed a rebellion in Sicily, and in 719 one on behalf of the deposed Emperor Anastasios II. Leo secured the Empire's frontiers by inviting Slavic settlers into the depopulated districts and by restoring the army to efficiency; when the Ummayad Caliphate renewed teraagtadfgheir invasions in 726 and 739 as part of the campaigns of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, the Arab forces were decisively beaten, especially at Akroinon in 740. Leo's military effort was supplemented by his alliances with the Khazars and the Georgians. Sicily (Sicilia in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ... The Slavic peoples are the most numerous ethnic and linguistic body of peoples in Europe. ... Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (691–743) was an Umayyad caliph who ruled from 723 until his death in 743. ... The Battle of Akroinon was fought at Akroinon (also known as Acroinon or Acroinum, near modern Afyon) in Phrygia, on the western edge of the Anatolian plateau, in 739 between an Umayyad Arab army of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, led by his brother Sulayman, and Byzantine forces led by... The Khazars (Hebrew Kuzari כוזרי Kuzarim כוזרים; Turkish Hazar Hazarlar; Russian Хазары; Tatar sing Xäzär Xäzärlär; Crimean Tatar: ; Greek Χαζάροι/Χάζαροι; Arabic خزر; Persianخزر ; Latin Gazari or Cosri) were a semi-nomadic Turkic people from Central Asia, many of whom converted to Judaism. ...

Leo undertook a set of civil reforms including the abolition of the system of prepaying taxes which had weighed heavily upon the wealthier proprietors, the elevation of the serfs into a class of free tenants and the remodelling of family and of maritime law. These measures, which were embodied in a new code (the Ecloga) published in 740, met with some opposition on the part of the nobles and higher clergy. The emperor also undertook some reorganization of the theme structure by creating new themes in the Aegean. Costumes of Slaves or Serfs, from the Sixth to the Twelfth Centuries, collected by H. de Vielcastel, from original Documents in the great Libraries of Europe. ... Look up Aegean Sea in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Leo also published the Eclogue, a compilation of new imperial constitutions[1].

Iconoclasm

But Leo's most striking legislative reforms dealt with religious matters, especially iconoclasm. After an apparently successful attempt to enforce the baptism of all Jews and Montanists in the empire (722), he issued a series of edicts against the worship of images (726–729). This prohibition of a custom which had undoubtedly given rise to grave abuses seems to have been inspired by a genuine desire to improve public morality, and received the support of the official aristocracy and a section of the clergy. But a majority of the theologians and all the monks opposed these measures with uncompromising hostility, and in the western parts of the empire the people refused to obey the edict. Illustration of the Beeldenstorm during the Dutch reformation Iconoclasm is the destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually for religious or political motives. ... Baptism in early Christian art. ... Montanism was an early Christian sectarian movement of the mid-2nd century A.D., named after its founder Montanus. ...

A revolt which broke out in Greece, mainly on religious grounds, was crushed by the imperial fleet in 727. In 730, Patriarch Germanos I of Constantinople resigned rather than subscribe to an iconoclast decree. Leo had him replaced by Anastasios who willingly sided with the emperor on the question of icons. Thus Leo suppressed the overt opposition of the capital. Saint Germanos I was Patriarch of Constantinople from 715 to 730. ... Anastasius was the patriarch of Constantinople from 730 to 754. ...

In the Italian Peninsula, the defiant attitude of Popes Gregory II and Gregory III on behalf of image-veneration led to a fierce quarrel with the emperor. The former summoned councils in Rome to anathematize and excommunicate the iconoclasts (730, 732); Leo retaliated by transferring Southern Italy and Illyricum from the papal diocese to that of the Patriarch of Constantinople. The struggle was accompanied by an armed outbreak in the exarchate of Ravenna in 727, which Leo finally endeavoured to subdue by means of a large fleet. But the destruction of the armament by a storm decided the issue against him; his South Italian subjects successfully defied his religious edicts, and the Exarchate of Ravenna became effectively detached from the empire. Satellite view of the Peninsula in spring The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula (Italian: Penisola italiana or Penisola appenninica) is one of the greatest peninsulas of Europe, spanning 1,000 km from the Alps in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. ... Saint Gregory II, pope from 715 or 716 to February 11, 731, succeeded Pope Constantine, his election being variously dated May 19, 715, and March 21, 716. ... Pope Gregory III, pope (731-741), a Syrian by birth, succeeded Gregory II in March 731. ... Nickname: The Eternal City Motto: SPQR: Senatus PopulusQue Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area    - City 1285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban... Southern Italy, often referred to in Italian as the Mezzogiorno (a term first used in 19th century in comparison with French Midi ) encompasses six of the countrys 20 regions: Basilicata Campania Calabria Puglia Sicilia Sardinia Sicilia although it is geographically and administratively included in Insular Italy, it has a... This article is about an ancient civilization in southeastern Europe; see also Illyria (software), Illyria (character in the TV series Angel). ... The Patriarch of Constantinople is the Ecumenical Patriarch, ranking as the first among equals in the Eastern Orthodox communion. ... The Exarchate of Ravenna was a center of Byzantine power in Italy, from the end of the 6th century to 751 A.D., when the last Exarch was put to death by the Emperors enemies in Italy, the Lombards. ... The Exarchate of Ravenna was a center of Byzantine power in Italy, from the end of the 6th century to 751 A.D., when the last Exarch was put to death by the Emperors enemies in Italy, the Lombards. ...

Family

By his wife Maria, Leo III had four known children:

• Anna, who married Artabasdus.
• Constantine V, who succeeded as emperor.
• Irene
• Kosmo

Artavasdos (erroneously Artabasdos or Artabasdus), (Greek: Αρταύασδος, Artauasdos, from Armenian: Արտավազդ, Artavazd ), was Byzantine Emperor from June 741 or 742 until November 743. ... Constantine V Copronymus (The Dung-named) was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. ...

References

• The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, 1991.

External links

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Leo III