Gennadios II (Exarch)
Gennadios ( Middle Greek Γεννάδιος , Latin Gennadius ; † 665) was a Byzantine general who probably served as Exarch of Carthage from 648 to 665 .
Gennadios' predecessor in office Gregor had rebelled against Emperor Konstans II in 646 and temporarily moved the official seat from Carthage to Sufetula (Sbeitla, today Tunisia ). The usurpation possibly took place against the background of the monotheletic disputes in Byzantium, in which an orthodox position seems to have been adopted in the exarchate. The revolt soon collapsed, however, as Gregory was attacked and killed by an Arab army under ʿAbd Allah ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarh at Sufetula the following year .
After the battle, the Arabs withdrew to Tripolitania , while the remaining parts of the exarchate under Gennadios fell into Byzantine dependence again. The capital was moved back to Carthage. Since the new self-appointed exarch sought to pacify the Arabs by paying tribute of 330,000 solidi annually and also had to pay considerable annual taxes to Constantinople , the corresponding tax burden led to growing resentment among the population.
When Constans II moved his residence to Syracuse in Sicily in 663 and soon afterwards demanded an increase in taxes, Gennadius refused the emperor's allegiance. Thereupon a certain Eleutherios started a revolt against the exarch in 665 with the support of the Carthaginian garrison troops and parts of the population. Nuwairi reports that Gennadios fled to the court of the caliph Muʿāwiya in Damascus and asked for help against Byzantium there. The caliph then sent a strong force to Africa , but Gennadios died on the march in Alexandria at the end of 665 .
literature
- Ralph-Johannes Lilie , Claudia Ludwig, Thomas Pratsch, Ilse Rochow, Beate Zielke: Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period . 1st department: (641−867). Volume 1: Aaron (# 1) - Georgios (# 2182). Created after preliminary work by F. Winkelmann . Published by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. De Gruyter, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-11-015179-0 , p. 613 No. 1956 .
- Denys Pringle : The Defense of Byzantine Africa from Justinian to the Arab Conquest: An Account of the Military History and Archeology of the African Provinces in the Sixth and Seventh Century. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford 1981, ISBN 0-86054-119-3 .
- Warren Treadgold : A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford University Press, Stanford 1997, ISBN 0-8047-2630-2 .
Remarks
- ^ Treadgold, History , p. 312.
- ^ Pringle, Defense of Byzantine Africa , p. 47.
- ^ Treadgold, History , p. 320.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gennadios |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gennadius; Γεννάδιος (Middle Greek) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Byzantine exarch of Carthage |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 6th century or 7th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 665 |
| Place of death | Alexandria |