Isaacius (Exarch)
Isaacius (also Isaakios, Issak, Hysacius ; * in Armenia) was an Eastern Roman Patricius and Exarch of Ravenna from 625 to 643/644.
Life
The immediate successor of Eleutherius is not known. We only know again about Isaacius, who came to Italy in 625. According to his funerary inscription, which is preserved in the church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Isaacius came from Armenia and had already held military command in the East (as magister militum Orientem ?) Before his time as exarch .
According to the chronicler of 641 , Isaacius was sent “ to defend that country of Italy which the Lombards had not yet occupied ”. It was once hoped that the Lombards could be treated in the same way as many other peoples; the aim was to render them harmless by taking them as soldiers and using them against other peoples. When the attempt failed, the attempt was made to force the intruder out of Italy. Only the long ceasefire in the first half of the 7th century initiated a relationship that was analogous to that of the Eastern Roman Empire with the recognized Germanic states. Isaacius' grave inscription only says that he received the province of his emperors " undamaged ".
Around 634, the Lombard king Arioald is said to have waived a third of the annual tribute to the exarch Isaacius, so that he could murder the rebellious dux Taso of Tuscia.
Internally, Isaacius' reign was not without disturbances. Between 638 and 640 the Roman army sacked the Lateran in Rome to get its pay, under the leadership of Chartularius Mauricius , who took over the leadership of the Lateran for eight days. When Isaacius came to Rome, he confiscated the Lateran treasure that had been stolen by Mauricius.
In 643 Mauricius revolted against Isaacius. Isaacius dispatched his magister militum Donus who put down the revolt and sent Mauricius as a prisoner to Ravenna, where he was executed. A little later, in 643 or 644, Isaacius died. His wife Susanna stayed behind as a widow.
literature
- John Robert Martindale: Isaacius 8. In: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE). Volume 3A, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1992, ISBN 0-521-20160-8 , pp. 719-721.
- Friedhelm Winkelmann u. a .: Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine period . 1. Department, Volume 2, Walter De Gruyter Verlag, Berlin-New York 2000, p. 409, No. 3466.
- Ludo Moritz Hartmann : Studies on the history of the Byzantine administration in Italy . Leipzig 1889, p. 14f.
Web links
- Thomas Hodgkin: Italy and her Invaders. Volume VI, p. 169ff. (partially overhauled)
- Ludo Moritz Hartmann : History of Italy in the Middle Ages. Volume II, part 1, Wigand, Leipzig 1900, pp. 208ff. (partially overhauled)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Hodgkin: Italy and her Invaders. Volume VI, p. 169ff. (partially overhauled)
- ↑ Fredegar: Chronicle IV, chap. 69
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Eleutherius | Exarchs of Ravenna-Italy | Theodorus Calliopas |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Isaacius |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Isaacios; Issak; Hysacius |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Byzantine exarch of Ravenna |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 6th century or 7th century |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Armenia |
| DATE OF DEATH | after 643 |