Leo III. (Byzantium)

Solidus Leo III. and his son and future emperor Constantine V.

Leo III. (called Middle Greek Λέων Γʹ ὁ Ἰσαυρός Leon III. o Isavrós 'Leon the Isaurian '; * around 680 in Germanikeia ; † June 18, 741 ) was Byzantine emperor from 717 to 741 . He founded the Syrian dynasty , which is also often (although incorrectly) referred to as the Isaurian dynasty.

Life

Rise to the emperor

Leo, who was born around 680 in Germanikeia in the region of Kommagene in southeast Asia Minor and was allegedly originally Konon , was relocated with his family as a child. The nickname "the Isaurians" is probably based on a mistake by a Byzantine chronicler. Leo was married to a certain Maria, with whom he had four children: the son Constantine and the daughters Anna, Kosmo and Irene.

Leo received military training, served under Emperor Justinian II and possibly became commander of the troops in the Anatolicon theme under Anastasios II . According to another source, he served as a high officer (Spatharios) on the subject of Anatolicon.

717 Leo was against Theodosios III. and his son made emperor, but the relevant details vary in the sources: Sometimes there is talk of an election by the soldiers, in other sources it is said that Theodosius was regarded as incompetent in the capital and that several people from the ruling class of Constantinople had then elected Leo as the new emperor. In any case, Theodosios was deposed and Leo ascended the throne, but already faced several problems at the beginning of his reign.

Leo was supported by Artabasdos , the strategos of the Armeniacon theme , during his emperor rise . As a thank you Artabasdos received the title Kuropalates and married Leo's daughter Anna.

Foreign policy

Dinar of the caliph Sulaimān , the opponent of Emperor Leos III.

Emperor Leo III. was able to stop the onslaught of the Arab troops on Constantinople 717/18 with the help of the Greek fire .

The first year of Leo III's reign. 717 was marked by the second attack by the Arabs on Constantinople - although the allegedly first siege of the capital has now been questioned in some cases. In any case, the Umayyad caliph Sulaiman dispatched a force and a large fleet in 717 against the Byzantine Empire, which had been weakened by internal turmoil. Due to bitter resistance and brilliant tactics with which the new ruler tired the invaders, but also due to a harsh winter and a Bulgarian invasion , the Arabs withdrew in 718. A significant advantage of the Byzantines was the use of Greek fire , which the Byzantine fleet was able to largely keep the Arabs in check. After the invaders were repulsed, Leo restructured the administrative level. Above all, he secured the borders by billeting Slavic settlers in poorly populated areas and restoring the efficiency of the army . Nevertheless, the Byzantine Asia Minor continued to be under great pressure even after the Arabs were repelled in 718. There were repeated incursions by Arab troops, who plundered large stretches of land, but withdrew again towards winter. In 740, however, Leo managed to defeat the Arabs at Akroinon , which, combined with a civil war in the caliphate, gave Byzantium a respite.

Around 732 Leo concluded an alliance with the Khazars , after an alliance with the Bulgarians had already come about in 718. In 735/36 there was a naval expedition against the Lombards in southern Italy.

Domestic political reforms and the beginning of the so-called picture dispute

Leo's main domestic endeavor was to strengthen his position in the empire after usurpation attempts had occurred in 718 , 727 and 729 . The coronation of his son Constantine as co-emperor can also be seen in this context (720, i.e. still as a toddler). However, relatively little is known about Leo’s specific domestic political measures: he initiated social reforms such as the abolition of taxes to be paid in advance. The emperor undertook a financial reform whereby the taxpayers were recorded more precisely. The antiquated Roman family and maritime law was reformed. Despite the clerical and noble resistance, 741 new legal texts were created ( Eclogue ; "Selection").

Under Emperor Leo III. the miliaresion is introduced, a new silver coin without a figurative representation. It is the Byzantine counterpart to the dirhem , which was introduced by the caliph Abd al-Malik in 696.

The most discussed question regarding the reign of Leo III. refers to the so-called picture dispute (also iconoclasm - "image destruction"). After an apparently successful attempt to baptize all Jews and Montanists of the Reich in 722 , he is said to have issued several edicts against the worship of images, which is now again very controversial. In 726 (after other considerations 730) Leo is said to have removed an icon of Christ in front of the imperial palace after a volcanic eruption in the Aegean, but this process is only documented in tendentious sources. The reasons for Leo's approach (if that is how it happened) have been debated again and again in research. Some see a possible reason in Leo's Syrian origins. In the east of the empire, especially among the spreading Paulicians in Armeniakon and Anatolikon , image worship was far less widespread; it was generally viewed as a kind of idolatry. Influences from the Islamic area were also possible, where the worship of images was generally rejected; However, this argument is more likely to be rejected today because the iconoclastic emperors were staunch Christians and replaced images with representations of the cross, which were outlawed in the Islamic world. The Patriarch Germanos of Constantinople was forced to resign in 730.

In this context it must be emphasized that in fact only sources of the winners, the icon modules (the admirers of images), are available to us. The modern image of the emperor (and his successors) is already distorted from the start. Modern research has therefore long since relativized many statements in the sources, for example regarding the harshness of Leo’s approach. It is very unlikely that a general ban has been issued; There is no reliable evidence of this, especially since 727 icons could apparently still be shown openly in Constantinople. Likewise, the emperor seems to have received support not only in the east of the empire. Apparently Leo did not have to fear serious opposition. Icons do not seem to have been systematically removed or destroyed either.

In Italy there was a serious argument between Leo III. on the one hand and Popes Gregory II and Gregory III. on the other hand, whose background was hardly the question of the picture. Rather, it was about the increased tax pressure exerted by the emperor on the western regions. Only later sources, made by the icon modules, brought the debate to a head solely on the question of images. Nevertheless, there was undoubtedly an alienation between East and West, because a synod held from November 1, 731 under Gregory III. condemned the iconoclasts, but this was in fact ineffective; Leo responded by removing several bishoprics in southern Italy from the Pope's jurisdiction.

In summary, it is more than questionable whether the picture dispute in the time of Leo really had these catastrophic domestic political consequences, as suggested by the (picture-friendly) historiography (see Theophanes and Nikephoros ). In any case, Leo III succeeded in stabilizing the empire in terms of foreign policy and founding a dynasty that could rule for over 80 years.

literature

• Leslie Brubaker, John F. Haldon: Byzantium in the Iconoclast era, ca 680-850. A history . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2011.
• John F. Haldon: The Empire That Would Not Die. The Paradox of Eastern Roman Survival, 640-740. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 2016.
• Dirk Jäckel: Leon III. and the beginnings of the Byzantine iconoclasm. Regeneration in the East and new conflicts . In: Mischa Meier (Ed.), You created Europe . Beck, Munich 2007, pp. 259-272, ISBN 3-406-55500-4 .
• Ralph-Johannes Lilie : Byzantium. The second Rome . Siedler, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-88680-693-6 , p. 116ff.
• Ralph-Johannes Lilie, Claudia Ludwig, Thomas Pratsch, Ilse Rochow, Beate Zielke: Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period . 1st department: (641−867). Volume 2: Georgios (# 2183) - Leon (# 4270). Created after preliminary work by F. Winkelmann . Published by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. De Gruyter, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-11-016672-0 , pp. 662 ff., No. 4242.
• Paul Speck: Emperor Leon III., The historical works of Nikephoros and Theophanes and the Liber Pontificalis. A source-critical investigation . 2 volumes (= Poikila byzantina. Volumes 19-20). Habelt, Bonn 2002-2003, ISBN 3-7749-2569-0 , ISBN 3-7749-3160-7 .

Web links

Commons : Leo III.  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Bronwen Neil: Short biography (English) at De Imperatoribus Romanis (with references).

Remarks

1. ↑ It is questionable whether this was actually his original name, cf. Leslie Brubaker, John F. Haldon: Byzantium in the Iconoclast era, ca 680-850. A history . Cambridge 2011, p. 74, note 23.
2. ↑ This point is controversial because it is perhaps a mistake by Georgios Kedrenos , who misinterpreted the main source for this time, the Chronicle of Theophanes . See PmbZ, p. 662.
3. ^ Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period . 1. Department, Volume 1. Berlin 1999, p. 202.
4. ↑ This gold dinar was minted in Damascus in 717 . The text on the inside front reads: There is no god but Allah. The front margin writing reads: In the name of Allah this dirham was minted in Damascus, year 98. Inside back: Allah is the only one, Allah is the Eternal. Back margin: Mohammed is the Prophet of Allah.
5. ^ Marek Jankowiak: The first Arab siege of Constantinople. In: Travaux et Mémoires du Center de Recherche d'Histoire et Civilization de Byzance. Vol. 17. Paris 2013, pp. 237-320.
6. ↑ The purely textual representation is interpreted iconoclastically by some numismatists. Front: IhSVS XRIS-TVS nICA ( Jesus Christ Victory or Jesus Christ Will Victory ). Reverse: LEOn / S COnST / AntInE E / C ΘEV bA / SILIS ( Leo and Konstantin, emperors from God [ek Theou] or the emperors wanted by God ).
7. ↑ See also Peter Brown : The Rise of Western Christendom . 2nd ed., Oxford 2003, p. 383ff.
8. ↑ See also Leslie Brubaker, John F. Haldon: Byzantium in the Iconoclast era, ca 680–850 for the interpretation. A history . Cambridge 2011, p. 151ff.
9. ↑ Wilfried Hartmann: The synods of the Carolingian era in the Franconian Empire and in Italy. Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 1989, p. 495: "List of Synods: Roman and Papal Synods 721–904: Rome April 721 / Rome November 1, 731 / Rome April 732 ..."
10. ↑ MGH Ep. V, pp. 15: 31-34: "By affirming the testimonies of many holy fathers, they decided at their council that holy images should be respected and venerated (venerari et adorari)."
11. ↑ See Jäckel, Leon III. ; Lily, Byzantium , p. 122f.

predecessor	Office	successor
Theodosius III.	Emperor of Byzantium 717–741	Constantine V.