Theodorus Calliopas

Theodorus Calliopas was an Eastern Roman Patricius and Exarch of Ravenna from 643 to about 645, and from 653 to before 666.

Only the biography of Pope Theodor I tells that Theodorus was the immediate successor of Isaacius (643). Since he was also later exarch and it is not expressly emphasized that Theodorus twice, like Smaragdus , held this dignity, it is obvious to think of a mix-up. But since the Pope's biography was most likely created only a few years after the narrated events, one will have to accept the information, albeit doubtfully.

Theodorus began his second exarchate in 653, when he arrived in Rome with the Ravenna army on June 15 , as successor to Olympius . After the usurpation of Olympius, Theodorus was supposed to bring order to Rome. Pope Martin I did not resist because he was not adequately armed. However, Theodorus had to take many precautions because of the excitement of the Roman people. Pope Martin was brought to Constantinople, interrogated there and solemnly deposed, whereupon his successor Eugene I was elected in Rome . But even this Pope, who was elected under Greek influence, was forced by the people to reject a new proposal by the Patriarch of Constantinople with regard to the monotheletic disputes. There was no further interference by the exarch. Nevertheless, the papacy had suffered a serious setback from which it only gradually recovered. The exarchs, however, only appeared as Byzantine officials and were far too weak to be able to pursue policies hostile to the empire.

The last years of the reign of Theodorus will have been peaceful (until shortly before 666), as King Aripert I ruled over the Lombards, who was a Catholic. Apparently, after his term in office, Theodorus, together with his wife Anna and his children, had received various properties for life from the Ravennatic Church.

literature

• Friedhelm Winkelmann u. a .: Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine period . 1st department . Volume 4, Walter de Gruyter Verlag, Berlin-New York 2001, pp. 356-357, no. 7295.
• Ludo Moritz Hartmann : Studies on the history of the Byzantine administration in Italy . Leipzig 1889, pp. 15, 17.

predecessor	Office	successor
Isaacius	Exarchs of Ravenna-Italy 643 – approx. 645	plato
Olympius	Exarchs of Ravenna-Italy 653 – before 666	Gregorius