Tiberios II

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Solidus des Tiberios Apsimaros with the inscription D TIbERI-YS PE - AV ( Dominus noster TIBERIUS PErpetuus AUgustus , also Our Lord Tiberius the Perpetual Emperor ) on the obverse and on the reverse VICTORIA AVGY ( VICTORIA AUGUstorum , meaning victory of the emperors ).

Tiberios II. (III.) Apsimaros ( Middle Greek Τιβέριος Αψίμαρος , Latin Tiberius Apsimarus ; † February 15, 706 in Constantinople ) was Byzantine emperor (698-705).

Life

Nothing is known about the family and youth of Tiberios; his birth name Apsimar is likely to be of Germanic origin. According to Ralph-Johannes Lilie , he was perhaps a descendant of Goths, the Gothograikoi , who had long before been settled in the area of ​​the later topic Kibyrrhaioton . In the sources he only appears in connection with his elevation to emperor.

When the caliph Abd al-Malik decided the civil war for the caliphate ( second Fitna 680-692) for himself and the Umayyads , he ordered the continuation of the conquest of the Maghreb. In 697 the Arabs succeeded in conquering Byzantine Carthage, but the Byzantine Emperor Leontios immediately sent a naval expedition to recapture the city. The Byzantines succeeded in a surprise attack and they retook first the port and then the city. In the spring of 698 the Arabs raised an army of around 40,000 men in Cairo and conquered Carthage again. The Byzantine commanders and some of their loyal followers were able to withdraw by sea before the final occupation of the city.

When the fleet anchored in Crete on its way home to Constantinople, some of its commanders feared that Emperor Leontios would hold them responsible for the failure and loss of the exarchate of Carthage . Therefore, they mutinied and proclaimed Apsimar , who had the military rank of Droungario (today roughly equivalent to a rear admiral), as counter-emperor. After months of siege by treason, he finally took Constantinople and ascended the Byzantine throne as Tiberios II (III) in 698.

The reign of Tiberios was marked by continued heavy fighting against the Arabs. The Byzantine troops achieved significant successes under the command of Tiberios' brother Herakleios. Armenia in particular was a theater of war and was heavily devastated.

The Emperor Justinian II, overthrown and banished by Leontios in 695 , was able to win the support of the Bulgarian Khan Terwel , and in the summer of 705 the two besieged Constantinople with a strong Bulgarian army. After the besiegers entered the city through an aqueduct , Tiberios gave up the fight for the throne. He was caught on the run and later executed on Justinian's orders along with his predecessor Leontios. Justinian also had his brother Herakleios executed. His son Theodosios is traditionally identified with the iconoclastic Metropolitan of Ephesus , who presided over the Council of Hiereia in 754 .

literature

Web links

Commons : Tiberios II.  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ The Z at the end of the inscription marks the 7th mint (officine) in Constantinople. The CONOB under the step cross stands either for Κωνσταντινοπόλεως Οβρύζον , which means something like "The right gold standard of Constantinople" or for CONstantinopolis OBryzum aurum , i.e. the pure gold from or according to the quality standards of Constantinople.
  2. ↑ In terms of the Byzantine concept of continuity, the Roman emperor Tiberius (14–37 AD) is often counted as Tiberius I and the Byzantine emperor Tiberios I as Tiberios II.
  3. ↑ Ralph-Johannes Lilie : Byzanz. The second Rome. Siedler, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-88680-693-6 , p. 138.
predecessor Office successor
Leontios Emperor of Byzantium
698–705 		Justinian II
personal data
SURNAME Tiberios II
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tiberius III .; Τιβέριος (Greek); Apsimar (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Byzantine emperor (698–705)
DATE OF BIRTH 7th century
DATE OF DEATH February 15, 706
Place of death Constantinople