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| Anastasius II (Byzantine emperor) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Anastasius II |
| Title | Byzantine Emperor |
| Reign | 713–715 |
| Predecessor | Philippicus Bardanes |
| Successor | Theodosius III |
| Birth date | c. 630s/650s |
| Death date | 719 |
| Death place | Nicaea |
| Burial | Church of the Holy Apostles (tradition) |
Anastasius II (Byzantine emperor) was Byzantine emperor from 713 to 715 who deposed the iconoclast Philippicus Bardanes and attempted to stabilize relations with the Pope and the Arab–Byzantine wars. His brief rule involved fiscal reform, military reorganization, and ecclesiastical diplomacy, followed by forced abdication, monastic exile, and a failed restoration effort ending in his death near Nicaea.
Anastasius II emerged from the late Heraclian dynasty milieu during the reign of Justinian II and the subsequent usurpers such as Leontios and Tiberius III. Likely of Armenian or Roman senatorial stock, he served as a high-ranking official under Philippicus Bardanes and possibly as praetorian prefect or a senior magister officiorum, interacting with figures like Pope Gregory II, Patriarch John VI of Constantinople, and commanders engaged on the Anatolian and Balkan frontiers. During the mutinous climate following the siege of Constantinople (626) legacies and the ongoing Second Arab Siege of Constantinople tensions, Anastasius leveraged ties to the Senate of Constantinople, the Scholae Palatinae, and provincial elites to orchestrate the deposition of Philippicus in 713, allying with supporters from Thrace, Bithynia, and the maritime interests of Constantinople.
Anastasius II sought reconciliation with the Papacy, repudiated the monothelite and iconoclast policies associated with Philippicus, and restored communion with Pope Constantine and later Pope Gregory II while negotiating with the Council of Constantinople constituencies and influential bishops such as Germanus I of Constantinople and Philaretos. He pursued fiscal retrenchment by reforming taxation affecting landholders in Asia Minor, adjusting coinage policies linked to the solidus and consecrated revenues, and reorganized defenses facing incursions from the Umayyad Caliphate and raiding forces led by commanders engaged in the Siege of Constantinople (717–718) precursors. Militarily he promoted generals drawn from the themes like Armeniac Theme and Opsikion and attempted to curb the influence of mutinous troops sympathetic to figures such as Artabasdos and factions tied to the remains of the Exarchate of Ravenna. His foreign policy included negotiations with envoys from Tiberius III-era provincial leaders and contacts with Balkan rulers including Khan Tervel of Bulgaria and coastal maritime powers near Thessalonica.
Faced with renewed military dissatisfaction and the advance of naval commanders allied to Theodosius III and rebellious elements within the Anatolian forces, Anastasius was compelled to abdicate in 715. He withdrew into monastic life, reputedly at a monastery near Mount Olympus (Bithynia) or in the suburbs of Constantinople, joining monastic communities influenced by the traditions of St. Theodore of Amasea and ascetic circles connected to Mount Athos precursors and Symeon the Stylite-type monasticism. In exile he remained entangled in ecclesiastical networks, maintaining correspondence with bishops of Rome, clergy of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and retired officials such as former prefects and magistri who continued to contest imperial legitimacy.
Following the deposition of Theodosius III and amid the rise of Leo III the Isaurian, Anastasius left monastic obscurity to mount a restoration in 719 with support from Tibetan?-era mercenaries and conspirators financed by anti-Leo factions including landed aristocrats from Bithynia, disgruntled commanders of the theme system, and exiles sympathetic to the pre-Isaurian order. His attempt culminated in a march toward Nicaea where loyalist forces under Isaurian partisans intercepted him; sources report he was captured and executed in 719 near Nicaea, while other accounts suggest assassination by mutinous troops or secret execution ordered by rivals such as Leo III. His body was said by some chronicles to have been buried in the precincts of the Church of the Holy Apostles or interred in monastic grounds near Nicaea.
Anastasius II's legacy is debated among chroniclers like Theophanes the Confessor, Nikephoros I of Constantinople, and Patriarch Germanus I, and later historians such as Procopius-era continuators, John of Nikiu, and Michael Psellos. He is variously judged as a reformer who sought rapprochement with the Papacy and attempted pragmatic defense against the Umayyad threat, and as a transient ruler undone by the volatile theme loyalties and the ascendancy of Isaurian power under Leo III. Modern scholarship referencing numismatics of the solidus, sigillography, and administrative lists from the Notitiae Episcopatuum tends to credit him with short-term fiscal and ecclesiastical stabilization yet insufficient military consolidation. His reign marks a transitional episode between the Heraclian succession crises and the Isaurian restoration, affecting subsequent developments in Byzantine relations with the Caliphate, the Bulgarian Khanate, and the Roman Church.
Category:Byzantine emperors Category:8th-century Byzantine people Category:719 deaths