Founders: Who is Emperor Leo III the Isaurian?

Emperor Leo III (r. 717 - 740) of the Byzantine Empire established the Isaurian Dynasty that ruled the Eastern Roman Empire until 802. He put an end to almost 20 years of political instability that witnessed several Emperors, coups, rebellions, monastic vows, and mutilation. He ended a turmoil, only to create a new controversy that characterized the house he had established.

Early Life

Not much has been known about the early life of Emperor Leo III. He was born around 675 in Isauria but grew up in Germanikeia in Northern Syria. Later on, under Emperor Justinian II’s resettlement policies, Leo’s family moved to Mesembria in Thrace. Their resettlement strengthened Byzantine rule in a region wrought by raids from different migrating tribes, such as the Bulgars. When Justinian visited the region with the Bulgars during his second reign, Leo met the Emperor and provided him 500 sheep to his delight. In exchange for his display of loyalty, Leo received from Justinian the position of sparthios or attendant. Eventually, Leo earned Justinian’s favor and friendship until court politics and intrigue destroyed everything. Rumors spread that Leo conspired to depose Justinian and to make himself the Emperor. An inquiry found Leo innocent and the source of the rumor disgraced. Mistrust between Leo and Justinian, nevertheless, persisted.

Leo fell victim to Justinian’s wrath. Paranoia struck the Emperor who then plotted to remove Leo from the capital. Justinian then sent Leo on a mission to the Alans to oversee the invasion of the Kingdom of Abasgia that switched their allegiance to the Umayyad Caliphate. He hoped to have Leo killed in the mission, but in an epic-like story, the sparthios managed to accomplish his mission and returned home.

The Mutilation of Emperor Justinian II

By the time he returned to the Empire, Justinian already passed away and Artemios sat on the throne. Leo then received his appointment as the Strategos of Anatolic Theme. During his tenure around 714 and 715, Emperor Anastasios suffered a rebellion from the Opsician Theme. The rebellious troops initially received orders to go to the Levant to burn highly-priced cedarwood and Byzantine equipment before it fell to Muslim hands. However, the Opsician soldiers rose up in armed defiance instead and proclaimed an obscure and fearful tax-collector named Theodosius as Emperor. Eventually, through bribery, Theodosius’ rebels won and Anastasios accepted the vow of monastic life and exile to Thessalonike.

Taking Power

Despite a regime change, Theodosius’ regime kept Leo in his position. Leo then threw his lot in the contest for the throne after receiving the support of Artabasdos, the Strategos of the 2nd biggest theme in the Empire – the Armeniac Theme. The engagement of Leo’s daughter Anna to Artabasdos cemented this alliance to claim the throne.

On the other hand, Constantinople found itself once again besieged by a Muslim expeditionary force under renowned General Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik. One of Maslama’s subordinates name Suleiman marched into Amorion, Anatolic Theme’s capital, and sought the support of Leo, writing:

“We know the Roman Empire is rightfully yours. Come to us; let us discuss peace terms.”

Thus, the Muslims first recognized him as Emperor before Constantinople did so. The Muslims hoped for Leo to capture the impregnable Roman capital on their behalf. During the Muslim advance to Anatolia, Leo took advantage of the chaotic situation and managed to capture Theodosius’ son along with his retinue and important officials. Leo then sent a message to the Emperor through the Patriarch Germanos his ultimatum - The Empire for his own son’s life. Theodosius, only an Emperor through coercion, accepted the terms and went into exile peacefully as a monk. Leo took the throne on March 25, 717, and broke off his alliance with the Muslims.

The army of Maslama then marched to the Byzantine capital and the ensuing siege became the Basileus’ most immediate pressing matter. Fortunately, with desertion ripe in the Umayyad Army and assistance from the Bulgars, Constantinople survived and Leo had the chance to consolidate his power properly. Through series of marriages, he secured his crown, and through a victory in the Battle of Akroinon in 740, he pushed back the borders of the Umayyad Caliphate back into the Levant.

The Arabs Attacking Constantinople in Constantine Manasses Chronicle

Consolidation of Power

The new Basileus began crushing all other claims to the throne. In 718, Artemios sought Bulgar support for the restoration of his rule citing a populace crying for his return. The deposed Emperor then received from Bulgar leader Trevel an army and 5,000 pounds of gold. His quest went to naught when he arrived at the outskirts of Constantinople without any cheer or jubilation. The Bulgars felt duped and handed him over to Leo. Leo ruthlessly executed the former Emperor and his associates such as Niketas Xylinites and the Archbishop of Thessalonike where Artemios spent his time in exile. Following this, another revolt began in Sicily led by the late Anastasios’ supporter. It too failed.

Through marriage, Leo strengthened his hold on power. He honored his pledge of his daughter Anna’s hand in marriage to Artabasdos. He had his son Constantine crowned as co-Emperor in 720 and had him marry a Khazarian princess Tzitzak (took the Christian name Irene) in 732. The alliance formed with Khazars created a possible pincer attack on the Umayyad Caliphate – the Byzantines from the west and the Khazars from the north. On the other hand, Leo kept his western border secured with peaceful relations with the Bulgars.

By creating a geopolitical atmosphere favorable to the Byzantine Empire, he then launched a massive attack against the Umayyad Caliphate in 740. He defeated the Umayyads in the Battle of Akroïnos (Afyonkarahisar) and pushed back the frontiers to the Levant.

With military successes that cemented his hold on power, he then tackled the source of political instability before his reign. The large Themes provided enough resources for ambitious Strategoi to rebel and to claim the throne. He wanted to prevent this by dividing the largest themes, in the case of the Anatolic, he created the Thracesion Theme. With regards, to the Opsikion Theme that played a role in the overthrow of Anastacios’ regime, he kept its territorial integrity but placed it in his son-in-law Artrabasdos. Later on, the Theme under Artabasdos became involved in a plot to overthrow Leo’s son from power. As his long reign exemplified, this policy seemed to work and along with the tired population, stability returned to the Empire.

Another Leo’s reform involved the Byzantine Law. For centuries the Justinian Code reigned supreme, but it needed reform to adapt to the changing social and religious setup. His Ecologa, promulgated in 626, provided jurisprudence for civil and criminal law. Besides, it also dedicated numerous entries with regards to family law and inheritance. A simpler and convenient version of the Justinian Code. It has several improvements influenced by the Christian canon law. It also downplayed the death penalty favoring mutilations that prevailed before his reign and onwards. 

Iconoclasm

Either through influence by others, superstition, or to shore up support among his power base in the eastern provinces of the Empire, Leo began a controversy that defined the Isaurian dynasty - Iconoclasm. Leo showed his zealousness in the 720s with policies of forced conversions. However, his Iconoclastic policies that began in 730 divided opinions that lasted for more than 50 years.

An argument about icons before the emperor, in the Skylitzis Chronicle

In 722, Leo took a crusader mode forcing the baptism of Jews and Montanists, a Christian sect deemed as heretical. The persecution said to have resulted in series of blasphemies against the Orthodox churches as well as, according to Theophanes, self-immolation as a sign of protest. This revealed the Emperor’s active interest in religious affairs.

Leo’s religious views with regards to images may have begun during his time in Isauria (Northern Syria) where he came into contact with Islamic laws prohibiting the depiction of Allah and Mohammad and ironically Jewish. Many thought so, including the chronicler Theophanes who labeled him “Saracen-minded.” According to Theophanes, Leo also fell to the influence of a Syrian refugee named Beser, the Bishop Constantine of Nakoleia (Nacolia) which many later dubbed the “arch-heretic.” Also, his ears opened to Metropolitan Thomas of Claudiopolis, and with the “arch-heretic” fed Leo’s growing opposition to religious icons. He joined a trend that already found support among the populace of the Empire's eastern provinces, such as Phrygia. By 724, discussion over religious icons began. This reached Rome and Pope Gregory II criticized Leo’s intervention in religious doctrines and protest by ceasing tribute payments to Constantinople.

Natural disasters played also a role in convincing the Emperor further into Iconoclasm. These included the flooding of Edessa and an underwater volcanic eruption between Thera (modern-day Santorini) and Therasia resulting in massive ash falls and tsunamis. The apocalyptic disaster distraught Leo and his devotion to Iconoclasm strengthened.

By 726, he acted his furry towards icon by desecrating a highly venerated image of Christ in Chalcoprateia quarter in the capital. The vandalism stirred a riot among his guards and the populace. A purge ensued with mass mutilations, exiles, and fines. Rebellion from Hellas Theme and the Cyclades began and a man named Kosmas declared himself Emperor. The rebels almost reached Constantinople, but they soundly failed, defeated by Greek fire, effectively crushing the movement. Despite the public outburst in his initial attacks on icons, his determination even strengthened when the Muslims attacked Nicaea and defeated Roman forces.

By 730, the Emperor enacted edicts against idolatry and attempted to gain the religious hierarchy's approval. His edict failed to be approved by the Church and he began to criticize and intimidate the highly critical Patriarch Germanos. In retaliation, the Patriarch unleashed a shocking criticism against the Emperor:

“Heaven forbid, my lord that this evil should come to pass through your rule. For he who does it is the forerunner of the Antichrist and the overthrower of the incarnate and divine dispensation.”

The contest between Leo and Germanos dragged and turned dirty. Leo enlisted the help of Germanos’ student and syncellus or apprentice Anastasios to condemn the Patriarch. Ultimately, Leo prevailed and overthrew Germanos replacing him with Anastasios who became patriarch on January 22, 730 as a reward for becoming a snitch. In Syria, the renowned that age’s premier Theologian John of Damascus also denounced Leo’s Iconoclasm, while Pope Gregory II lambasted Leo’s religious policy and began to drive Italy away from Byzantine control raising tensions. Leo, in retaliation, increased taxes to Byzantine possessions in Italy and prepared for a military expedition to the Peninsula, but due to Muslim pirate attacks, it failed to reach its destination.

Patriarch Germanos

Leo severed ties of the Bishop of Rome with the Churches in Byzantine-held Sicily, Calabria, and Illyria transferring their jurisdiction to the Patriarch of Constantinople. Furthermore, poll taxes from this region also shifted their remittance from Rome to Constantinople. The rift led Rome to rely less and less on Constantinople and favoring the rising power of the Frankish Empire. Among the Italian population, the policy also met opposition and loyalty towards the Eastern Roman Empire significantly drop making it vulnerable to encroachment.

With news of Italy’s secession and growing unpopularity towards Iconoclasm, a Muslim invasion salvaged Leo’s reign. He and Constantine successfully defeated in 740 a Muslim Army of around 20,000 troops in the Battle of Akroïnos. The Battle became Leo and his dynasty’s Falklands War. Despite being unpopular, they remained in power by bringing pride, security, and prestige.

Demise

In 741, Leo III passed away. His son, Constantine, described by Theophanes as “the forerunner of the Antichrist” succeeded him to the throne.

Summing Up

Leo III ended a Game of Thrones that saw 6 Emperors in 2 decades. With a strong alliance and a military victory, he climbed up as the strongest man capable of holding the throne. After climbing, he made sure he stayed. However, being superstitious alongside environmental or personal influences, he began a controversy that created deep divisions with serious profound historic implications. Iconoclasm defined the politics of the Isaurian dynasty and European history with the biggest effect being the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire and the Great Schism. His involvement in religious affairs ruined his image to many chroniclers that served as the source in Byzantine History. Only a timely victory saved the dynasty to survive for few more decades. Leo III founded the Isaurian Dynasty at the back of chaos and division.

See also:
Isaurian Dynasty
Empress Irene

Bibliography:
Website:
Editors of Britannica Encyclopedia. “Leo III.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed on April 14, 2021. URL: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leo-III

Books:
Ostrogorsky, Georg. History of the Byzantine State. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1957.

Turtledove, Harry. The Chronicle of Theophanes: An English translation of Anni Mundi 6095 – 6305 (A.D. 602-813), with Introduction and Notes. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982.