John III Rizocopus ( la, Iohannes Rizocopus; grc-gre, Ιωάννης Ριζοκόπος, Iōánnēs Rizokópos) was

Exarch of Ravenna The Exarchate of Ravenna ( la, Exarchatus Ravennatis; el, Εξαρχάτο της Ραβέννας) or of Italy was a lordship of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) in Italy, from 584 to 751, when the last exarch was put to death by the ...

from 710 until his death one year later in 711. Following the restoration of the

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, to Fall of Constantinople, its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. On ...

Justinian II Justinian II ( la, Iustinianus; gr, Ἰουστινιανός, Ioustinianós; 668/69 – 4 November 711), nicknamed "the Slit-Nosed" ( la, Rhinotmetus; gr, ὁ Ῥινότμητος, ho Rhinótmētos), was the last Eastern Roman emperor of the ...

, he sent a military force to savage

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

. "Apparently," writes

Jeffrey Richards Jeffrey Richards (born c.1945)Chris Arno"Fast Forward: Jeffrey Richards" ''The Guardian'', 11 January 2005 is a British historian. Educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, he is Professor of Cultural History at Lancaster University. A leading cul ...

, "some prominent Ravennates were involved in the revolt which overthrew Justinian and when he returned to power he determined to revenge himself on the entire city." The Archbishop

Felix Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

was arrested with other prominent citizens and taken to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

, and the city plundered and burned. In response, the citizens and soldiers of Ravenna rebelled, making one George the son of Johannicus their leader, whose father was one of the captives taken to Constantinople.Richards, ''Popes and the Papacy'', p. 213 John was appointed Exarch not long after this, and landed at

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

with loyal troops, where he encountered Pope Constantine responding to an Imperial summons to Constantinople. John then proceeded to Ravenna by way of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he "cut the throats" of several senior papal officials, according to the '' Liber Pontificalis''.Raymond Davis (translator), ''The Book of Pontiffs (Liber Pontificalis)'', first edition (Liverpool: University Press, 1989), p. 90 Richards explains this violent act by pointing out "the inclusion of the papal steward and the papal treasurer among the victims suggests a bid to plunder the papal treasury." John Rizocopus continued to Ravenna, where he died shortly after, although the details are not recorded. The ''Liber Pontificalis'' does record that in Ravenna "by God's judgment on his atrocious deeds he

ohn Ohn is a Burmese name, used by people from Myanmar. Notable people with the name include: * Daw Ohn (1913–2003), Burmese professor in Pali * Ohn Gyaw (born 1932), Burmese Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 1998 * Ohn Kyaing (born 1944), Bur ...

died an ignominious death". Whether his death was due to illness or a revolt by the Ravennese is impossible to determine, but the latter is more likely, given the subsequent dispatch of a

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beh ...

. The '' strategos'' of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, Theodore, was placed in charge of the latter, and imprisoned and executed the leaders of the Ravennese revolt, including Archbishop

, who was deported to Constantinople, blinded and exiled to the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:John 03 Rizocopus 8th-century exarchs of Ravenna 710s deaths Year of birth unknown