Mizizios or Mezezius ( el, Μιζίζιος; hy, Մժէժ, ''Mžēž'' or ''Mzhezh'') was an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

noble who served as a general of Byzantium, later usurping the Byzantine throne in

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

from 668 to 669.

Origin and early career

According to the Byzantine chroniclers, Mizizios was an Armenian, and "exceedingly handsome and beautiful". According to

Cyril Toumanoff Cyril Leo Toumanoff (russian: Кирилл Львович Туманов; 13 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, ...

, he descended from the princely

Gnuni Gnuni (; c. 300–800.) was a princely family in Armenia, who ruled the region of Aliovit, including the cities of Archesh, Arberani and Berkri on the northern shore of Lake Van Lake Van ( tr, Van Gölü; hy, Վանա լիճ, translit=Va ...

family. In a letter supposedly written by

Pope Gregory II Pope Gregory II ( la, Gregorius II; 669 – 11 February 731) was the bishop of Rome from 19 May 715 to his death.

to the Emperor

Leo III the Isaurian Leo III the Isaurian ( gr, Λέων ὁ Ἴσαυρος, Leōn ho Isauros; la, Leo Isaurus; 685 – 18 June 741), also known as the Syrian, was Byzantine Emperor from 717 until his death in 741 and founder of the Isaurian dynasty. He put an e ...

(r. 717–741 A.D), he is referred to as ''

komes Komes (abbreviated K. before a surname), also żupan in Polish, a title developed from the Latin ''comes'' in medieval Poland and was used for dignitary in the period of the Holy Roman Empire for administrative and military district commanders. The ...

'' of the

Opsikion The Opsician Theme ( gr, θέμα Ὀψικίου, ''thema Opsikiou'') or simply Opsikion (Greek: , from la, Obsequium) was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) located in northwestern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Created from the imp ...

( la, obsequium)—at that time not yet a province, but rather the emperor's personal military retinue and field army. The 12th-century

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

chronicle of Michael the Syrian, and the so-called ''

Chronicle of 1234 The ''Chronicle of 1234'' ( la, Chronicon ad annum Christi 1234 pertinens) is an anonymous West Syriac universal history from Creation until 1234. The unknown author was probably from Edessa. The ''Chronicle'' only survives in fragments, from whic ...

'', also accord him the rank of ''

patrikios The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned aft ...

''.

Usurpation and death

Mizizios accompanied Emperor Constans II (r. 641–668 A.D) in his

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and Sicilian expedition. When Constans was murdered in Syracuse, Sicily, in 668 A.D, Mizizios was proclaimed emperor against his will. However, according to the supposed letter of Pope Gregory II, the Sicilian bishops had pushed him to rebellion, because Constans had been a heretic for his support of

Monothelitism Monothelitism, or monotheletism (from el, μονοθελητισμός, monothelētismós, doctrine of one will), is a theological doctrine in Christianity, that holds Christ as having only one will. The doctrine is thus contrary to dyothelit ...

. Michael the Syrian implies that the rebellion lasted about seven months before it was suppressed, but the sources, and modern scholars, are divided in how that came about:

Theophanes the Confessor Theophanes the Confessor ( el, Θεοφάνης Ὁμολογητής; c. 758/760 – 12 March 817/818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking ...

reports that Constans' son,

Constantine IV Constantine IV ( la, Constantinus; grc-gre, Κωνσταντῖνος, Kōnstantînos; 650–685), called the Younger ( la, iunior; grc-gre, ὁ νέος, ho néos) and sometimes incorrectly the Bearded ( la, Pogonatus; grc-gre, Πωγων ...

(r. 668–685 A.D), personally led an expedition to Sicily, where he had Mizizios and his father's murderers executed, while the '' Liber pontificalis'' reports that loyalist troops from Italy and the

Exarchate of Africa The Exarchate of Africa was a division of the Byzantine Empire around Carthage that encompassed its possessions on the Western Mediterranean. Ruled by an exarch (viceroy), it was established by the Emperor Maurice in the late 580s and survive ...

suppressed the revolt, executed Mizizios, and sent his severed head 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 ( ...

. Mizizios had one son, John, who remained on Sicily after his father's execution. According to Michael the Syrian, in ca. 678 A.D, he too rebelled against Constantine IV, and also lasted for seven months before the emperor arrived in Sicily and defeated and killed him.

Footnotes

References

Sources

* *

External links

* {{cite encyclopedia , last=Moore , first=R. Scott , title=Mezezius (668-669 A.D.) , url=http://www.roman-emperors.org/mezezius.htm , encyclopedia=Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors , accessdate=26 November 2016 669 deaths 7th-century Armenian people 7th-century Byzantine people Byzantine generals Byzantine usurpers Byzantine Sicily 7th-century executions by the Byzantine Empire Patricii